‘…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness to his wonderful light.’ 1 Peter 2:9

Imagine living without light, what happens when living in darkness? The thought of falling into an abyss or being eaten by a beast would keep us in a continual state of startle and anxiety. Probably we might become more dependent on our other modalities such as smell and touch sensations. Nonetheless, enormous amount of uncertainty and danger would be fraught with this situation. 

In Genesis 1:14, God created two great lights (referring to the Sun and Moon) to govern day and night. However, In Genesis 1:3, God had already created light. Lights created in verse 14 were to separate the day from the night and to sign seasons whereas the light created in verse 3 was to conquer the darkness. This indicates that Light preceded the light the sources of which are stars, for example.

In order to grasp some understanding of this light, let us examine the characteristics of light. Visible light is a result of thermal energy of the Sun which ensues glowing of the Sun matter. Similarly in artificial lights such as incandescent bulbs, filaments of a given resistance flame up emitting light. Hence, the origin of light has a strong connotation as seeing is the result of a continual sacrifice of unrelenting source.

On the other hand, light is a basic necessity for the continuation of life on the earth. Nearly every living creation is directly or indirectly dependent on the Sun light as a source of their energy. For instance, the green plants need the Sun light to make their own food by the process of photosynthesis (2n CO₂ + 2n H₂O + Sun light → 2(CH₂O)_n + 2n O₂). In turn, other organisms including humans consume the plants which serve as energy reservoir. Additionally, the fuel/petroleum utilised across the world to run various industries arises from the fossil which is a result of distant photosynthesis. Hence, this implicates the existence of energy and life within light.

Furthermore, the role of the Sun light extends to have direct impact on human physiology where it facilitates the production of Vitamin D, an important pro-enzyme. This is achieved by a reaction between the ultraviolet rays and 7-dehydrocholestrol in the skin layer resulting in the production of Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). It is noteworthy to mention that Ultraviolet rays are not visible to human eyes as humans can only see a visible spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation (light) which ranges from about 380 nm to about 740 nm of wavelength. The rest of the rays including ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, gamma rays, radio waves, microwaves and x-rays fall out of this range and, thus are invisible to us, nevertheless, we perceive and experience the impact of these.

This takes us to think that when it is apparently ‘dark’ for human eyes, it does not necessarily mean that there is no light around. For instance, some animals are nocturnal as they have fully functional night vision which is a result of their eye anatomy including the presence of tapetum lucidum. When it is night, still there is light but undetectable to human eyes. Hence, night is not darkness as darkness refers to a state of lack of light.

According to the Bible, prior to the creation of this universe in its entirety, there was darkness in the depth of the earth. That means darkness existed before the light in this universe. It is also written that ‘…the people walking in darkness have seen a great light…on those living in the shadow of death, a light has dawned.’ Thus, darkness can be correlated with a state of emptiness, lack of creativity and absence of hope.

However, at the beginning of creation process, light permeated the darkness following the word of God: ‘let there be light’. Subsequently, there is a separation between darkness and light; the former succumbing to the latter. God started the creation process by surrounding himself with the presence of ‘light’. All things – Cosmos: Matter, the Sun, Living and Non Living – were made through the ‘light’ signifying the presence of surpassing energy and life within the ‘light’.

In John 1, it says that the Light was the Word and the Word was God. Hence, the first thing that God did at the beginning of creation was devoting himself to the creation in the invisible spectrum, the effect of which we only experience and perceive by faith. And another miracle God has done is revealing himself through Jesus in the visible spectrum which we could see with our physical eyes.   

Christmas is when the invisible Light was manifested as visible Light and made the invisible Light clearer as seen by faith – God’s perpetual act of love.

Happy Christmas!

The original article was published on blogspot.com in 2011.

EA