Kingdom of light
Again I begin this article with something of a disclaimer. Because, having begun to attend yet another new church, I have been looking through statements of faith and church histories, mostly in Wikipedia, and I am reminded that many of the things I write about have been studied, and debated, and are the subject of extensive writings already.
So I should make clear, I have no formal education in theology or Biblical studies, and I have made no attempt to survey the writings which already exist about any subject of these articles. Rather, these articles are born out of an urgency to record things I am discovering already by reading the Bible only. And if I were to research the topics thoroughly from every other source, I would simply run out of energy and time and inspiration. (I find that kind of study tedious and draining, which is not to say there is no place for it, but to discover truth in the Bible is by contrast energizing, which answers my current need.) So I do not know whether the ideas I put forward are orthodox, or discredited, or novel in established Christian thought.
To the topic at hand – at church on Sunday I heard preaching about darkness and light. A reference to the following scripture was included:
‘Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:’ (Colossians 13:12-13)
A point of the message was that our passing from darkness into light is something that has already been accomplished for us as followers of Jesus Christ, as stated in the verses from Colossians above. So there is no need for the works or effects of ‘darkness’ to persist in our lives now, or ever again. Well – amen!
Though I am wearily aware that sinful habits persist in my own life, notwithstanding I am without doubt a believer in Jesus Christ. Though perhaps not so much a ‘follower’ as yet. But I thought it might be useful at this time to review some of what scripture has to say about darkness and light, to ‘shed some light’ on these matters for myself and others.
And there it is – to ‘shed some light’. The way in which light is understood to mean more than just physical light is not confined to the scriptures or to the church. To ‘shed light’ on something is to bring understanding by way of new information or an explanation. Light is the means by which we see things, both in thought and physically, and according to the scriptures, also spiritually.
Perhaps first we should consider what is the nature of physical light and physical darkness, because it seems in the way these terms are used in scripture, including by Jesus himself, there is no contradiction in using them to represent spiritual things as well. And the physical forms are perhaps more widely recognized and known.
Fortuitously, we are all familiar with physical light and darkness. Perhaps that is also a reason why the terms have been used to represent spiritual things, because there is familiarity and certainty as to the nature of the physical versions. Except perhaps, if a person is blind – and that too has been used as an analogy for the spiritual. ‘I once was blind, but now I see’, some of the most well known lines of any Christian hymn or song.
But though physical darkness and light are among the most familiar of things, like many such things, we may take them for granted and not understand them so well as we think. For example, and interestingly for something which has a powerful effect on our daily life, darkness is not actually a ‘thing’. Darkness has no physical substance, it is simply the absence of light. But darkness – the absence of light – causes other phenomena which do have substance.
To walk in physical darkness can be dangerous because we can more easily bang into things we have not seen. To walk in absolute darkness is uncomfortable and potentially very dangerous, so that we would tend not to move very far at all without any light. And that danger is real – it can have real, physical consequences, for example we could injure ourselves.
Potentially we can walk even in complete darkness if we have a clear understanding of our surroundings, and some physical objects or sounds to help us get our bearings in the absence of light. In such a situation the world is seen to us in our own mind – it is mapped out in our understanding. I have experienced something like this in the middle of a dark night when I have woken to find there is a power cut and I have not kept a torch handy. I know the layout of my house, so I can feel my way around until I can locate a torch or a candle. (Yes, this must have been before a mobile phone was ever-present by my bedside at night, incorporating a torch.)
This is where the analogy of physical darkness begins to make sense for me. Without spiritual understanding of the true nature of our world – of people, and the true consequences of actions, and the purpose and meaning of all things, and the reality of God – we do not have the information we need to make good decisions or behave appropriately i.e. in keeping with how things really are. And even when we have this knowledge, we may not act in keeping with what we know. We may ‘walk in darkness’, despite that we have light.
Without understanding, we can easily hurt ourselves or others unintentionally. But we continue to live, do things, make decisions and carry them out. We are guided by the ‘mind map’ we have formed in the course of our stumbling around, encountering many, unpredictable consequences, and listening to others describe their own map of life which they have built in a similar way – their ‘world view’. There is ‘conventional wisdom’ about most things we encounter in life, sometimes with an element of truth but often deeply flawed when the real state of things is considered, with God at the centre.
‘And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.’ (John 5:19)
Furthermore, some of our internal ‘imprint of darkness’ is with us even from birth. Just as natural creatures, and ourselves, have inherited patterns of behaviour and even physiology and biochemistry which reflect diurnal and seasonal patterns of day and night, so the effects of light and darkness on our ancestors is passed to us in both physical and spiritual ways.
‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression’. (Romans 8:12-14)
The above scripture is in the book of Romans for a somewhat different purpose than the one I am using if for here – but it confirms this point, that there is a hereditary element to sin. And works of darkness are sin.
