A Biblical Idea: Darkness

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." -John 8:12 (NIV)

In the bible, darkness is the polar opposite of light.  Jesus uses this metaphor when he talks about salvation as seeing the light, having light and shining your light.  Jesus speaks of the light as good and the darkness is evil.  If we are to understand that God's word is never changing then let's take a look at another bit of scripture.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. - Genesis 1:1-4 (NIV)

Here, in the beginning, God created the heaves and the earth but darkness was over the surface of the deep.  So, in the beginning there was God and the darkness, ie: evil.  So, even in the beginning God and darkness knew one another.  God didn't make darkness, it was already there.  God separated the light from the darkness to create paradise (Eden) but darkness found its way back in.

Here we may have the concept that evil wasn't created but evil has always been here, later to be destroyed during Jesus' return.  The darkness, that was strong enough to corrupt one of God's closest angels (Lucifer) had always been there, with God before creation.

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. -Romans 13:12 (NIV)

Evil was not created but will one day be defeated.  Evil in the world is nearly over, so let us put aside our evil deeds and put on the armor of God.

Grace and Peace,
Jesse