In the creation story of Genesis chapter 1, we do not read that God created darkness, but instead that God created light. Darkness is the absence of light. Light is needed for life to emerge and develop. Darkness, on the other hand, has long been a symbol for a power that seeks to extinguish life.

Luke 22:53 tells us that on the night Jesus was betrayed, He said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders, “This is your hour, an hour of darkness.” The powers of darkness were trying their hardest to extinguish the “light,” but John 8:12 tells us that Jesus is the light that comes into our world of darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome this light.

We need to be rescued from many things: ignorance, disease, bad decisions, and the like. But what we need most of all is deliverance from the power of darkness. Through sin and death, it seeks to destroy us. But darkness did not and could not extinguish Jesus; He is still shining and will shine forever. I pray that God will help us move close to Him so we can walk in His light.