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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5 ESV
What is the definition of darkness? It is basically the absence of light, in physics there is no term that dictates a measurement of darkness. The term pitch black is just stating that there is absolutely zero amount of light. If you have ever been to one of those tourist attractions where you go into the caverns they usually take you to one section where they will turn out all the lights to show you what pitch black is; it is so dark that no matter how close you hold your hand to your face you are unable to see it. This is an environment that anything living in it is usually blind due to the lack of light. Now when John talks about Jesus entering into the world, he uses the imagery of light shining in the darkness. How many times have you been in a dark room and suddenly been blinded when someone turned on the lights, this was essentially what Jesus stepping into the world was like, a flare going off in a dark room. Look at it this way a child that is scared of the dark is often put at ease by a tiny night light. You see darkness cannot survive where there is even the smallest speck of light.
Now the darkness Christ stepped into was not a physical darkness but rather a spiritual darkness. Hearts were far from God, most people if they exhibited any form of righteousness it was self righteousness. Their motivations were to make themselves look good rather than to glorify God, and this is the natural state of man. Without Christ we are at enmity with God, our hearts are living in darkness and like the animals living in the pitch black environment we are spiritually blind; but when Christ enters our lives that darkness is dispelled and our relationship with God is restored.
As Christians we are called to be representatives of Christ. This means we are to ourselves become little lights shining in the darkness. We are to spread the Gospel to expose others to the light of Christ which in turn they will go and spread the light. Remember you don’t turn on a light and then stick it in the closet and close the door; you use the light for illumination in order to see where you are going or what you are doing, in much the same way our sharing the Gospel, our being lights reflecting Christ is much the same it is to show others the way to God and the need for a Savior. So let me end with this how are you letting your light shine for others to see?