‘The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.’ (Romans 13:12)
The scriptures also tell us there are forces of darkness – spiritual beings that are entirely fashioned by the absence of light. And these beings can have real, effective power, notwithstanding they have no power over our Lord Jesus Christ, or over us as his redeemed children, so long as we are ‘in the light’. Because darkness has no power over light in either the physical or spiritual realms. Darkness only exists where light is not present, or is limited or somehow blocked out. I cannot ‘bring more darkness’ into a room; I could potentially dim the lights.
‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ (Ephesians 6:12)
So it can be seen that while the light of God which comes to us through the scriptures, and in other ways, has power to dispel darkness (as does physical light), there can be an imprint of darkness in our understanding. We can have habits, and ways of seeing things, which have formed in darkness – through misunderstanding, through ungodly decisions, and through injury done to ourselves from stumbling in the dark, and by others banging into us, and even passed to us from our forbears – and these habits and ways can be part of our nature. These parts of us do not necessarily disappear instantly as does darkness when light appears. They are patterns which cast a shadow, where darkness lingers. We must be transformed by the light, and it seems this takes time.
It makes sense to me that darkness can reside in us and persist, even though we have been ‘translated into the kingdom of his dear Son’, Jesus Christ, who is the Light – because that is my own experience. I keep sinning. To better understand this, I will look at the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis – because that is where darkness entered our race, and from where, originally, it began to form part of human nature which ultimately I have inherited. (Which is not to say I myself am blameless, I am complicit, and have aided and abetted the powers of darkness which I have encountered from within and without – nonetheless darkness did not start with me, even in my own life).
First a note about interpretation of the ‘serpent’ in Genesis:
‘And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years’. (Revelation 20:2)
The above passage from Revelation confirms to me that the character who is the serpent in the book of Genesis is our enemy, the devil, the same as features in other parts of the Bible.
Jesus described the devil as follows:
‘He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.’ (John 8:44)
So to Genesis:
‘And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ (Genesis 2:16-17)
‘Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made, And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.’ (Genesis 3:1-6.)
So we see that while Adam and Eve had limited knowledge, as all men do, they had the information they needed about the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they understood it. They had light on the subject – and the light was given them by God. They knew they should not eat the fruit, and they knew why. At least, the immediate reason – so that they would not die.
Adam and Eve also knew God as the provider of all they had, and as their Creator. Because God had brought before Adam all the creatures to see if any could be his helper, and when none was suitable, God created Eve who became his wife. And it seems they had no reason to suspect God wished them any harm; and he did not. This was the basis of all the light Adam and Eve had – their confidence in the one who was their light, God himself, their Creator, their God, their guide and friend.
The serpent created a dark space – lies and misleading suggestions which blocked the light Adam and Eve had received from God. And the serpent made that darkness look attractive. He even presented it as light – ‘your eyes will be opened’. But it was Adam and Eve who decided to enter the darkness, and this took place within themselves, when they altered their view of God from one who was faithful and true and always sought their good, to one who might keep good things from them to benefit himself. At least, Eve thought that. Adam, the Bible tells us, was not deceived. But in choosing to side with Eve, so their union would not be disrupted, Adam chose darkness over light. (1 Timothy 2:14)
But this is where it gets interesting (as if the story of the fall was not interesting enough, though also tragic beyond imagining). It seems that until Adam and Eve sinned, there was no physical death in the created earth. Whether one is inclined to take that literally – as I do – or whether one takes the whole story of Adam and Eve as an allegory – death was a result of darkness, of sin. Death was not part of the original order, either for man or the animals.
Following on from the account of Adam and Eve’s sin, we read that their firstborn son, Cain murdered their second son, Abel (Genesis 4:1-8). Darkness took hold in Cain’s heart, he became envious and violent and committed murder. Death had truly entered the world.
Generations later, when Noah and his family emerged from the ark following the flood, God said to them:
‘Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.’ (Genesis 9:3-4)
But at creation, God had said to Adam:
‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.’ (Genesis 1:29-30)
My reading of this is that mankind did not have permission from God to kill any creature even for food until after the flood. Whether they had done so anyway, I don’t know. Men had, after all, killed each other. But this agrees with this idea that death was not originally part of God’s creation. Even the birds and beasts were only given ‘herbs’ to eat at creation.
And in the New Testament we read:
‘For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.’ (Romans 8:20-21)
Now, I am used to reading the King James Bible but I confess I have had some difficulty understanding the above scripture. In these situations I do sometimes consult a modern translation, because I don’t know the ancient languages myself.
‘Against its will, all creation was subject to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.’ (Romans 8:20-21, New Living Translation)
So when the scripture speaks of God’s curse, it seems to me this is what happened when Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3:7-24). Though God did not state directly that he cursed Adam and Eve, his proclamations in response to their sin have often been viewed as a curse, and are not things one would wish for. Neither did God proclaim when Adam and Eve sinned that they would die; God had already said that, before they sinned. But he did take steps to ensure the sentence would proceed, by keeping them away from the ‘tree of life’, ‘lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever’ (Genesis 3:22).
