Much has been said by many about good and evil, about light and darkness. Still, we see evil obviously increasing in these last days. So, I hope you will indulge me in personal investigation and meditation on some of the Scriptures. As a place to begin, I am drawn to John 1:5 in the moving opening passage of John’s Gospel account. When I examined the verse in Bible Hub, I found this in the Topical Lexicon section:
“Light versus Darkness: Johannine Emphasis
John frames the cosmic conflict in his prologue: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Here katalambanō affirms the ultimate impotence of evil; darkness neither comprehends nor overpowers the incarnate Word. The same tension reappears in John 12:35 where darkness threatens to overtake the undecided. Together the two verses guarantee Christ’s victory while warning of personal loss for those who linger in unbelief”
Let’s look at John 12:35 (in context) now.
Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross
27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” 29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 34 The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
John 12, NKJV
Can I relate this to the apparently increasing darkness of the world? Perhaps, as a check on sanity, I should consider whether darkness is really increasing, or if only the perception of darkness is increasing due to widespread sensationalistic reporting of dark deeds?
I recently mentioned the murder of children in Bethlehem by soldiers commanded by Herod the Great after the birth of Christ there. We can go all the way back to the first family and learn in Genesis 4 that Cain murdered his younger brother Abel. In fact, the Scriptures are rife with accounts of war, murder, rape, theft, envy, retribution and other innumerable accounts of evil. Evil is not new. It has existed at least since Lucifer fell from his appointed station. Consider this revelation to the prophet Isaiah:
The Fall of Lucifer
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
The brood of evildoers shall never be named.21 Prepare slaughter for his children
Isaiah 14 NKJV
Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
Concerning Lucifer, now become Satan, Jesus told us, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Then He, announced Himself as the cure: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
At least one thing can be said about whether evil is increasing. There are more of us to indulge in it than when the population was limited to Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. Man is, as stated in Isaiah 14:21, filling the face of the world with cities, where every kind of evil is concentrated by mere population density. Yet this is not merely a high population problem. Did the whole society not start its slide in the garden before the birth of Cain?
Let’s continue. Shall we?
The days are evil, Eph 5:15
For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. John 3:20
Since the fourth day of creation, natural darkness has fled at the appearance of dawn. Like clockwork. Now, this raises a spiritual question, “Why, since darkness is simply the absence of light and since light seems to effortlessly dispel darkness, are we not seeing a continual decrease in evil?”
Believers received this charge from Jesus:
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:16-26
Why are we not more effective at fulfilling this commission?
Some of the answers to this question are evident in the great commission itself. First, the work is based on the authority of Christ, and many do not operate in His authority. It is His authority. We are correct to recognize that we are not qualified. However, we are given the Holy Spirit to indwell us. (Link is to John 14:15-23.)
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Luke 24:46-49
Some do not fully understand that walking in the power of the Spirit is by faith, like all aspects of life in Christ. It does not matter that we do not “feel” power, nor that we do not see the “end from the beginning”. We only need direction for the next step. Until we take that step, all subsequent steps remain irrelevant. I have acquaintances who have trouble with this concept, thinking that God would be irresistible on this matter – overcoming free will and requiring nothing whatever from us. They reason that God is sovereign and omnipotent and nothing of us matters. Lies of the deceiver! God is not in the business of making marionettes. We are called to yield voluntarily to His direction, provision, and power for the work.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
A relationship with God is only found by those who chose to look for Him. His part is to enable us to find Him. (1 John 4:19)
A second issue is tied to the word “Go”. I do not mean one must always travel to far reaches, though some are called to exactly this sacrifice. We all have family, friends, and acquaintances who do not know Jesus. I believe the greater issue is that the modern church experience is typically a spectator sport. Those in the pews are often convinced the furtherance of the gospel is the domain of the professional minister up front. After all, he has seminary training! They believe their job is to get others to come sit in the pew as well.
And this highlights a third issue embodied in the commission text. We are to teach all that Jesus commanded. Fulfillment requires dedicated preparation. It requires that these things are internalized and at work in our own lives (He did say, “commanded you”). The unbeliever can smell a hypocrite from a great distance, and it is not a pleasing aroma. Are we salt? Do we know the recipe? Are we light? Do we show the Way?
Finally, on this subject, we are talking about teaching all things He has commanded. The notion that the great commission is somehow fulfilled by getting someone to recite the “sinners’ prayer” is utter nonsense. That may be an arguable starting point, but it is not a fulfillment. God is faithful and those who make a commitment He works to transform to perfection. However, “making disciples” is a process of replication. It takes one to make one.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
John 21:25
It should be obvious that fulfilling the great commission requires us to establish relationships. This is not without peril, of course. Most of us have received a proverb from parents, “Bad company corrupts good morals.” What parents are not concerned about the associations maintained by their teenage children? This stance might be backed up in some cases by some Bible verses not considered with all relevant context.
Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you,” is a verse from 2 Corinthians 6:17 that calls believers to separate themselves from ungodly influences and sinful practices, emphasizing holiness and purity.
This exhortation is rooted in Old Testament passages such as Isaiah 52:11 and Ezekiel 20:41, where God commands His people to depart from impurity and maintain spiritual cleanliness.
The call to separation is not a call to isolation (which is antithetical to fulfilling the great commission) but a directive to live distinctively in the world, honoring God through righteous conduct and avoiding associations that compromise faith.
Paul uses this verse in the context of warning against being unequally yoked with unbelievers and against participation in idolatry, reinforcing the idea that believers are the temple of the living God and must reflect His holiness.
The promise of divine reception underscores God’s willingness to welcome those who choose obedience and holiness. We should be able to recognize willingness, however intermittent and halting it may be at first.
While the concept of “unclean” things historically included ritual impurity, in a broader spiritual sense, it refers to anything that defiles the conscience or leads away from God, including worldly attitudes and practices.
Again, discernment guided by the Holy Spirit is critical. Who is influenced by whom? Are we consistently wearing the full armor of God? Do we understand the armor, its function, its effectiveness, and its maintenance? (See Ephesians 6.)
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
Because few find the narrow way and because broad is the way that leads to destruction, society at large is going to tend toward darkness. As society becomes more secular, all stigma that would restrain is dropped and even condemned as evil.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter
Isaiah 5:20
One must cast only a cursory glance at the news to see examples of one group calling another evil because they do not agree with their point of view and therefore resist it. Do not be terribly surprised. The original sin was to give up innocence and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Such knowledge belongs to God as Judge and the truth about it in our fallen world is only found by listening to Him. Our usurped knowledge of good and evil is corrupted.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:18-32
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
2 Corinthians 4:3-5
Most people are aware of the decay. But rather than make a personal commitment to a Christ-led life, look to a secular government to enforce solutions to our problems (always seen as the fault of others). Some others think the solution is for Christians to achieve a societal state where most are saved and become a godly and moral people. I personally think this “dominion theology” is not likely to make the advertised progress, and counter to the revelations we already have from God about these “last days”.
God’s word warns against being taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit. It encourages believers to be rooted in Christ rather than in human traditions or philosophies. (Colossians 2:8)
Should we despair at the progression of evil? We are called to be salt and light. The deeper the darkness, the more contrast between the gloom and the Light of Life. May we learn to present Him in all His fullness! May we (finally) fulfil our commission!
Missionary Sojourn 