People have often associated darkness with a bad thing.

I remember when I was a kid, we had a power outage at home due to heavy rain or thunderstorm—it was not a pleasant feeling to snuggle in a dark room, together with my siblings. We got stuck there, no one was moving around, and soon we had a wandering imagination of ghost or thief around the house. Everyone was hoping the power would soon be restored! When the light came back, we all shouted for joy.

If you’ve had a similar experience, you would likely agree that darkness is often related with bad things: crimes, terrors, addictions, frauds, etc.

But, interestingly, many people would prefer to sleep in darkness—although perhaps it’s not total darkness—because they could sleep faster and deeper without light.

Based on a quick Google search, studies show that it is best to sleep in as much darkness as possible. Pitch darkness reduces potential distractions and disruptions to sleep. Light exposure slows down the production of melatonin, an essential sleep-promoting hormone. When our rooms are dark at night, our bodies produce the much-needed melatonin and we get quality sleep. It helps lower the risk of depression and maintains a balanced mental and emotional well-being.

Clearly, darkness is not necessarily a bad thing!

In fact, according to the Bible, darkness has long existed even before the creation of mankind: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2).

After all, it is God Himself who create light and darkness, which shows His authority and sovereignty over all things: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).

I believe that darkness, just as any other God’s creation, is good if “God saw that it was good.”

So, now the question is when (or how) does darkness become bad?

Darkness becomes bad due to rebellion of those who hate the light. Principally, the enemy of the light is the devil. Practically, he was also the one who caused the fall of man and still continues to persuade the sons of man to hate the light.

These are the men Jesus was referring to when He revealed that “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20).

Darkness becomes bad when people who reject God misuse it to hide their sins or evil deeds.

These people, according to Jesus, are living under condemnation because they deliberately choose darkness over light as they refuse to come to the light—as they refuse to believe in Him, the light who has come into the world (John 3:18).

Just as darkness is not necessarily a bad thing, light is also not necessarily a good thing.

Again, Scripture reveals that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Thus, we need to be careful with those false apostles, deceitful workers who abuse light for their destructive plans.

Thanks be to God, as Christ’s followers and believers, we have this wonderful promise from Jesus Himself: “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46). As we believe in Jesus, we abide in His word—truth that will set us free from the bondage of sin and the fear of death and give us freedom to live for Him—a life that is driven by His Spirit.

Now, as we look forward to the future, we have this comforting hope that God will fulfill His promise to make all things new. We will receive a new heaven and a new earth, and there will be no night there because Jesus, the Lamb of God and the Light of the world, will shine His light (Revelation 21:23, 22:5).

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Revelation 21:23)

“There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:5)

Does “there will be no night” mean that we will need no sleep? I believe so.

While we live on this [cursed] earth, our [imperfect] bodies are designed to rest and rejuvenate through sleep. However, after the resurrection, each of us will have a new, perfect, glorious body that does not age and will never suffer from any pain or diseases. That’s why we are told that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4).

I learned it is quite remarkable that—based on the progression from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22—we are actually moving from absolute darkness to absolute light. From “darkness over the surface of the deep” to “light that shines forever,” we can be sure that it is God who works in all things according to His sovereign will, infinite wisdom, and wonderful purpose.

He is truly the Author of the greatest story ever told in history!

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^{This article was written and published in Burnaby, BC, Canada on June 20, 2023.
The featured image was originally designed by the author with images from online resources.}