“Turn the light on, it’s dark in here! There, that’s better. Now you can see where you’re going!” There is nothing like light to give you a sense of security.
The first thing God created on the first day of creation was light. Now, it wasn’t until the fourth day that He created the sun, moon and stars – so the light on that first day must have been the divine light of God’s presence. In 1 John 1:5 John says, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” So, you see the light on that first day was God Himself.
Well, the Apostle John goes a step further in the prologue of his Gospel by identifying the light as Jesus Christ. In John 1:4 we read, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Now, did you notice that life and light go together?
The word “light” in this verse is the Greek word phos, (or, in its genitive form, photos). It’s where we get our English words, photo and photography. Actually, the word phos means “to shine or make manifest.” It is the idea of something being luminous – like fire in the night.
In Rockefeller Center, just off of Times Square in New York City, there is a place where every Christmas season, one of the tallest Christmas trees in the world is erected. Then the time comes when city leaders throw a switch to light up the tree. The electricity flows through the wires, and hundreds of bulbs burst into luminous color. It is a spectacular event!
Well, there was a time in the Garden of Eden when Christ, the Word, breathed life into the molded form of Adam and the lights came on. Adam opened his eyes and saw the light – life flowed through his veins and the result was light. John says concerning Jesus, “In him was life and the life was the light of men.”
Now you know the real meaning of the word.
It is important to know that there is no light without life. When you and I die – the lights go out.