Light and How We See It

 

NASA - Hubble - Explore Light

As you can tell, there is a line through this Hubble photograph, with a slight green line in the top quarter of the division. The screen capture was taken from NASA's site.  Hubble's photography depends on much more than our eyes can see. There are scientific methods to show what our eyes, nor telescope photography, cannot see. The above "...image of Mystic Mountain — a pillar of gas, dust, and newborn stars in the Carina Nebula — show how observations taken in visible and infrared light reveal different details of an object."  Credits to the screen capture and the quote: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)

We see the light God offers differently when we get to know Him and His works. God often appeared in the Bible as a light so bright that to look upon him would be damaging. As He said to Moses:

And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (Exodus 33:17-20 KJV)

However, for me the best example of God being light comes with John's introduction to his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:1-10 KJV)

Jesus called Himself:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12 KJV)

And that would be true while He was with us:

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.  (John 9:4-5 KJV)

He could not be with us forever, here in this world. He knew, and shared with His disciples, what would happen, and why:

Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. (John 14:28-29 KJV)

After three years of hearing Him, but through their own prejudices, they forgot that He had prophesied:

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:19-22 KJV)

We not only have the information the disciples had, we have the books many of them wrote, along with two millennia of mankind's interaction with belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and our savior from our own sinfulness. That's the good news, the gospel, the reality of living with the light of the world. That life is now reflected in us:

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16 KJV)

In the same way the moon reflects the light of the sun, we are able to reflect the light of God in our lives. And, just as this world can come between the light of the sun and there is only a partial reflection, our sin can lessen the light we wish to share with the world. We Christians have not reached perfection, though being as Christ-like as our faith, we continue to love and serve Him. As John says:

This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. (John 21:24-25 KJV)

Those of us who believe and love Him continue to share the light, in deeds and words and writing.