“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
My youngest daughter was and is a huge fan of the “Star Wars” movies. She must have watched them over and over again for what seems like a hundred times. Many of us remember hearing James Earl Ray’s powerful voice as Darth Vader as he says to his son Luke Skywalker, “You don’t know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master”.
Jesus spoke about the power of the dark side as he spoke about the power temptation and sin has in our lives. He said, “"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 5:22-23). Moreover, Jesus adds how the dark side can overtake us and become our master when we let sin dominate our lives: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 5:24).
However, as the opening passage above indicates, as Christians we can rejoice because we have been delivered from the power of the dark side. Paul describes how, through Christ, we have been taken away from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13). We no longer have to say as did Darth Vader, “You don’t know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master” because we have been delivered from the master of sin and darkness.
God is described as being full of light. The apostle John writes, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). As we follow God, we are described as “walking in the light”. Moreover, John adds, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). We are richly blessed to not have to grope about in the darkness unsure of where we are going. We have the assurance of knowing God is lighting the way for us to go through our journey of this earthly life.
However, we are warned that the dark side is still pulling at us. Temptation and sin are strong forces which Satan uses to pull us to come back to him. Again the apostle John uses the sin of hate as an example of the power the dark side can exert in our lives if we give ourselves over to it: “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9-11). The dark side is ever at work seeking to become master once again of our lives!
Paul encourages us to remember to walk as children of light: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). I realize I am blessed to be delivered from the power of darkness. Today, I will rejoice and walk as a child of light!
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life’ ” (John 8:12).