Can anything good come out of pitch blackness? Normally when one hears this phrase we think of negative thoughts. But as with everything in life the perspective we view things from makes all the difference. For example, a pessimist views the cup as half empty while an optimist views the same cup as half full. Or what about the atheist who views death as the end of life while the Christian views death as a new beginning.
And when it comes to pitch blackness do we view it as a state of no light to be feared or the canvas that allows us to view the brilliant stars of the night. I love how Evangelist Paul Washer states: “It is only against the pitch blackness of the night that we see the glory of the stars. And it is only against the pitch blackness of man’s radical depravity that we can begin to see the glories of the gospel.”1
Indeed, man’s total depravity, before coming to Christ, is pitch black. But this condition, as black as it can be, only serves to make the light of the gospel that much brighter. And as dark as man’s sin nature is, when God shines His brilliant spotlight on man’s darkened heart there can be no place to hide because the light of the Holy Spirit can penetrate even the darkest of human hearts. At that moment we can either hide from this light or allow it to penetrate us and convict us of our sin and save our soul.
It is well known that Johannes Gutenberg’s main motivation in inventing the movable type printing press in the 1400’s, was to be able to print and distribute the Bible around the world. For Gutenberg understood that without the light of the gospel mankind was doomed to live in total darkness. In commenting on this contrast between darkness and light Gutenberg once said: “Yes, it is a press, certainly, but a press from which shall flow in inexhaustible streams, the most abundant and most marvelous liquor that has ever flowed to relieve the thirst of men! Through it, God will spread His Word. A spring of truth shall flow from it: like a new star it shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light heretofore unknown to shine amongst men.”2
So, the next time you think of the blackness of sin remember that it is no match for the brilliant light of the precious gospel of Christ!
1 Inspirational Quotes by Paul Washer (bibleportal.com)
2 Alphonse De Lamartine, Memories of Celebrated Characters, Vol. 2, 2nd ed. (London: Richard Bentley, 1854), 334.