TNDL: "GOD IS LIVING LIGHT. SO WHAT IS LIGHT?"

Light

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Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Light
Light
Light always involves the removal of darkness in the unfolding of biblical history and theology. The contrast of light and darkness is common to all of the words for "light" in both Old and New Testaments (esp. Heb. or [r/a]; Gk. phos [fw'"]). The literal contrast between metaphysical good and evil, God and evil forces, believers and unbelievers. The Bible entertains no thought that darkness is equal in power to God's light. God is the absolute Sovereign who rules over the darkness and the powers of evil.

Light Is Good. The importance of light and darkness is dramatically presented in the opening sentences of the biblical record. In response to the darkness that was over the surface of the deep ( Gen 1:2 ), God spoke and light came into being. Darkness and light are evocative words in Hebrew. Darkness evokes everything that is anti-God: the wicked ( Prov 2:13 ), judgment ( Exod 10:21 ), death ( Psalm 88:12 ). Light is the first of the Creator's works, manifesting the divine operation in a world that is darkness and chaos without it. While light is not itself divine, it is often used metaphorically for life ( Psalm 56:13 ), salvation ( Isa 9:2 ), the commandments ( Prov 6:23 ), and the divine presence of God ( Exod 10:23 ). In the first creative act, "God saw that the light was good" ( Gen 1:3 ).
God Is Light. If light represents goodness in antithesis to the evil associated with darkness, it is a natural step for the biblical authors to understand God, the ultimate good, as light. Light symbolizes the holy God. Light signifies God's presence and favor ( Psalm 27:1 ; Isa 9:2 ; 2 Cor 4:6 ) in contrast to God's judgment ( Amos 5:18 ). Throughout the Old Testament light is regularly associated with God and his word, with salvation, with goodness, with truth, with life. The New Testament resonates with these themes, so that the holiness of God is presented in such a way that it is said that God "lives in unapproachable light" ( 1 Tim 6:16 ). God is light ( 1 John 1:5 ) and the Father of lights ( James 1:17 ) who dispels darkness.

The Johannine writings gather up the Old Testament understanding of light and show its summation in Jesus Christ (thirty-three of the seventy-two occurrences of phos [fw'"] in the New Testament are found in the Johannine literature). Light is the revelation of God's love in Jesus Christ and the penetration of that love into lives darkened by sin ( 1 John 1:5-7 ). Jesus declares that he is "the light of the world" ( John 8:12 ; 9:5 ). Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, who has come as the light that enlightens all people ( John 1:4-14 ), so that those believing in him will no longer be in darkness ( 12:46 ).
The Johannine writings gather up the Old Testament understanding of light and show its summation in Jesus Christ (thirty-three of the seventy-two occurrences of phos [fw'"] in the New Testament are found in the Johannine literature). Light is the revelation of God's love in Jesus Christ and the penetration of that love into lives darkened by sin ( 1 John 1:5-7 ). Jesus declares that he is "the light of the world" ( John 8:12 ; 9:5 ). Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, who has come as the light that enlightens all people ( John 1:4-14 ), so that those believing in him will no longer be in darkness ( 12:46 ).