What is light? We cannot see, even with our “mind’s eye”, without some form of it. Without light, the “end of the tunnel” would forever be in darkness. You couldn’t be reading this without it…
Light is not what I consider to be a “problem” word. Nevertheless, Webster associates it with many, many uses. Those include vision related, electromagnetic radiation, shades of color; both physical and spiritual illumination, awareness, importance; to brighten, ignite; not heavy, frivolous, and attack. Of all of Webster’s listed uses, I think illumination best captures the theme of this discourse. By illumination, I mean the aspects of light that allow us to see physically (eyesight), soulfully (mind, will and emotion) and spiritually.
Natural Light
Physically speaking, light allows one to see that which is within one’s field of vision. There are a variety of sources of natural light, including the sun and its reflections (moon), and the stars. Artificial light has a variety of sources, including incandescent lamps, LED’s and lasers. Our focus, for the moment, is not the physics of light – it is on what’s being illuminated. One needs no better example of the range of values illustrated by that illumination than video, i.e., television, movies and games. As I’ve discussed elsewhere (see Existence, chapters 6 and 7), one’s worldview will determine the relative merits of such video, whether offered in the name of “news”, infomercials, documentaries or entertainment.
Visible light allows most of us to read, with our eyes, content that opens much of the world of information to those with access to that text. That information can lead to knowledge, understanding and wisdom. That wisdom will be exhibited through one’s actions – an outward expression of one’s worldview.
Daylight
The transformation of information, by the mind, into understanding is well illustrated in Genesis chapter 1, in the use of the word, day. Therein, at least three meanings are attached to day. Briefly, day can mean a period of light, as opposed to darkness, i.e., night. It can mean a 24-hour period of time. It can also mean some time period or sequence of events wherein something is done. For example, I might say, “someday I will bake a cake.” That doesn’t mean it will take 24 full hours nor does it mean it has to be done before nightfall.
John Lennox, in Seven Days that Divide the World, has a much more detailed analysis of the word day, as used in Genesis 1. One of his conclusions, with which I concur, is that Genesis 1 has nothing to do with the age of the earth! The first three days of Creation took place before any markers for a 24-hour day existed. These three days have neither length nor defined periods of separation, relative to 24 hours. Also, one should not get “hung up” by the use of “And there was evening and there was morning – the (nth) day,” to separate the periods of God’s creative work.
For the first three periods (days), at least, of creation, there were no 24 hour days. Evening and morning are simply used to mark the start and finish of those separate, creative events. Today, one assigns meaning to theses words, based on one’s background, culture and experience. Moreover, the seventh day was not ended. Hmm, is it still ongoing? A question for another day (or a further reading of Lennox). One thing we get clearly from Genesis 1:3-5 is that physical light was created on day one and that there is an indeterminate length of time between Genesis 1:1-2 and Genesis 1:3ff.
Eternal Light
Finally, one can make the case for light being present before (and at) the beginning, if one couples Genesis 1:1a, “In the beginning God…”, with John 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Along with John 1:4 and other verses, the concept of light as illumination from the mind of God becomes clearer. Christ Jesus, Himself, is both the light and life of man. He is the ultimate source of physical life and the illumination by which one can both see and understand. Through Him, understanding can become wisdom. Both life and light are the result of His creativity, as summarized in Genesis 1 and John 1.
The God of the Bible describes Himself to Moses, “I Am who I Am,” in the eternal present, thus, existing outside of time. To Him, there is no second, minute, hour, etc. – He just always is. If one attempts to understand Him in that “light”, as the incarnation of Scripture, then not only is all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, given at “once”, from the mind (God’s) of the eternal present, but time , as we imagine it, can be irrelevant. Sequences of events begin, end, or cycle – age (time) becomes moot. Think about this – “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”
How does one “tie a ribbon” around this subject? Not very easily, but one needs to look within one’s worldview to frame a beginning. If you’re not sure about your worldview or its relevance in your life, I’ve tried to provide some “light” in Existence. Let me close with my sense of this topic – as the sun’s light warms me from the outside in, the Son’s light warms me from the inside out.
