In the summer of 2005, I went over to Turin, Italy to share the Gospel through teaching English. I was very excited because western Europe has always been the place in the world I wanted to visit most, and other than a quick stop in Frankfurt on the way to Kiev, I had never been there. Italy was an amazingly beautiful place. The architecture was fascinating, and the amount of history that was literally at my fingertips made me delirious. As I dealt with the weight of centuries upon me, the shock of food so fresh and delicious that it makes my mouth water even six years later blew my mind in the form of a street-side calzone that is still the best I have ever had. I could go on to describe the rich Italian farmland full of tomatoes and grapes that stretched on for miles, and the beautiful stillness in my soul as I saw the sun rise over the intense blue of the Mediterranean Sea. It brought tears to my eyes.
Despite the beauty of Italy, there remained something else. John and I were walking back to the hostel one evening when we were both struck by the spiritual darkness of the place. Obviously, a place that has largely rejected Jesus is spiritually dark, but it was like running into a dense fog that was not physically there. An inky blackness seemed to reach out from the alleys and streets to darken the evening shadows. The lights of the riverside party dimmed a bit as we the Holy Spirit within us awakened to the sensation. John spoke first, "Have you noticed how spiritually dark this place is?" I had to agree. We were on the front lines of the Great Spiritual War that has always been fought and will continue to be fought until Jesus returns and God finally casts Satan into hell. I pray that I always am on the front lines. There are so many souls that are out in that darkness right now that desperately need the light of Christ.
"Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in iron" (Psalm 107:21).
They sit in darkness as rebels because they have rejected the Word of God. They are prisoners, bound in the chains of their own selfish desires, slaves to their own instincts. Just as they are, so were all of us, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11a). At one point we were also bound in sin, condemned before a righteous God. What happened in your life? What changed? Someone came to you, right? God opened your eyes, and for the first time you saw truly. The scales fell and radiant light flooded in casting out darkness as you first believed.
"The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:2-7)
For God gave to us His Son, who is Himself, co-eternal with the Father. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). Darkness cannot overcome it! The radiant light that shines forth from the Father and the Son now shines forth from the heart of every child who cries out proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God the Father!
In the days of the Judges before the monarchy was established and David ruled, Israel was disobedient and walked in darkness worshiping the Baals. God then brought them to their knees as He gave them into the hand of Midian. For seven years, the Midianites and Amalekites would plunder and take the produce of the land of Israel like locusts leaving nothing for Israel until Israel returned and cried out to God. God called Gideon to deliver His people. In the night the three hundred came down to surround the camp of the Midianites and Amalekites and all the people of the East that lay in the valley. Suddenly, out of the darkness trumpets blew and jars shattered. Light poured forth from hundreds of torches as the enemies of the Israelites fell by the edge of the sword.
On that day the Lord broke the combined armies of nations with three hundred men. Two thousand years ago He stole victory from defeat and broke death itself! "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
'Death is swallowed up in victory.'
'O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?'
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Death! Where is your victory? Where is your sting? You can no longer cast fear! There is no more pain! What else can you do to us? You lost and Christ is reigns as king!
That is the day I look forward to. That is the day when darkness will be completely cast out by the divine light of the Almighty. When we will stand before the throne, seeing Him in His complete glory. We will dance and sing, shout and leap, fall to our knees bathed radiant in perfect light!
Jesus is already seeking you. If you do not know Him as your Savior, step out of the darkness of your life and into His light.
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame'" (Romans 10:9-11).
"So Jesus said to them, 'For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light'" (John 12:35-36).
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