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When I think about the characteristic of God is Light, the topic of this week’s and next week’s lessons is what I normally think about. God doesn’t just create light or use light for his purposes. God IS light. His very being provides light to those around him. Let’s look at this theme in more detail.
God Is Light
When writing these individual studies of the characteristics of God, I like to find the verses that most clearly state the characteristic to first establish that this is a characteristic of God. Here are a couple of my favorites.
1 John 1:5: This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Psalm 104:2: The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent.
Psalm 76:4: You are radiant with light,
more majestic than mountains rich with game.
Light is an integral part of who God is and how God appears to those who see him. The Bible lays out a clear contrast between light and darkness, with God’s presence being associated with light and his absence being associated with darkness. Interestingly, even though darkness is often associated with God’s absence, God can use darkness strategically for his purposes. We’ll look at all of these ideas about God as light more closely in the coming weeks.
God Is Heaven’s Source of Light
The Bible tells us that God makes his home in the heavens, and verses in both the Old and New Testament tell us that God is the source of light in heaven.
Isaiah 60:19-20: 19 The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end.
Ezekiel 1:25-28: 25 Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26 Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Revelation 21:22-25: 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
Revelation 22:5: There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
These descriptions of God provide quite the picture! Fire, brilliant light, everlasting light, rainbows, radiance. There’s no doubt that God is the only source of light needed in heaven.
Interestingly, even God’s throne and God’s voice are given qualities of light.
Revelation 4:2-3, 5a: 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.
Psalm 29:7: The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
Everything about God is light. It’s no wonder that the theme of light is so prevalent in the Bible!
Conclusion
I hope that you are a little bit more in awe of God than you were at the start of this lesson. I know I am. I don’t think our imaginations or descriptions do justice to the brilliance of God’s light and the awesomeness of his presence. I look forward to the day when I witness God’s glory and light for myself.
Premium Resources
Each individual characteristic of God study will come with two resources: a word search just for fun (including an answer key), and a list of verses for if you want to investigate that individual characteristic of God more completely.
You can access these resources by clicking here: God Is Light Resources
Or you can download them here:
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