Eternal Destruction

For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them, for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Now the text compares light and darkness, obviously. There are essentially two commands. One is a positive command in verse 8, walk as children of light. The second is a negative command in verse 11, do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, so darkness and light are set against each other. Now the context for this, as you well know, began in chapter 4 as we began to look at the practical instruction of the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul, for living the Christian life, for walking through the world in a way that honours the Lord.

And we have talked about walking worthy, we have talked about walking in unity, we have talked about walking in purity, walking in integrity, last time walking in love, and now we have come to walking in light. Just another way to perceive the life of the believer. You were darkness, you were darkness formally, verse 8 says, but now you are light. This is a stark contrast. They are mutually exclusive, and that is why the Lord has chosen by His Spirit this particular analogy. It is the best figure to show the complete separation of the non-Christian from the Christian, the complete separation of the child of Satan from the child of God.

One is darkness, the other is light, and the contrast is extreme to show the difference and the distinction and the opposite nature between Christians and non-Christians. The darkness of this world is deep. It is a profound darkness. It is an ever-increasing darkness. It is a deep blackness. It is a spiritual black hole engulfing the world, and into which the world plunges deeper and deeper all the time. Now Scripture likes to use this comparison because it is so stark and it is so extreme, so we’re not surprised then when we find it in a lot of places in the Scripture.

If we were to back up, for example, to chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians and the familiar verse 14, we would see the contrast made there. Do not be bound together with unbelievers, for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? We would also see this same extreme contrast in Colossians chapter 1 verse 12, where the apostle writes, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, for he rescued us from the domain of darkness. You see it also in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verses 4 and 5.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness. And one more Scripture just to illustrate the familiarity that the text of Scripture has with this idea. 1 Peter 2 9, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. This is the contrast that’s so familiar in the New Testament.

Now darkness represents, I think, four things. If you understand these four, you’ll sort of understand the range of the expression of this term darkness. It represents depravity. It describes the human condition in sin. Not only does it represent depravity, but it represents deception. It speaks of the darkness of the mind, darkened in their understanding, as it says back in chapter 4 verse 18, or blinded in their soul, as it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. So darkness is associated with depravity, and it is associated also with deception. Thirdly, it is clearly associated with death.

The profound darkness of death defines the spiritual condition of non-believing people, people outside the kingdom of God. And finally, darkness is used to describe the destruction of hell, which is a place of blackness, a place of outer darkness, in which people are bound in chains of darkness and blackness forever. So darkness is depravity, deception, death, and destruction in hell. It’s an ominous reality in the Bible, but this is what darkness represents. There are also times when darkness represents divine judgment, such as the darkness when Jesus was dying, which was during the time that the concept of darkness relates to all that is unrighteous, from our depravity to our eternal destruction.

Thank you for joining us in this exploration of eternal destruction. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong, and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].