The Domain of Darkness
The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 Jn 5:19). Men love the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19). They walk in darkness (Jn 8:12) because every inclination of their hearts is only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). World forces of darkness, that is, demonic rulers and powers (Eph 6:12) inspire men to disobedience against their Creator God. They despise the Holy One of Israel, and they turn away from Him (Is 1:4).
Evil doers are children of the devil (Jn 8:44; 1 Jn 3:10), the evil one, who keeps his own from the Word of Christ’s kingdom (Mt 13:19). He blinds their minds from seeing the truth of God’s gospel (2 Cor 4:4). Restless to think, speak, and do the works of their father, they repay evil with evil, in an endless cycle of malice and violence.
The dark lord has dominion in this dark world (2 Cor 4:4), being the prince of the power of the air, the spirit at work in the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2). He inspires the sinful flesh of men, so that man lusts with his eyes (1 Jn 2:16), curses with his tongue (Jas 3:5–7), having a heart filled with all manner of deceit (Acts 5:3).
Man loves his dwelling in this sinful world, and the world loves its own (Jn 15:19). Men love the darkness of this world because the love of God the Father is not in them (1 Jn 2:15). They do not comprehend the light of truth that has exposed their world of iniquity (Jn 1:5). God has created the darkness for them to dwell (Is 45:7), and only God can illumine the darkness (Is 9:2).
The domain of darkness is man’s dwelling upon the earth, but God’s portion for the children of darkness is outer darkness, forever (Mt 22:13; 25:30). Man is in blind unbelief, filled with darkness (Lk 1:35), walking in darkness (Jn 8:12), and he does not know where he goes (Jn 12:46). Still, it is his nature to want to lead others. He is a blind guide to those who walk in darkness (Rom 2:19), cheering them on in their deeds of darkness (Rom 13:12), motivated by their darkened hearts (1 Cor 4:5).
If man truly understood his status before the Holy One, who judges with perfect justice, he would not dismiss the assessment of “total depravity.” Black darkness blinds him, today (1 Jn 2:1), and black darkness awaits him for eternity (Jude 1:13). How great is the darkness (Mt 6:23)!
The prince of darkness keeps his dominion in this world in the dark. If truth were a light, the enemy would cover it with lies and deceit. If there were a right way, Satan would give bad directions. The life given to man has been taken from him by deception (Gen 3), and man is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), with zero inclination toward the things of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:14).
Oblivious to his rebellion, by the intrigue of the enemy, man claims to be blessed by God, with whom he strives, being at enmity (Eph 2:16). In spiritual warfare, the adversary has captured man, enslaved him to sin, blinded his mind, twisted his affections, inspired his evil works, and puffed him up in the pride of his puny accomplishments.
Without hope in the world because he is without God in the world (Eph 2:12), man trusts in himself, believing he is good in the sight of God (Rom 3:12), and that his works in the flesh are also good (Is 64:6), but woe to man in the domain of darkness!
Humanity’s greatest need is to be delivered from the domain of the devil (Col 1:13), who has lied to man from the beginning (Gen 3:5; Jn 8:44) because he has sinned from the beginning (1 Jn 3:8). Who can rescue man from this all-pervasive darkness? Who will shine the true light into the heart of man (2 Cor 4:6)? Who will tell man the truth? There is only One, who is willing and able, and His name is…Jesus Christ.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 21, 2021
