John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John uses the contrast of light and darkness is several places in his gospel. In John 3:16. he writes, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.
The condemnation is already upon those who love darkness. The reality is that those who love and practice evil don’t want light to expose them or their deeds. They prefer to hide in darkness. But from whom do they hide? From the God who created them. It has been so from the beginning. If we go back to Genesis 3:8, we read: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 ¶ Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” You know the rest of the story, but the point here is that those who violate God’s rules, seek to hide from God. It is this desire to hide from God that makes darkness their friend. They hate the light. It reminds them of the God they have rejected.
The good news is that just like Adam and Eve, God seeks after those who live in darkness. He would that none would perish. It is from darkness that many of us were plucked. As children of God, we bring His light into dark places. The light in us will dispel the darkness around us. That is why Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
