This is a study I did a while back… just for myself… as I was ruminating one day. Maybe you’ll enjoy contemplating God as I did. It is in outline form and I hope that is not a distraction.
Q: How important is light? What is light necessary for?
Earth’s Ability To Support Life Comes From Light {The Sun, Vitamin K} (Temperature, evaporation, wind, climate, etc).
Plant Life Is Sustained by light from the sun (Photosynthesis).
Animal Life is sustained by dependence upon plant life.
Human Life is sustained by dependence upon both plant and animal life.
All life is therefore dependent upon light from the sun (Metaphorical in that spiritual life is dependent upon God’s light).
Most of what we know about the Universe comes from information that has been carried to us by light.
LIGHT: What do we know? {Go back through & discuss as illustrations above to understand God}
Light cannot be captured… only it’s effects can be recorded (Like in a Picture).
Light travels in a vacuum at 186,000 miles per second.
Energy is required for light to exist.
Light gives off warmth and heat.
Thus light contains tremendous energy.
Light is an anomaly: it contains both waves AND particles.
Light waves include: Gamma & X-Rays, Ultraviolet, Visible, Infrared, & Radio Waves.
Light cannot be seen… we only see what reflects it!
A small source of light can be seen from a great distance (Air to ground).
Light can be reflected.
Light can be absorbed.
Light can be diffracted (Prism).
Light can be concentrated (Magnifying glass.)
Light can be focused (Laser).
Light can blind (Arch welding).
Light can kill (Laser).
Light can heal (Laser surgery, billi-rubin {sp?}, and photo-therapy).
Light can be painful (Open eyes to light after being in darkness).
Light can soothe (Warmth).
Light is extremely powerful (Laser, sun).
Light can reveal what is unseen (X-rays).
Light can carry great amounts of information (TV, Radio, Telephone, fiber optics).
Visible light has a spectrum of colors.
- Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet.
- Compare with rainbow as a symbol of God’s promise
Humans can’t see the entire spectrum of light, but that doesn’t prove it doesn’t exist.
Question: How do the attributes of light reveal the nature and/or character of God? God created light… God IS light.
God cannot be captured or contained by man.
God “travels” at unbelievable speed (The speed of thought {faster than light})… actually God is everywhere at one time (Omnipresent).
God is the energy behind all movement.
God is the source of all warmth and comfort.
God’s “energy” is uncontainable, unfathomable.
God’s existence is a mystery… an anomaly to the human mind. He has always existed and had not beginning. He exists outside time and space. He exists as three in one (Trinity).
God is: Love, Light, Just, Judge, Father, Sustainer, ad infinitum.
God is not seen but is reflected by His son, His Spirit’s work/power, His creation, His children.
God is present/seen in the smallest of elements (Atoms, Quarks, Molecules, etc).
God is Reflected… by His children.
God is absorbed… by those who are intimate with Him.
God is diffracted… in the process of evangelism and discipleship.
God is concentrated… in the worship of His people.
God is focused… in the outpouring of His Spirit in revival.
God blinds… See John 12:40 and Acts 9:3-9.
God kills… See 2 Samuel 6:6-7.
God heals… See John 9:1-7.
God is the source of spiritual pain… See 2 Cor 7:10-13.
God soothes… See Matthew 11:28 and 1 John 1:9.
God is all powerful, omnipotent… See Daniel 4:35.
God sees what humans cannot… See 1 Corinthians 4:5.
God posses all knowledge, is omniscient… See Isaiah 46:9-10.
God… is good, jealous, loves, laughs, is patient, forgiving, to be feared, not to be feared (1 Jn 4:18), ad infinitum.
God cannot be seen by the human eye, but that doesn’t prove He doesn’t exist.
God And Light.
What God created first is significant!
It is impossible to make a representation of light (Relation To Idolatry).
God & salvation are constantly equated & described in terms of light.
God.
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him & declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship w/ Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie & do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Creation.
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens & the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless & empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, & the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.
ASIDE:
- Literal 24 hour days (“Yom” w/ a number. Light source & rotating mass.).
- Creation WITH AGE. Adam & Eve as adults… Light IN TRANSIT!
Salvation And Light
Rev 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
2 Cor 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Acts 26:12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘ 15 “‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16’Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Jesus And Light
Mt 17:1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Jn 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
Jn 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Jn 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jn 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Jn 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
Jn 12:44 Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Christians And Light
Mt 5:14 (With 2 Cor 3:17-18) “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp & put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, & it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
2 Cor 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, & where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
What’s The Point Of All This?
God is light. It is impossible to make an idol of light (Thus relation to worship). God’s light expels darkness. Christians are to reflect God’s light in a dark world (See Ro 12:1-2 & thus relation to worship). Christians are the light of the world and are not to hide what we are. Our life is an act of worship.
Ron, I enjoyed your study on light. It reminded me of a study I did a few years back:
First Baptist Church Carols by Candlelight Dillon, Montana
Theme: Light
Introduction: We are introduced to the concept of light in the third verse of the book of beginnings (Genesis): “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Because God created light we live in a world that has light. We can observe it, we can feel its warmth, and we can appreciate its qualities. However, WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT IT. For light is necessary for the very existence of physical life on this planet we call Earth. And no doubt because of this fact, God uses the concept of light to convey the very essence of His Being to us. The Apostle John says in I John 1:5 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” God also uses the concept of light in a figurative way to refer to the truth of His revelation in the Bible – HIS MESSAGE TO US. This message of truth or light shines bright in the Gospel of John if we but read the passages in John’s gospel that have the word light in them.
John 1:1-13 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
John 3:19-21 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. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
John 5:35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
John 8:12 ¶ 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 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Conclusion: In the last chapter of the Bible we are told about the light in the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem. Revelation 22:5 says, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: . . .”
Let us take the light that God has given to us and pass it on to others for we are told by Christ himself
“Matthew 5:14-16, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Let us sing the course “Pass it On”
Recently wrote a book about God is light. It addresses the science of light and how it applies to God. You might enjoy reading it. It is only available on Kindle. The first chapter can be downloaded for free. Title is I AM, God is light: by which there is no conflict between Creation and the fossil records. Ester