Most are familiar with email threads—a series of connected emails where each message includes the previous one. These threads help everyone involved see the full context of the conversation.
Throughout Scripture, there are images, themes, motifs, and patterns, which I call threads. These threads appear and are woven throughout, with each instance building on the overall biblical message. They help us weave together the larger story of the Bible and unpack what it means for our lives.
“Light” and “darkness” are key threads in Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, these threads communicate significant truths about God, salvation, and His people. In Genesis 1:1–3, we are introduced to the themes of chaos, darkness, and light.
In the ancient imagination, the sea and darkness were synonymous with gods of chaos and death, so the creation of light and the separation of light and darkness in Genesis communicate God’s dominance over (the gods of) darkness, death, and chaos. When light appears, chaos is averted. God conquers the darkness by commanding light into existence. This sets the stage for the entire storyline of Scripture—God dispelling the darkness through His light.
Light comes from God. Darkness is an absence of light. It is as if darkness is what exists apart from God. Thus, darkness is a problem that needs to be contained. It is from here that the concept of light as good and dark as evil is born.
We also observe that light gives order to creation and makes biological life possible. Light is necessary for life to thrive and flourish. The separating and ordering of night and day allowed life to flourish on earth. The simple connection between light and life comes to refer not just to biological life or existence but to the fullness of life. Light in life indicates vitality and prosperity. Darkness, conversely, connotes death (Psalm 56:13; Proverbs 13:9).
In the Genesis account, we see that it is God’s Word—God’s very speech—that ushers in light. Light is connected to the words of God. What God speaks is true and real. God’s speech is light that illuminates and makes known. Hence, God’s Word is described as a light and a lamp (Psalm 119:105). Light is a metaphor for vision, for sight and truth, and for knowledge and wisdom. In contrast, darkness indicates ignorance and blindness.
Though light wins the day at the beginning of creation, it is not long before threads of darkness start weaving themselves into God’s new creation. Adam and Eve are invited to sin and walk in the ways of darkness, thereby plunging the world into a spiritual darkness. This battle of light and darkness is woven through the entire redemptive story.
But the God of light weaves Himself again and again into this dark world to provide salvation to those who will come into His light. He is the God of the burning bush (Exodus 3:1–6), the provider of light when all has gone dark (Exodus 10:23), the pillar of fire that lights the way (Exodus 13:21). He is the God that shines His face upon His people in their wilderness wanderings, in their worship, and in their pain (Numbers 6:25; Psalm 4:6, 44:3; 89:15; 118:27). He promised that one day He would eclipse the sun with His own brilliant light and bring an end to night forever (Isaiah 9:2; 60:19–20).
The Old Testament told of the day when the “Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2). The Messiah, Jesus, is a light to the Gentiles and Israel (Luke 2:32). Thus, light accompanies the angels at the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:9). A bright star lights the way for the Magi (Matthew 2:9–10). With the incarnation of Christ, the light had come in ways never before imagined (John 3:19). John the Apostle writes of the Word becoming flesh and applies the symbol of light to Jesus (John 1:4, 5, 7–9). The Light of the world was living among men. His every word and deed brought light to this dark soil. And Jesus referred to Himself as the light of the world (John 8:12).
Since God and His Son are light, light becomes a natural symbol for salvation and the new life (Psalm 27:1). If God is light, to come to God is to come to the light and receive life. Those who follow Christ are defined as people who “won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12). Believers are those who have been called “out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9). We were darkness, now we are light (Ephesians 5:8). God “rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). He transformed people of darkness into people of light (Ephesians 5:13–14) and welcomes us to fellowship in His light (1 John 1:1–9).
Light is to characterize our life within the Church. “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Walking in the light is holy living, and the hallmark of holy living is love. “If anyone claims, ‘I am living in the light,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble” (1 John 2:9–10).
The Christian life is the life lived in the light of God. Followers of Jesus are those who live in the kingdom of light, who heed the command to live as children of the light. Jesus tells us we are the light of the world, and we are to let our “good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16).
The community of light, the Church, is portrayed as the possessor and giver of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). The Church is the mediator of His light to the rest of the world (Matthew 5:14–16). Sharing the Gospel is so that eyes will be opened and people will turn from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).
The true light, Jesus, promised He would return once again and that His coming would be the final demise of darkness. When He comes, there will be no more night. He will reside with His people, retire the sun, and be our light for eternity (Revelation 21:23, 22:5).
The final threads of light we find in the Bible relate to visions of the new age in the book of Revelation. The new Jerusalem “has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.” (Revelation 21:23). “And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them” (Revelation 22:5). In that time, God will be with us, and among us, there will be no more darkness, evil, ignorance, or death.
The verse that connects creation and the new creation, the Old and New Testaments, and the physical with the spiritual symbol—capturing this woven thread of light—is 2 Corinthians 4:6. “For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
