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Sometimes the darkness of the world is oppressive. All-encompassing. Overwhelming. So thick that it almost feels like you’re suffocating.
But Scripture’s very first page begins with light: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3 ESV).
It also ends with light: “The Lord God will be their light” (Revelation 22:5).
And in between, light shines as a dominating theme. (In fact, the Greek and Hebrew words for light are used over 190 times throughout the Bible!)
Light is often contrasted with darkness, giving us a stark and beautiful picture that we can all relate to, as we imagine what it’s like to flip on a light switch or shine a flashlight in a dark room.
But what does the Bible’s concept of light mean for you personally?
Let’s do a quick dive into three of the impactful “light pictures” Scripture paints for us and see how the concept of light transforms your life—and your understanding of Jesus Himself.
1. You Are Light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:7-14)
Did you know that, through faith in Christ, you are now called “light”?
Ephesians 5:7 says, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”
In the context, the Apostle Paul is talking about how he wants us to live as believers in Christ.
Our old selves lived in the darkness of sin. But now Paul says, “Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
What does it mean to walk as children of light? The next verse tells us that “the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:9).
That means you no longer find your identity in the sins of your past—or even the sins you currently struggle with in the present.
You are now light in Christ! And this reality will bring about good and true fruit in your life as you seek to live for Him (by His power), exposing the ways of darkness with light rather than living in them (Ephesians 5:11).
What an amazing and freeing truth!
2. God Is Light (1 John 1:5-7)
The Apostle John uses a similar metaphor in 1 John 1:5-7, but he applies the idea of light to God Himself: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
Light is an aspect of the character of God. He is totally good—totally without the darkness of sin.
That’s why it’s inconsistent for those who are followers of Him to keep living in the darkness.
As 1 John 1:6-7 says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 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 cleanses us from all sin.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean that we never sin anymore!
But for us as believers, our new identity and practice of life is found in the light of God and in His forgiveness and cleansing.
And that truth has significance for everything we do.
3. Jesus Is Light (John 1:1-9; 8:12)
The beautiful imagery of light is used of Jesus Himself in John’s Gospel.
John 1 opens by telling us that Jesus was involved in the act of creation in the beginning, and then it says…
“In him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
In John 8:12, Jesus also says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
So we see that light is connected with life.
Jesus brings life into the darkness of the world and the darkness of sin.
As the earth began in darkness (“without form and void”) until God spoke the word of light into creation (Genesis 1:2-3), so the world system was consumed by darkness—until the Word (Jesus) pierced that darkness as the Light of men.
Jesus illumines the world, showing us that true life is found in Him.
Living in the Light of Jesus
These truths about light are profound—and life-changing.
We don’t need to live in sin and darkness. Instead, we can walk in the freedom of the light.
Because when you have the hope of salvation in the resurrected Jesus through faith in His death for your sins, everything changes.
You become light, living out the good and true character of God who is light, walking in the footsteps of the light of the world who gave you life in Him.
And the darkness has no power over you.
Discover more about Jesus as light and life in our brand-new study The Light and Life of the World: A Study of Jesus. Order your copy now!