The True Light

The True Light

The world began as one huge mass of unarranged material shrouded by impenetrable night. Then, on the first day of creation, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day’ and the darkness ‘night’” (Genesis 1:3-5).

It wasn’t until the fourth day of creation that “God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night” (Genesis 1:16). Before that, there was light in the world, but no sun in the sky.

John identified the source of this light when he began his Gospel with a poetic tribute to this Light. He recognized Jesus as the Light that penetrated the darkness even before the sun was set in the sky:

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1-5)

“The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world,” John wrote (John 1:9). This Light is no mere reflector of the sun’s light but is the source of light, the One who spoke the sun into being.

Jesus later spoke of a time to come when “the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light” (Matthew 24:29). For those who have rejected the true Light, that will be a day of deep mourning. But for those who have embraced the Light, that day will usher in a new way of living in the Light. Jesus himself will be present among his people, and we will live with him in a city that “has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light” (Revelation 21:23).

True Light, your radiance penetrates the darkest places in the world I live in and the darkest places in my heart. Shine on me now and into eternity.