We take light for granted, until darkness envelopes us.
In Vanuatu in 1999, a young Christian pastor was a passenger on a commercial aircraft that departed from the island of Espiritu Santo on dark, bound for the capital Port Vila. The 19 seat airliner encountered bad weather enroute and flew into a thunderstorm. The storm forced the aircraft to crash into the sea 15kms from its destination, where it quickly broke up and sunk. Swimming to the surface the survivors were greeted by overwhelming circumstances– driving rain, rough seas, and pitch black darkness!
When the rain finally stopped and the waves subsided, the small group of survivors found themselves floating in the darkness with hope of survival rapidly fading. But trusting God, the pastor prayed. Just then the stars came out, and in the distance they could see the glow of the lights of Port Vila. Yes, their immediate circumstances may not have changed, but the appearance of light in the darkness offered renewed hope.
I believe there is no greater symbol of hope than a light shining in the darkness. In this instalment of ‘the gospel of the kingdom’, we will begin by looking at a 2700-year-old prophecy of hope—a message conveyed in term of a light shining in the darkness.
It was originally spoken by the prophet Isaiah around 7 centuries before the birth of Jesus. At that time, the nation of Israel had broken into two, consisting of the northern kingdom (Israel, with its capital Samaria) and the southern kingdom (Judah, with its capital Jerusalem). This divided nation was also surrounded by the aggressively expanding Assyrian empire. To survive, the North sought out the South for an alliance against Assyria, instead Ahaz, the dishonourable king of the South, made an alliance with Assyria, resulting in the defeat and fall the northern kingdom in 722BC.
Against this backdrop of the fall of the North, and during these dark times, Isaiah speaks forth this powerful prophecy from God…
‘But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 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 Counsellor, 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 9:1-7 (ESV)
Christians often quote this passage at Christmas because it mentions a ‘child’ being born. But beyond the narrow focus on the ‘birth’, I want to focus on the heart of the subject matter—the coming of God’s Messiah and the hope that it renders to the lost.
700 years later, these prophetic words come of age. In fact, their fulfilment occurs at the time when this chosen child (now a grown man), is encountering his own dark trial…
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘ You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. Matthew 4:8-17 (ESV)
In an uncanny parallel, Jesus is facing one of the darkest moments of his life, to date. Weakened from fasting for 40days in the wilderness, he is tempted by Satan to give up the mission of deliverance and the kingdom governance that he was destined for. Yet, on successfully thwarting Satan’s temptation and on subsequently hearing of John the Baptist’s arrest, Jesus strategically withdraws to Galilee. This move now places him in the exact location Isaiah predicted. This is no coincidence, for in that very moment the dormant 700yr old prophecy comes to life …
And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles- the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:8-17 (ESV)
The move to Galilee triggers the formal beginning of Jesus’ mission; a mission that explicitly calls people to repentance on the basis of the kingdom of heaven being ‘at hand’.
Now, with regard to this notion of the ‘kingdom of heaven’, there is an unbalanced emphasis in Western Christianity to view heaven as some final destination for ‘saved souls’–an ethereal reality that is exclusively future. Yet, this is not quite how Jesus saw it. For him, heaven is the reality of God’s presence, power, and rule. In coming to earth on a mission of deliverance, Jesus brings that reality with him– a reality that will enable the conquest of God’s kingdom of light over Satan’s kingdom of darkness.
But how does proclaiming that the ‘kingdom of heaven ’ relate to a message of light shining in darkness?
Darkness is a powerful metaphor. In the Bible it is often a metaphor for evil: its actions, its methods and its consequences. Jesus’ kingdom message and mission makes far more sense when we understand that he explicitly came to confront and conquer a Kingdom of Darkness—an evil kingdom deliberately setup to usurp and oppose God’s kingdom rule.
Though this was discussed in the previous instalment, let me recap some key truths about this dark kingdom, that Jesus specifically came to overthrow…
The source and head of this dark kingdom is Satan. Satan was God’s chief archangel that rebelled against Him. He also convinced one third of the angels to follow his cause. His attempted coup against God’s kingdom was defeated, and both he and his rebellious cohort were cast out of the highest heaven.
This downfall spawned the creation of an alternative kingdom. In responding to an accusation that Jesus was driving out demons because he was in league with them in Matthew 12:26, Jesus, in referring to Satan’s kingdom, stated that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. In so doing, he is explicitly stating that Satan has a real kingdom.
Like any kingdom, there is a king and lower levels of organized command; a fact the Apostle Paul acknowledges…‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’ Eph 6:12
Now, Satan, in moving his ‘kingdom’ operations to lower heavenly realms and predominantly the earth, sets out to spoil God’s newly created world. In the guise of a serpent, he managed to cleverly deceive Adam and Eve into rebelling against God—such that they also fell from grace. In a just response to this rebellion, God cursed the serpent, the man, the woman, and the world they all inhabited. The world thus became a place of decay and death.
