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A Light To Rule The Darkness
Genesis 1:16-18
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
A few years ago I went to Walt Disney World and the Disney MGM Studios. I went to the animation part of the park and there they had a tour you could go on to see the animators at work.
They had a raised floor area where you could walk through and look at the people working through a glass. At one point in the tour I noticed a door that said “Dark Room.”
One of the animators there had decided to make it a little more fun, so they had drawn a picture of the door to the room slightly open and darkness spilling out from the room and onto the floor. The caption read, “Do not open this door; you will let the dark out.”
Of course we find this picture humorous because the purpose of the door is obviously not to keep the darkness in but to keep the light out. Light has a way of making its way through cracks around the door.
But what is darkness?
Exodus 10:21-22
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
Normally, however, darkness cannot be felt. Rather darkness exists simply as the absence of light. Wherever there is an absence of light, you have darkness.
In the story in Genesis, the Lord has created a light to rule the day and a light to rule the night.
Earth-Moon Demonstration
The sun shines on one side of the earth and rules the day. Darkness is almost completely driven out of the earth by the bright sun shining on it. Only in caves or other heavily shielded areas does the light fail to reach.
In my house there is a room where the sun hardly ever reaches. When you come in from the garage to the basement, there is a little furnace room you must pass through without windows.
When I come into the room from the outside, my eyes have not adjusted to the dim conditions and I find that I am almost completely blind for a while until I can find the light switch.
It is very dangerous too because you must go up a stair step to enter the main portion of the basement. I have solved this problem by putting a low-wattage fluorescent bulb in the room and I leave it on almost all the time.
The shape of the earth means that the sun shines on only half of it at a time. But without the sun in the sky we can see the lesser lights shining forth.
The moon is the biggest source of that light. Light shining on the moon is reflected onto the dark side of the earth. The moon, however, does not have a source of light on its own.
In fact if you measure the amount of light that reflects off the moon compared to the amount reaching it from the sun, you will find that the moon is closer to black than white.
It appears rather gray only because of the tremendous amount of light striking it from the sun.
End Of Earth-Moon Demonstration
John 8:12: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Just as the sun shines on the earth and makes it day, Jesus is saying that while He was on the earth it was showered in light.
After His death, burial, and resurrection, however, where is the light? How does a world sent suddenly back into darkness receive its light?
2 Corinthians 4:6-7
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
So just like the moon, we do not have a light of our own. We cannot shine our light to men.
It is only by reflecting the light of God that we are able to bring light to a dark world.
Just as Jesus is the light of the world and rules the day, He has given us the power and the ability to shine His light so that we may rule the darkness.
At some point in the past, this city was living in darkness. Throughout all of time this city was in the dark. But then someone brought the light to this community to rule over the darkness and drive it out.
But the darkness is not about to give up without a fight.
John 3:19-21
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Darkness is the absence of light. So how does the darkness hide from the light? Where do they stay so that the light cannot reach them?
Matthew 16:15-18
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
A quick note about military tactics: The military has a number of different divisions and weaponry for different situations.
There are infantry for ground fighting, planes for airborne battles, long-range guns, etc.
David used a sling. The army of Israel used slings to throw rocks at the enemy from afar. Later archers using bows and arrows replaced these men.
Today guns, cannons, howitzers, and even aircraft are used to accomplish the same purpose, to project power over your enemy from a distance away. These are considered offensive weaponry.
There are also defensive measures that can be taken.
Cities used to be built with walls surrounding them to keep out the invading hordes.
When armies came, the city would close their gates and wait. The army outside would attempt to break down the walls and gates of the city to enter it.
The people inside would attempt to survive without supplies until the army lost interest and left. Laying siege to a city is a waiting game.
The Bible talks about a tunnel being built at the time of Hezekiah.
Workmen started and each end and worked to the center. The purpose of the tunnel was to bring water from a spring outside the city gates into the city and protect the water source from the armies outside.
2 Kings 18:9-10
9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
After 3 years, the Assyrians finally captured the city.
They eventually captured the city by making the conditions inside the city so bad that the people were unable to defend themselves.
Even after the time of Jesus, several Israelites hid within a city called Masada on top of a mountain in defiance of the Romans.
The Romans built what is still considered one of the greatest engineering achievements of all time: a ramp that would allow them to bring in siege works to attack Masada.
The Romans brought in machines that beat against the sides of the city walls of Masada and caused it to eventually fall.
The point is that gates are a defensive measure.
When Matthew 16:18 speaks of the “gates of Hell,” it is talking about Hell in a defensive position.
Just like the door to the dark room at Disney, the gates of Hell are there to keep out the light.
This church is a light to the people of this community. Hell is hiding behind its gates. It is time for us to lay siege.
Do not be frustrated if your siege seems to take a long time. Remember, this type of battle is a waiting game.
Every time you make an attack on the fortress of evil, you are weakening the walls.
As you kneel in prayer for this city, you are bringing in the battering ram against their gates.
Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
We have been put on this earth to rule over the darkness.
But how?
Ephesians 6:12 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.
We must always remember that we are Spiritual beings living in a physical world.
When we look at a sunlit world, we may forget just how dark it really is. We need to bring the light to the world in the Spirit.
- Look to the light.
When we receive the Holy Ghost, we become able to reflect the light of Jesus onto the world. - Polish your mirror.
As we go through the world, our own sins will begin to tarnish us so that we are not able to reflect the image of Jesus. We must always be asking forgiveness for our daily sins to keep ourselves clean. - Let it shine.
Matthew 5:16: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Just like the children’s song, we must not be afraid to let our light shine. For it is only when our light shines that darkness is defeated.
