All The Difference In The World
By Jack Wyman
In the stillness of the night, darkness, like a heavy shroud, hung upon the world.
A mournful despair held the nations in its grip. How long? How long would God’s people have to wait?
At the appointed time, a shaft of light split the darkness. Mourning would turn to joy; despair would turn to hope.
“The people walking in darkness,” wrote the prophet Isaiah 700 years before, “have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2).
“A light has dawned.”
A triumphant declaration of profound change. For it is not just any light that would dawn; it would be “a great light.” This light, coming into the world, would make all the difference in the world. And the world would never be the same.
Nothing disturbs the soul of man more than the absence of light. Nothing restores his spirit more than to see light drawing near. Sunsets have a tranquil beauty. Dawns are an exuberant and miraculous promise.
Light. We seek it. We need it. We welcome it. We are warmed and inspired by it. We are guided by it. Enveloped in permanent darkness, our world would perish in the absence of light. Life itself could not be sustained for long on a darkened planet.
Throughout human history—and throughout the scriptures—evil and oppression have always been associated with darkness. Goodness and purity have always been associated with light. Darkness cannot abide the light and flees from its presence.
The earth was without form in the beginning. “Darkness was over the surface of the deep . . .”
“Let there be light.” These are the first words of our Creator recorded in the Bible. Immediately after God made the light, he pronounced the light “good.” He does not say this of the darkness. Instead, he “separated” the light from the darkness. The two could not co-exist.
True of the natural order, so too is it true of the moral order.
The great titanic struggle for the souls of men and women is the endless battle between light and darkness. Ours is not a conflict of politics or ideology. It is not a partisan or philosophical dispute; nor is it a mere difference of legal interpretation. In its most deeply-rooted and basic reality, our struggle is a towering and ceaseless spiritual warfare.
It always has been and it always will be—until the day of the triumphant return and final consummate victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Darkness hates light. Martin Luther described Satan as “the prince of darkness grim.” John Milton, in his classic, Paradise Lost, calls the devil the “Prince of Darkness.” In this, our adversary is a spiritual one, not a political one. The devil hates Christ. Thus, he also hates his followers.
People are not our enemies. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. We make a big mistake as Christians when we hate those with whom we disagree. Better understanding the nature of our struggle will help us love and respect those who oppose us. It will also give us a buoyant confidence and renewed energy to know that the battle is not ours—it is the Lord’s, and it is already won.
Let’s do our best to win. Let’s leave the results in God’s hands and committed to his will. In the end, notwithstanding his victories here in this fallen and rebel world, Satan is forever doomed.
Our love will generate a light that can repel the darkness. Far better we lose politically than we lose eternally. We profit nothing, says Jesus, if we gain the whole world—its power, glory and wealth—and lose our own souls in the process.
Let us ask God for the strength, wisdom, humility, and courage to let our light shine faithfully in the midst of a dark, hurting, and lost world. Love and light can scatter the greatest darkness and melt the hardest heart.
Placed in their proper spiritual context, the most emotional and controversial political and legal issues dividing America are often mere pawns in the larger defiance of God’s law and word. For example, the present advancement of the normalization of homosexuality—in Congress and the courts—is part of the spiritual fallenness of humankind. A manifestation of the darkness in the hearts of people.
Paul writes in Romans of the darkened and confused minds of those who will not acknowledge or worship God. Claiming themselves wise, they spend their time and energy thinking up “foolish ideas of what God is like” (Romans 1:21). They are, Paul says, “utter fools.”
These are part and parcel of man’s rebellion against God. Nothing more, nothing less. It is spiritual darkness. For we were all God’s enemies before we came to faith in Christ.
When he healed the man born blind, Jesus declared of himself, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). “I have come as light into the world,” Jesus says, “so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).
If we follow Jesus, we won’t have to walk in darkness, because you and I will have the light that leads to life (John 8:12).
Christmas is a celebration of light.
It is bathed in glorious light and bright colors. We decorate trees with lights and cheerful ornaments in our homes. Light is central to the joy and meaning of this sacred holiday. We travel our neighborhoods admiring creative and stunning Christmas lights and decorations.
To herald our Savior’s birth, the night skies became ablaze with the brilliance of angelic hosts singing. The wise men were guided to the King of kings by a star that shone brighter than any other in the heavenly firmament.
Let us follow him who is our light, that we may know his light, be taught by his light, be guided by his light, and love by his light.
Light or darkness.
What a difference.
All the difference in the world.
To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.
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