Bible Reading: Psalm 29, 1 John 5: 15-21
“And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” – 1 John 5:19(KJV)
There are two types of knowledge spoken of here; the knowledge of where we belong as Christians and the knowledge of wickedness that has engulfed the whole world. Isaiah properly captured this in Isaiah 60:1-3(KJV), “Arise shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” The darkness and gross darkness that will cover the earth and the people is what John the Apostle meant as ‘the whole world lieth in wickedness’.
As well pointed out in Isaiah 60, the world is currently separated into two, namely Light and darkness. Apostle Paul also affirm in 1 Thess. 5:5(KJV), “Ye are all children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Light and darkness are two opposing forces though of an unequal strength. The only antidote to darkness is light. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” – John 1:5(KJV). Please note that it is ‘the Light’ that shines in darkness, and it is ‘the Darkness’ that could not comprehend it.
Jesus is ‘The Light’ that shines in darkness and Satan is ‘The Darkness’ that cannot and will never comprehend the superior power of Christ. Jesus is the light, He is the Word and the word of God is light. Jesus Christ went into the dark domain and set captives free, of which we were among them. Since the death of Christ, the stranglehold of the Devil has been destroyed. Where no man could tread before, the Son of God came and shattered the gates of brass and set the bars of iron asunder and released the captives to eternal liberty. God, through the death of Christ, entered into a covenant with man that was sealed with a righteous blood (the blood of Jesus Christ). As children of God, Apostle John was saying that our knowledge of who we are exempts us from the wickedness that has engulfed the world. What has engulfed the world is darkness and we are children of light. As light, we have power over darkness and cannot be influenced nor affected by darkness.
The evil that has spread all over the entire world is not expected to affect the children of God. As sons of God, we have the immunity of righteousness against the dominant evil in this world. In this present time the sons of God will be clearly separated from the general Christian community. The separating force is the revelation of sonship which we will be looking at tomorrow.
Prayer: Father, open my eyes to see the reality of my sonship in you.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo