One of the themes of the Bible is the contrast between light and dark. Light, associated with Christ and with good, speaks to revelation—it allows us to see clearly so that we may understand what is shown to us. Darkness, associated with Satan and with evil, speaks to a world where things are hidden, where people stagger and grope around blindly.
My son and I were discussing this the other day and he voiced it in a way I’d never thought about before. We are all born into darkness. And we get comfortable there. We like it. We can’t see that we’re covered with filth. Ignorance is bliss—or at least we perceive that it is. We don’t even know we’re filthy. We stumble around not even realizing we’re blind. We’re okay with that world, satisfied with our fleshly appetites and mistakenly think we look pretty good.
But one day the light penetrates our darkness and reveals that we are covered in filth! We had no idea! This filth is horrifying and the stench is unbearable. For some, the light is the worst thing that could happen to them because now they can see what they are. For others, the light is the best thing—for the same reason.
At that time, humanly speaking, we have two choices. We can scurry, like cockroaches, back into the darkness where we’re comfortable with our filth. Or we can look for a way to get clean!
We may even try to wipe the filth away ourselves but our efforts leave us exhausted, hopeless and covered with more filth than ever. We understand at that point that we need a Savior—that on our own we cannot become clean. And so we look to Christ as our Savior in faith and stand before Him as He instantly removes the filth and leaves us clothed in His righteousness.
I’ve heard it said that we don’t truly see the beauty of the Good News of Christ until we’ve first understood the bad news of our depravity. Christ is that light that exposes who we are and freely offers the grace that bathes us in His glory.
He exposes. Light exposes. The word exposes. And if we belong to Him, we respond with gratitude and praise. From that time on, we relish the light and loathe the darkness.
Through contact with Him, we absorb that light, embracing it and eventually reflecting it. We “glow in the dark ‘till the Lord returns,” (Andy Mineo, Let There Be Light).
What about you? When the light of Truth exposes your filth, will you scurry back into the darkness or run to the only one Who can make you clean?
“. . . for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them,” Ephesians 5:8-11.