Cain was also cursed directly by God for his sin of murder (though when I read it, it reads more as a statement of fact than a purpose of God); but the curse on Adam and Eve, if I can call it that, was universal because they were the entire human race at that time, and they had been placed by God in authority over all created things. But neither mankind nor the rest of creation were cursed when they were created.
Following his creation of the creatures of water and the birds of the air:
‘God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.’ (Genesis 1:22)
And the creatures of the earth:
‘God saw that it was good.’ (Genesis 1:25)
God also blessed man, at that time only Adam, and gave him dominion over all living things.
‘And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.’ (Genesis 1:31)
So in summary, and in light of the statement of Romans 8:20-21 that ‘all creation was subject to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay’, it seems there was no death at the point of creation, either for man or for living creatures. But both became subject to death by ‘the curse’ spoken of in Romans 8, which resulted from Adam and Eve’s sin. And both we and other creatures have hope of deliverance from the curse and from death by redemption through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
This then brings me to a very intriguing point.
If there was no death at creation – what purpose the teeth of the lion? Or the crocodile?
Because as we now see them, every living creature is fashioned either to enable it to kill other living creatures, or perhaps parasitise on them, or to avoid being killed itself, or both. This extends to every physical attribute of living creatures and their nature – their ‘attitudes’ if I can call it that, their habits, their lifestyles. All of which arise from hereditary traits, perhaps honed by learning and experience, but hereditary nonetheless. The lion is a fierce creature; it may have other attitudes also, but it is fierce, it is a hunter, it kills, and does not live naturally in any other way. It may learn to hunt; but it is a born killer.
Is it possible that all these characteristics of nature arose because of Adam and Eve’s sin?
I can find no other explanation which is consistent with scripture. Because at the creation there was no curse, and it seems, no death. Because at creation, all living things were ‘good’ and blessed. And why then should they die? Or be fashioned in such a way as to kill, if there was no death? Until the curse came, which was after all things had been made and had firstly received a good and blessed form.
But if it would seem unrealistic that creatures could have changed so much, that they could have developed every aspect of what we now see as their nature and form in response to Adam and Eve’s sin, subsequent to their creation – I would remind the reader that current so-called scientific belief is that all creatures developed all of their characteristics by a process of evolution from some ‘simple organism’, something like bacteria. I do not hold to that belief myself; I am simply pointing out that it is very widely held, and involves a far greater degree of modification of creatures than what I am suggesting is implied by the record of scripture.
(It is evident of course that creatures change in a hereditary fashion, and in so doing may adapt to their environment, and genetics has revealed much of the mechanism enabling these changes; however, I am not a believer in the ‘general theory of evolution’ that all creatures evolved from one, and originally from non-living substance, nor is that consistent with what I do believe, which is the Bible.)
This is nothing more or less than the hereditary effect of darkness. The adaptation of creatures to a world in which the light of God, his nature and creative power guiding and giving meaning and good purpose to all things, has been obscured by a focus on self – firstly by Adam and Eve, rejecting the light of God in favour of what seemed to them their personal interests, and by every person and living thing since, pursuing each its own interests in a fiercely competitive community in which the lives of all lead to death.
Recently, reflecting on a struggle I was having with particular aspects of sin in my life, in some frustration I said to myself, It’s like telling a lion not to eat meat. Our sinful and selfish tendencies can seem so ingrained, it can be hard to know how attempting to ‘walk in the light’ can be successful. I did not know, in fact, how close to the truth I may have been. Considering the profound effect of darkness on the creatures of our world, so that even their physical forms and habits are entirely devoted to killing and the avoidance of death, which perhaps did not even feature in their original design – I am beginning to think we may be more naturally removed from our godly calling as children of the light than I had imagined.
Yet in Isaiah I find hope:
‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:1-9)
This, then, is the kingdom of light: ‘the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.’ Light which reveals the truth about God and about all things, filling all of creation. And the one who brings this light and in whom this kingdom is established – the rod out of the stem of Jesse (king David’s father), the Branch growing out of his roots – the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And the savage creatures fashioned by darkness (though originally created by God) – the wolf, the leopard, the lion – these will kill no longer. They too will be transformed by light.
Here is my hope. Though like the lion and the wolf, darkness is hard-wired in my mind and forms the very framework of my being, and fuels my purpose though I strive to make it otherwise, yet like those savage creatures, I will be transformed. And already, the light is transforming me.
The Lord does not say that in his kingdom of light he will abolish the creatures so changed by darkness; for though they are savage, the lion, the leopard and the wolf are beautiful still. Our Lord will transform them, and us, into creatures of light, and we into his own children of light, in truth now already, but then in truth and in deed.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
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