Walking in the dark is no fun. When you cannot see where you are going, it can even be downright dangerous! What a relief it is when the light goes on.
The last thing God did on that first day of Creation was to create the light. He had already created space and matter and time, and the Spirit of God had molded the earth into a sphere. But verse 2 tells us that “darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Then in verse 3 we learn, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” This was the first insertion of energy into the newly created system.
The word “light” is a Hebrew word that’s used for illumination and refers to luminaries of every sort. It’s not specifically a reference to the light of the sun (which is important in this context), because the sun had not yet been created. Now, the source of this light was obviously God Himself. In 1 John 1:5 we read, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” And John 8:12 tells us that Jesus Christ is called “the light of the world.” So, God is the ultimate source of all light—not the sun. Light was created on the first day, but the sun wasn’t created until the third day.
As Dr. Henry Morris suggests, “. . . it is obvious that visible light is the primarily meant, since it was set in contrast to darkness. At the same time, the presence of visible light waves necessarily involves the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Beyond the visible light waves are, on the one hand, ultraviolet light and all the other shortwave-length radiations and, on the other hand, infrared light and other longwave phenomena.”.
So, on the very first day God said, “Let there be light” And there was light.
Now you know the real meaning of the word.
Christ is the light of the world. He is the only one who can dispel the darkness of sin. Aren’t we glad we do not have to spend our lives in darkness!