Darkness is no match for the light from Bethlehem

The adage, “it’s darkest before the dawn” is a perfect fit for this week in the northern hemisphere.

The winter solstice was on Dec. 21. At less than eight hours, it was the shortest day of the year, leading to the longest, darkest night.

Then, four days later, we celebrate the entrance of divine light into the world on Dec. 25 with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. Down Under, it’s summertime because of the tilt of the earth, but Christians in Australia, South America and Africa are also celebrating Christmas.

A common misperception is that light and darkness are equivalent opposites. But this is no more valid than the idea that God and the devil are moral opposites, two sides of a coin.

Compared with the Author of the universe, Satan is only a created being, albeit a dangerous and clever liar.

“Be alert and of sober mind,” the apostle Peter warned. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Unlike light, darkness has no essence. It is nothingness, the absence of light. You can dissipate darkness by lighting a candle, but you can’t bring darkness into a room.

Jesus described Himself this way: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

The Son of the Virgin Mary brought spiritual light – and love – into a very dark world that had turned its back on its Creator, and still does all too often.

Whereas literal darkness has no physical aspect, spiritual darkness is very real – a destructive force. However, we tend to give evil too much credit. Evil cannot create anything; it can only bring ruin.

People who are spiritually attuned can sense evil in certain places and, tragically, evil in abundance in certain people. However, the Bible blows away the liberal myth of man’s innate goodness, telling us that none of us is good, “no, not one,” which is why we all need a savior.

In Romans 1:20-22, the apostle Paul wrote: “For since the creation of the world … although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

We cannot possibly answer the question of why a good, all-powerful, omniscient God would allow evil to exist, other than that, without it, we would have no free will to choose or to reject God and thus would not be fully human. Still, it is wildly beyond our pay grade and an unsolvable mystery.

Jesus is so much more than a good teacher or a moral guide, even though He is recognized as such by the Quran and religious figures like Mahatma Gandhi.

In “Mere Christianity,” C.S. Lewis explains: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.”

An old New Yorker cartoon summed it up by showing a church with a sign out front that said, “Important, if true.”

In his new book, “Standing on the Edge of Eternity: The End Times According to Revelation,” Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia, offers a profoundly uplifting view of salvation.

The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus came and died for the sins of the whole world, not just a favored few, and that he was resurrected and offers eternal life to all who accept him.

Mr. Hamrick notes that the apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation, talks about the Book of Life that records the names of all people who go to heaven when they die.

“Notice, John did not say the righteous will be added to the Book of Life,” he writes. “The implication is that everyone’s name starts out in the Book of Life and gets blotted out only if he or she rejects Jesus.”

This could mean that at some point in everyone’s life – even stillborn babies and those raised under other religions – he or she gets a chance to accept the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, perhaps when they realize that rejection means eternal death.

The Bible also makes it clear that God will never forsake Israel and will bless those who bless it.

Christians are told that only the Lord knows what’s in the human heart, outward appearances notwithstanding. And so, our calling is to spread the good news to the ends of the earth by revealing the light and sharing God’s love – not, say, by forcing the issue with a sword.

Love, truth and light speak to our souls, as conveyed in the signature Christmas hymn:

“Silent night, holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.”

This column was first published at the Washington Times.