Out of the Spirit realm God spoke to the primal darkness, and light and energy and life came into being. Without energy there was no light; without light there was no life. Despite the intricacies of modern science regarding the substance of light in terms of quanta and atoms and electromagnetism, all of which are fascinating and useful, the Bible reduces the essence of light to Christ. John says "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4) If that seems overly simplistic, consider the fact that whereas we regard the sun as a basic source of light, we must ask from whence has the sun its energy to produce light? The field of optics in physics is a vast field that continually yields vital information in the understanding of and the application of light. However when we come to the source of light, modern science reduces it to the simplistic terms of atomic reactions within the sun that change matter into energy. In the light of this, the simplification of the Bible seems not unrealistic. The Bible teaches that the universe came into existence through the energy of God. The alternative is simply an unknown factor. So why not God? God is the eternal Spirit, whose energy created and sustains the universe. And as a Spirit He transcends all matter and the energy that accompanies it. The Spirit of God, transcending energy and matter, nevertheless expressed energy through Christ. The first few verses of John are simple but very illuminating in this respect. "In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Logos was with God, and God was the Logos." (John 1:1) The Logos was, of course, a reference to Christ. Logos is usually translated as "Word," but it is far more significant than that. To the Greek philosophers, logos was the central meaning of the universe. It had to do with concepts and ideas which, to them, were the essence of all things. John counters this idea by saying that the logos they were seeking was really Christ. John continues by saying "All things came into being through Him and without Him was not anything that came into being. In Him was life and the life was the light of men." (John 1:3-4) So that all of life is imbued with the energy of Christ, the Logos, who was the extension of God into the realm of matter, to create the universe. John clearly states that the life of Christ was also the source of light for all the world.

There are rich treasures to be gained from the study of optics, in terms of the spectrum and the effect of light upon our daily lives, but the basic reality is that Christ is the energizing force within the believer, producing in us by His very presence, the true light of the Spirit to illuminate our way through the perverse delusions and chaos of this fallen material world. In our flesh we are victims of this world and are surrounded by its darkness, but are guided safely through it by the Spirit light within us, which is able to penetrate the darkness like an infra-red ray and reveal its true nature. Infra-red is a designation for a color at the low end of the spectrum that cannot be detected by the human eye. Instruments have been developed that use infra-red to penetrate the darkness and see through it.

The psalmist says, "The darkness and the light are both alike to Thee" or, as the Hebrew has it, "As is the darkness, so is the light to Thee." (Psalm 139:12) The darkness hides nothing from God, nor can it mask the realities of this wretched world when we are illuminated by the Spirit of Christ within us. The psalmist also says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway." (Psalm 119:105) We have a focus of light on our daily path as well as the illumination of the meaning of the world around us. Paul had the focus right in his words to the Corinthians--"It is God who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the presence of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, in order that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (II Corinthians 4:6-7) Our spirit, possessing the Spirit of Christ, sees the reality of the world around us through the darkness, but our flesh is sometimes blinded to these realities, and so we are affected by it. And thus the war Paul had between his flesh and his spirit. He said, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man," (which indicated that he had to have the Spirit of God in him), but then again he said, "The good that I would I do not and the evil [unsoundness] that I would not, I do." (Romans 7) Again, in his later life, writing to the Philippians, he said, "I have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3)

So then possessing the Spirit of Christ we are "children of light." Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life." (John 8:12) And Paul said to the Thessalonians, "Ye are the children of light and the children of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness." (I Thessalonians 5:5) And so, whereas we are living in a world of darkness, we are infused with the light of Christ in our spirits and in that respect are never in darkness, as are the children of Satan who are also called the children of darkness. And such were the Ephesians before the coming of the light of the Gospel of Christ, "You were then darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8) Even though they had become children of light because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their spirits, the flesh did not always respond as it should have, and became obscured by the surrounding darkness. But that was only in the flesh and not the Spirit. The Ephesians were identified by Paul as the "beloved of God" and yet had to be reminded of the perils of the world around them.

The above principles give us an excellent analogy in the relationship between ourselves and Christ. Possessing His Spirit within us, our spirits are filled with light. Even though we are surrounded by darkness, we have the continual light of the presence of Christ within us. The light is never-ending and prevails even when our flesh is sometimes overwhelmed by the world around us. The psalmist said, "Surely the darkness shall cover me," but he finds that the darkness is dispelled by the light of God's presence. The Spirit prevails in the darkness, but the mind does not always keep pace with it and does not always see things clearly. Thus, in the matter of guidance, we ask Christ to show us the way and then we promptly get lost as contrary data clouds our minds. How can we ever really know that we have the mind of God? Here again, the Spirit must prevail in spite of our own feelings and inadequate understanding. Sometimes people claim to hear God's voice audibly. There is, of course, no way to dispute this claim, but the Author has never had that experience, and yet has received remarkable guidance over the years by committing the matter to Christ and asking Him to see to it that I do what He wants. The Spirit within us penetrates the darkness and brings us to our destination. It is not a matter of our own wisdom or spirituality, but the faithful work of the Spirit within. Paul tells the Philippians, "He that began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6) Somehow we get where we are supposed to be when we put it in the Lord's hands.

In this respect, there is a similarity of analogy in the matter of sound waves. Sound waves also have their frequency, some of these frequencies are beyond the capacity of the human auditory system. Paul speaks to this point precisely in Romans 8:26 "So also the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we know not what we should pray for even as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with unuttered sighs . . ." The "unuttered" expressions of the Spirit within us are not heard by us. But a communication takes place between our spirit and the Spirit of Christ which prevails over the clamor of religious effort. We have within us something like the altar of incense at the tabernacle, which continually wafted its way to God. That is what Jesus had in mind when He said to the woman of Samaria that worship is neither here nor there, "But they that worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth [reality]." (John 4:23) There is nothing unsound about praying aloud, but we must remember that our prayers are but human symbols like childish prattle, which the Spirit must take to the Father. We do the best we can, but the human mind is quite limited when it comes to interaction with God.

God's gift to the world through Christ was light and life. John says, that, "He is the true light which lights every man that comes into the world," and that "the darkness could not overcome Him." At the same time, from the point of view of the Spirit, the world lies in darkness. However, the believer has an inner light through the Spirit of Christ that enables him to penetrate the darkness and see with the eyes of the Spirit what is often obscured by the flesh. When Jesus was born, the shepherds on the hillside of Judea were given the message of His birth by the great company of angels that lit up the night sky. But Herod a few miles away in the palace in Jerusalem did not see it.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth [reality], and the life." (John 14:6) Christ is the essential reality of the universe, but only those who possess His Spirit can see that. Through the eyes of the Spirit we possess the reality of Christ within, in spite of all the darkness in the world without. When the darkness seems to engulf you, reach for the real. Reach for the Spirit of Christ within. Never mind the illusions of darkness, rest in the One who has "Called you out of darkness into His awesome light." (I Peter 2:9)