Light vs. Darkness
Before the creation of Man darkness covered the surface of the deep and God was present, a separate entity from the void and darkness around. When God said, “Let there be light” the creation power from within Him pierced the darkness and what was once void and empty became full of life. If God created the world through light, how did darkness gain entrance?
First off, what is darkness? Is it not the complete opposite of light? Where light sets free, darkness enslaves, where light brings truth, darkness brings deception, where light exposes, darkness conceals. Darkness was never created nor itself can create but is an ultimate byproduct of separation from God. In God is light, and anything outside of Him is only darkness, period.
Light in Mankind
In the image of God, mankind was created to be vessels, carriers of His light. His light would guide people to live pure, holy lives as well be able to fulfill their callings and grow in their relationship with Him. God would be at the center of our will, intellect, attitude, and emotions and living in His light would expand their capacity to carry and use it for His glory.
Yet outside of His light, lurked the darkness, the reality of what separation from God looked like. This kind of reality of darkness was a concept Adam and Eve never experienced yet were aware of. During their initial moments in the garden, God told them:
You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.
Genesis 2:17
Death would be a result of separation from God and His life-giving Light.
Although they were created for this purpose, God did not predetermine their inclinations to do His will automatically, but granted them free will. Through this, God granted them the capacity to discipline their wills to submit to His.
In His will, they would grow in maturity and relationship with God and would be empowered to fulfill their roles as faithful stewards of the Garden of Eden, eventually expanding outward, having dominion over and multiplying on the earth. God only had plans to prosper them, not to harm them, and to give them hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), but His plans were conditional on whether they would choose to remain in His guiding light.
Light vs. Darkness in the Heavens
Aside from the earthly realm, possibly before the creation of mankind, tension stirred in heavens. It involved an angel, Lucifer, name meaning light bearer, who had the greatest position, beauty, wisdom, and power, to name a few, amongst all of the created heavenly beings. Yet despite being created to the utmost perfection, the light of God departed from him when he, instead of using what God had given him for His glory, desired to be elevated above God and keep the glory to himself rather than give it to God. As a result, God’s light departed from Lucifer and he, no longer bearer of his light, became full of darkness. He was cast out of heaven and was stripped of his position and beauty.
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
Isaiah 14:12
So the darkness became Lucifer’s reality once he decided to rebel against God. Previously, darkness had only been a concept that proved the potential for evil through freewill. Now, beyond concept, it wreaked havoc through its host that was granted freewill to choose it over God’s Light. As an agent of darkness, Lucifer deceived ⅓ of the angels in heaven to believe that he could rise above God and reward them if they joined him. With him they too fell, left to their own demise and evil inclination to steal, kill, and destroy, all that God loves and holds dear. Satan, as a snake, would lie in wait for an opportunity to deceive the first two human beings, tempting their freewill to turn away from God.
The Temptation
Did God really say,‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?
Genesis 3:1
Now this was posed by Lucifer, who was already completely separated from God and wanted nothing more than to make it his mission to separate from God that whom He loved so dearly, even to have made into His own image, mankind.
In love He created them with freewill to have the opportunity to love Him in return through obedience and devotion out of their own desire. This choice was laid before them in the form of a tree with the mandate not to eat from it less they certainly die (Genesis 2:17).
From the scripture, we see that Adam and Eve initially never seemed to question God or doubt His good intentions for them about this. Yet the serpent planted a seed of doubt and deception, so that Adam and Eve desired, to some extent, as Lucifer had, the privilege to be like God. For them, it would come as knowing both good and evil, which the forbidden tree supposedly supplied. Therefore, they thought only good could come out of this, despite God’s warning to them.
You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-6
Just as Lucifer, as soon as they desired this temptation which was contrary to the will of God and disobeyed Him by eating the fruit, they became separated from Him and His Light and Truth.
Darkness
Immediately after eating from the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened, and they felt shame for the very first time. Instead of knowing both good and evil, like God, they were in for something completely unexpected. Once their light departed, there was only darkness left and with this their entire perceptions became rewired to corrupted distortions. What was once good now appeared bad and shameful, though never the intent of its original purpose.
Even in a place filled with the beauty and the glory of God, their hearts became corrupted, tuned towards evil. No longer bearing His light, they were blinded to the Truth of who they were as made in God’s image and no longer knew who they were called to be. Instead of recognizing that they were beautifully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) they were filled with shame and fear, even to the point of trying to hide from God when He called out to them in the garden.
Into darkness they remained after they departed from the garden, along with the generations upon generations after them, with nothing but a shadow of the redemption that was to come through the work of Jesus Christ.
If in God there is Light and Truth, then outside of Him is only darkness and deception. Satan embodies this deception and uses this as a major tool to separate people from the Light and Truth of God.. Its main aim is to cause people to believe that they can fill the void in their hearts without God, essentially choosing a path outside of His will, way, and Truth. It’s by our freewill that we have the opportunity to choose Light over Darkness, truth over a lie, freedom over bondage and live out our destinies to be carriers of His Light.
Conclusion
Conclusion- The rest is history. Literally. The book of Genesis sets the stage for how Light pierced the darkness during Creation, and then how Light departed causing Darkness to persist once more, but this time in the midst of the life that God had created. With freewill in mind, the presence of darkness only corrupted and distorted what God had only intended to be pure, holy, and set apart for His glory. In God, there is Light, and without Him there is only Darkness.