Day #346 - Light Power

The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

”In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Dex Ezekiel on Unsplash

What usually wakes you up in the morning?

Is it your alarm clock? Your spouse or your child? Is it a rooster or a pet? I am awakened by a variety of things in my busy life. But one of my favorite things to be awakened by (when its the right time of the morning) is when my wife pulls back the curtains of our bedroom windows and the light of the sunrise bursts into our room. Our bedroom window faces the sunrise that comes up over the mountains. On a clear or partially clear day, the sunrise are breathtaking. It can hurt my eyes a little to go from darkness to light so quickly, but when my eyes adjust the light displays the beauty of the sky, mountains and valley.

John chapter one is a more mystical and theologically rich explanation of Jesus’ incarnation. When we speak of Advent and His coming we often rightfully think of the story of Mary and Joseph. But John doesn’t focus on this part of Jesus life. He begins his gospel with the manifestation of Jesus as “the Word.” He says that in “the Word” was life and His life was the light of humanity. This “light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The coming of Jesus, the Word in the flesh, was an overcoming victory for the light over the darkness. When Jesus took on our humanity and came to dwell among us, it was a defeat for the kingdom of darkness. St. Athanasius wrote extensively on this in his work The Incarnation of the Word of God. He mostly refers to Jesus in his book as the “Word of God.” He links the coming of Jesus with His death and resurrection that all together lead to a decisive victory over darkness. Jesus has overcome in His coming the darkness of our sin, our sickness, evils spirits and false gods.

Translators differ on describing the light “overcoming” the darkness. Sometimes they says something more like the darkness has not “comprehended” or “understood” the light. The darkness had no idea what was happening to it when the Son of God came in the flesh. Light always wins. No amount of darkness can put out the light, but light always shines in the darkness.

When we are in “the Presence” of Jesus we are in the “the Presence” of the light. Darkness and evil have been defeated and are no match for the God-Man our Lord Jesus Christ. He has the power to deal with any darkness. When we come before Him, He shines on us and reveals places to turn from sin, receive His healing and His freedom. But not only does He show us where we need to change, His light is a power that performs the operation we need to change and be whole.

King Jesus, Light of the world, Word of God, shine on me. Drive out all darkness from my life. Your coming meant utter defeat of all darkness. I want to live in the light and warmth of Your presence. Let Your light shine in me and through me. Be glorified in me. In Your holy name, amen.