The evening was darkness, and the morning was light. Yet God called them both together by the name that belongs to light alone! This is remarkable—and it perfectly pictures what happens in the believer's soul.

In every Christian, there is darkness and light. But hear this: you are not named a sinner because sin still dwells in you. You are named a saint because you possess some degree of holiness. What comfort for those who mourn their infirmities! You ask, "Can I be a child of God while there is so much darkness in me?"

Yes! Like the day itself, you take your name not from the evening, but from the morning. God speaks of you in his Word as if you were even now perfectly holy—as you will be soon. You are called a child of light, though darkness still lingers. God names you after what predominates in his sight—after what will one day be the only principle remaining.

Notice that evening comes first. By nature, we are darkness first. The gloom is often first in our mournful apprehension, driving us to cry out in deep humiliation, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" Morning comes second—it dawns when grace overcomes nature.

John Bunyan said it perfectly: "That which is last, lasts forever." What comes first yields in due season to what comes last. But nothing comes after the last.

So though you are naturally darkness, when once you become light in the Lord, there is no evening to follow. "Your sun shall no more go down." The first day in this life is an evening and a morning. But the second day, when we shall be with God forever, shall be a day with no evening—but one, sacred, high, eternal noon.