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“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life” (John 8: 12)

Light in the Bible is first of all physical, the very basis of life on the earth.  God’s creation of light is in the first recorded event: “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1: 3-4).

 As we have seen in our article last week, light is also a symbol of God’s favour and blessing.  When the Lord delivered the Jews from Haman’s wicked plan of genocide, they “had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour” (Est. 8: 16).  When Job pictured his former prosperity, he saw God’s favour as a “candle … that shined upon my head … and as a “light” by which “I walked through darkness” (Job 29: 3).   However, our secret sins are set “in the light of Thy countenance.”  No one can escape the close scrutiny of God’s all-seeing eye.  Paul had this attribute of God in mind when he wrote:  “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (1Cor. 4: 5).

Light in the New Testament

In the New Testament, light is often used figuratively.  It is expressed in a moral and spiritual sense and is commonly used to describe the illumination that believers receive when they come to the knowledge of God and His saving grace (Matt. 4: 16; Lk. 2: 32; Acts 13: 47; 26: 18). 

The association of God with light is recurrent in the New Testament: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (I Jn. 1: 5);  James speaks of God as “the Father of lights” (Jas. 1: 17).  The classic text in I Timothy 6: 16 speaks of God “who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen” (cf. I Jn. 1: 7).  The glory of Divine holiness and presence is the “everlasting light” of the redeemed in heaven (Isa. 60: 19-20; Rev. 21: 23-25; 22: 5).

It is significant that, at the birth of Christ, light accompanied the appearance of the angels to the shepherds (Lk. 2: 9), and a bright star directed the way of the wise men to the house where they found the young child “that is born King of the Jews” (Matt. 2: 2; 9-10).  On the road to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus, on a mission to persecute Christians, encountered “a light from heaven” (Acts 9: 3).  It was not only a literal light but also a light that enlightened and transformed him from a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the Gospel of Christ. 

The Gospel of John, in particular, has many references to the spiritual concept of light.  The apostle speaks of men who love darkness rather than light: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (Jn. 3: 19-20).  Loving natural darkness, depraved men choose to walk in it, and to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, rather than follow Christ, the light of the world.  Evil doers avoid the light because they do not want their evil to be exposed.  This thought is reflected in Job 24: 13 - 16: “They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.  The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.   The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.  In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.” 

Jesus is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Jn. 1: 9).  Those who believe in Him receive power to become children of God (Jn. 1: 9-12); they are characterised as “sons of light” (Jn. 12: 36) walking no more in darkness (Jn. 12: 46).  Those who “do the truth” come to the light (Jn. 3: 21).  In Matthew 4: 16, Jesus applied this prophecy of Isaiah to Himself:  “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa. 9: 2).  The aged Simeon, in his song of praise, referred to Christ as “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel” (Lk. 2: 32).

“Light in its varied meanings is at the heart of such central biblical themes as creation, providence, judgement, redemption and sanctification.  It embodies much of the theological teaching of the Bible about God, which explains why light has been prominent in the history of theology” – Pelikan.  In his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul relates it to the life-transforming power of conversion:  “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 4: 6).  This text best summarises the various meanings of light as found in the Bible.  “Here is the link between creation and the new creation, between Old Testament and New Testament, between the physical reality and the spiritual symbol” – Dictionary of Bible Imagery.   (… to be continued)