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5. Darkness Hates the Light

Have you heard of a doctor or prophet or leader or philosopher, who was able to perform miracles and wonders like Jesus Christ? He silenced the storm with the power of His word, and fed the five thousand in the wilderness with five loaves and two fish. By the word of His mouth He cast out evil spirits from those possessed. He healed the sick who came to Him from all their diseases. No problem nor illness nor any other authority was able to oppose the authority of His love. Christ offered His miraculous services free of charge, while He himself was content to remain poor. He did not glorify Himself, but honored His heavenly Father and venerated His name continually. He was so humble that He could say: By myself I can do nothing! (John 5:30)

Jesus presented the gospel to the poor and delivered them from their sufferings by the power of His spirit. However, His greatest work was to take away the sin of the whole world. He has freed us from Satan’s chains of bondage after announcing to us that our corrupt nature needed salvation. Christ delivered His followers from the mistaken idea that their piety will save them, giving them at the same time a wonderful hope. It is through His divine love that He can save them from God’s wrath over their sins. Jesus has carried the sins of the world and also suffered the judgment for all mankind. He reconciled God with man through the sacrifice of Himself. Christ thus is the gentle, purifying, healing light. All who draw near to Him will not be condemned, but will be justified and saved. Those who follow Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Christ overcame all kinds of temptations but did not sin. Neither His enemies nor the Roman authorities could accuse Him of any transgression or wrong doing. For the divine light dwelling in Him overcame every temptation, darkness or corruption. The inspired revelation attests to the holiness of Christ at all times. No sin was found in Him. Thus, He alone was worthy to substitute for sinners. Out of the greatness of His love He suffered for our sins and covered our transgressions. On the cross He cried out:

For Christ, who announced to us the Fatherhood of God and who was from eternity one with Him, suffered judgment on our behalf. He was the Lamb of God, who bore our sins and endured suffering in our place. Have you realized the greatness of the justification which God offers you?

The holy God cannot forgive without reason, because the demands of His justice would then conflict with the demands of His love. Justice requires the destruction of the sinner and his eternal damnation, because he has transgressed the law and offended against God. Sin is transgression, but divine love wants the salvation of the sinner. For this reason, God sent Christ as a substitute for humanity in order to erase the sin of the world and suffer the judgment on our behalf. By so doing he kept the law, fulfilling its demands and silencing the vile prosecutor, because Christ, in His love paid the price of our reconciliation. The following incident will throw light on these deep spiritual truths.

God, in His perfect holiness, will under no circumstances pervert justice. On the contrary He will judge us according to the law and condemn us to death and punishment, which we deserve. Thanks to His great love for us He laid on Christ all our iniquities. He died in our place. In this way He has paid the price of our deliverance from the consequences of judgment. This death of Christ was the great victory over darkness.

The just took the place of the unjust to open for us the road to grace and light. Since that time the sun of righteousness shines on Christ’s followers. No longer do they have to live in the darkness of their sins, because Christ has finally freed them from sin’s penalty. Satan has no rights over them or any authority, because Christ represents them before the Father. Thus, all believers in Christ confess the redemptive sacrifice of Christ with thankfulness and praise as the divine revelation to the prophet Isaiah, 700 years before the death of Christ, expresses it:

Dear Reader, Christ is the “Great Sacrifice”, about whom we read in the scriptures. Reconciliation between the world and God was accomplished by His death. We suggest that you memorize these inspired words from Isaiah, and consider them deeply in order to understand the meaning of the sufferings of Christ. Thus, you will obtain God’s righteousness prepared for you personally.