In the manifestation of God to His people, light had ever been a symbol of His presence. At the creative word in the beginning, light had shone out of darkness. Light had been enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, leading the vast armies of Israel. Light blazed with awful grandeur about the Lord on Mount Sinai. Light rested over the mercy seat in the tabernacle. Light filled the temple of Solomon at its dedication. Light shone on the hills of Bethlehem when the angels brought the message of redemption to the watching shepherds.
God is light; in the words, “I am the light of the world,” Christ declared His oneness with God, and His relation to the whole human family. It was He who at the beginning had caused “the light to shine out of darkness” (2 Corinthians 4:6). He is the Light of sun and moon and star. He was the spiritual light that in symbol and type and prophecy had shone upon Israel. But not to the Jewish nation alone was the light given. As the sunbeams penetrate to the remotest corners of the earth, so does the light of the Sun of Righteousness shine upon every soul.
“That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” The world has had its great teachers, men and women of giant intellect and wonderful research, persons whose utterances have stimulated thought, and opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these persons have been honored as guides and benefactors of their race. But there is One who stands higher than they.
“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1:12, 18). We can trace the line of the world’s great teachers as far back as human records extend; but the Light was before them. As the moon and the stars of the solar system shine by the reflected light of the sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world’s great thinkers reflect the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gem of thought, every flash of the intellect, is from the Light of the world.—The Desire of Ages, 464, 465.
Further Reflection: How has the Holy Spirit helped me in areas of personal weakness? JNN 350
“And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.” Christ here draws a sharp contrast between the unjust judge and God. The judge yielded to the widow’s request merely through selfishness, that he might be relieved of her importunity. He felt for her no pity or compassion; her misery was nothing to him. How different is the attitude of God toward those who seek Him. The appeals of the needy and distressed are considered by Him with infinite compassion. COL 165
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.—1 John 1:5. NKJV