But that was not the end of the matter.
Satan’s dark kingdom was just getting started. With a powerful evil demon king presiding over a growing population of sinful humans, this reality soon coalesced into worldly domain of darkness (e.g. tower of Babel)—an organized Kingdom of evil comprising the world, the flesh, and the devil—rising up togethter in defiance against God. This is a domain characterized by sinful rebellion, demonic influence, suffering, lack, pain, and death—the world we know today.
This dark kingdom enslaves all who have not been redeemed from it. Indeed, Paul alludes to this when he informed the Ephesian Christians of their prior allegiance to it…
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:1-3
So, Jesus came to Galilee to formally begin a mission of overthrowing the power of this dark kingdom.
But how can we know that Jesus is the chosen one to reveal God’s Kingdom and break the power of the kingdom of darkness? The answer comes, initially, in the form of his miracles.
Look at the content of his miracles and you will see that they all demonstrate the power of God’s kingdom over the power of darkness. The kingdom of darkness manifests itself in the world in the form of sin, pain, hardship, lack, sickness, suffering, and death. Jesus’ miracles explicitly counter these dark kingdom realities. His miracles clearly demonstrate power over demons, power over the chaos in nature, power to meet material need, power to heal the sick, power to forgive sins, and the power to raise the dead. Indeed, far from just meeting the felt needs of a random group of afflicted individuals, Jesus’ miracles are a clear public demonstration that the kingdom of darkness has met its match.
The miracles of Jesus reveal that the true king has come back, and with him the powerful reality of the kingdom of heaven has arrived. A new age of light has dawned in the darkness, and for the first time there is real hope. Yet, as powerful as they were in revealing Jesus’ dominance over the kingdom of darkness, his miracles were only the precursor to the main events that would establish his power over the dark reign –his death and resurrection.
As Jesus faced his impending death on the cross he proclaimed these words, ‘ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.’ John 12:31 With this proclamation, Jesus was inferring that whilst his death might look like his defeat, it would actually result in the defeat of Satan’s rule.
Not only would Jesus’ death atone for the past sins of believers, but it would provide an ongoing basis for overcoming the enslaving power sin in their lives–breaking Satan’s power over them. A truth validated by the author of Hebrews, ‘Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.’ Hebrews 2:14-15
If the death of Jesus Christ dealt Satan and his kingdom a fatal blow, then it was his resurrection that openly revealed to all that the victory was complete.
Jesus overcame the darkness of death by rising from the grave: A victory of good over evil, of light over darkness, of the Kingdom of God over the Kingdom of Satan is now sealed. Death, the inexorable destiny of all fallen humans had been nullified! But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a proof of victory.
The resurrection establishes an entire new reality–the new creation. Yes, it was Jesus that came back, but he didn’t come back as the same ‘old human’. Jesus rose with a body that belongs to the new creation, a body that is imperishable, incorruptible, and eternal. This body is no longer affected by the old reality of sin, evil, and death–it transcends them. And it is to this hope of the new creation that all Christians can ‘now’ realistically aspire. The old order has been defeated–a new incorruptible order has come.
John’s words with respect to Jesus’ ministry and mission ring true, ‘ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.‘ John 1:5 But greater still is this truth, not only has the darkness ‘not’ overcome the light, but the light has now overcome the darkness.
Jesus has broken the dark kingdom, he has broken the power of the world, the power of the flesh, and the power of the devil. He has established a new reality, a new creation free from the domination of evil, a reality in which the light of hope shines for all you would entrust their lives to him.
But before I go, let me conclude the story I began with.
Courageously, the survivors decided to swim the 15km to the mainland, sadly one fell behind and was never seen again. But, after 6 hours of swimming in darkness and cold, and at the point of exhaustion, they reached the mouth of the harbour. Here they were faced with a critical decision.
On one side of the harbour they could see a single bright light, and on the other the larger city lights. The natural bias was to swim toward the greater lights. But after the young pastor prayed again, they concluded that swimming to the one single bright light was the best course. Swimming toward this one light, they came ashore over a reef and were rescued. Had they taken the other option they would have swum into a location with strong currents and sharks—probably not surviving. Trusting God and swimming toward that one bright light had saved them.
God had provided enough light to give them hope, on the basis of that hope they swam beyond the limits of human endurance. Coming to another point of decision they trusted God again, swimming to that one single bright light, they were saved. The light gave hope, the light brought salvation.
That is exactly what Jesus did.
How we lay hold of this light and what it means for us, is the subject of our next installment.
Spirit & Truth 