The Bible has a lot to say about light. The first mention of light in Genesis 1 says that God saw the light was good and separated it from the darkness. I wrote a deep dive into the separation of light from darkness HERE, but this post will focus on just what the Bible says that light is. First, the light is GOOD!
And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:4
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The law is light. In this verse, the word law is Torah. Therefore, Torah is light.
For the commandment is a lamp,
Proverbs 6:23
And the law a light;
Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
“Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:17
Of course, Jesus didn’t come to do away with the Law or Torah. Torah is light. By fulfilling the law, Jesus enforced the ultimate separation of the light from the darkness. Both Torah is light, and Jesus is light.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 8:12
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
The Bible double-downs on the fact that Jesus is light reiterating it in John 9.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:5
The Word of God is light! The entire Word of God is light. The Torah, the Prophets, the Old Testament, and the New Testament are all light.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
Psalm 119:105
And a light to my path.
The LORD (Yahweh or YHWH) is light! Not only does the Bible say that the LORD is light, but this word LORD is yud-hey-vav-hey or Yahweh LORD Who spoke to Moses through the burning bush and Who is the one and only God. YHWH is light!
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Psalm 27:1
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Salvation is light!
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Luke 2:30-32
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Torah is light. Jesus is light. The Word of God is light. YHWH is light. Salvation is light. The light is good. The Bible doesn’t stop here, but continues to tie all these things together even more.
We have read that Jesus is the Light in John 8:12, and the Word is the Light in Psalm 119:105. John chapter 1 ties them together declaring that Jesus is the Word.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Salvation is light in Luke 2:30-32, and Jesus is light in John 8:12. Jesus’s name in Hebrew is Yeshua which means “He saves”! No Bible-believing Christian questions that Jesus is salvation!
Jesus Himself declares that He is One with God in John chapter 10.
I and the Father are One [in essence and nature]
John 10:30
Jesus is the Word. The Word is the Law. Jesus is the Law. Jesus is the YHWH LORD. Jesus is salvation. Jesus and God are One! They are all good. They all are the LIGHT. They are all ONE. They are synonymous.
That’s not all the Bible has to say. God told Israel to be the light, that is to shine forth His light, to the gentiles.
Indeed He says,
Isaiah 49:6
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
Christians are now called to be that same LIGHT!
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
Luke 11:33-36
Other relevant scriptures:
“Listen to Me, My people;
Isaiah 51:4
And give ear to Me, O My nation:
For law (Torah #8451) will proceed from Me,
And I will make My justice rest
As a light of the peoples.
“The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Isaiah 60:19-20
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the LORD will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.
Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the LORD will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Matthew 6:22 Light requires an organ adapted for its reception
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts].
Matthew 6:22
Where the eye is absent, or where it has become impaired from any cause, light is useless.
1 Corinthians 2:14 Man, naturally (fleshly), is incapable of receiving spiritual light inasmuch as he lacks the capacity for spiritual things
But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters].
1 Corinthians 2:14
Luke 16:8 Hence, believers are called “sons of light” not just because they have received a revelation from God, but because in the New Birth they have received the spiritual capacity for it.
And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers].
Luke 16:8