Genesis 1:3; John 1:1-5,9,10; 2 Corinthians 4:6; John 8:12; Psalm 36:9
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not…That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
With thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): The God of grace is the fountain of spiritual life.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): There is not a drop of life to be found without Him, or which flows not from His grace. The metaphor of light, in the last clause of the verse, is most emphatic, denoting that men are altogether destitute of light, except so far as the Lord shines upon them. If this is true of the light of this life, how shall we be able to behold the light of the heavenly world, unless the Spirit of God enlighten us? for we must maintain that the measure of understanding which men are by nature endued, is such that “the light shineth in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not,” and that men are enlightened only by a supernatural gift.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): God can only be known by means of a supernatural revelation of Himself. Apart from the Scriptures, even a theoretical acquaintance with Him is impossible. It still holds true that “the world by wisdom knew not God,” 1 Corinthians 1:21. Where the Scriptures are ignored, God is “the unknown God,” Acts 17:23. But something more than the Scriptures is required before the soul can know God—know Him in a real, personal, vital way. This seems to be recognized by few today. The prevailing practice assumes that a knowledge of God can be obtained through studying the Word, in the same way as a knowledge of chemistry may be secured by mastering its textbooks. An intellectual knowledge of God maybe—not so a spiritual one. A supernatural God can only be known in a manner above that which mere nature can acquire, by a supernatural revelation of Himself to the heart.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): No man can illuminate his own soul; all understanding must come from above…“In thy light shall we see light.” This is literally true.
A. W. PINK: God can only be known through a supernatural faculty. Christ made this clear when He said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3. The unregenerate have no spiritual knowledge of God. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” 1 Corinthians 2:14.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The first work of Grace is to enlighten the soul. By nature we are entirely dark. The Spirit, like a lamp, sheds light into the dark heart, revealing its corruption, displaying its sad state of destitution and, in due time, also revealing Jesus Christ, so that in His light we may see light.
WILLIAM ARNOT (1808-1875): It is God’s love, from the face of Jesus shining into my dark heart, that makes my heart open to Him, and delight to be His dwelling-place.
ADAM CLARKE: “God said, Let there be light; and there was light;” by that light the eye of man was enabled to behold the various works of God, and the beauties of creation: so, when God speaks light into the dark heart of man, he not only beholds his own deformity and need of the salvation of God, but he beholds the “light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;” “God, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.”
C. H. SPURGEON: Darkness fled before Him in the primeval chaos and order followed confusion. Do you think, if He shall say, “Let there be light” in a dark heart, that there shall not be light there? I think it is just this—that God is the absolute monarch of the hearts of men…The Lord, when He means to save sinners, does not stop to ask them whether they mean to be saved, but like a rushing mighty wind the Divine influence sweeps away every obstacle. The unwilling heart bends before the potent gale of grace and sinners that would not yield are made to yield by God. I know this, if the Lord willed it, there is no man so desperately wicked here this morning that he would not be made now to seek for mercy. However infidel he might be, however rooted in his prejudices against the Gospel, Jehovah has but to will it and it is done. Into your dark heart, O you who have never seen the light, would the light stream. If He did but say, “Let there be light,” there would be light.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): When He arises on the soul, He enlightens it, and infuses into it a principle of life.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): As He speaks life into them in regeneration, commands light to shine in their dark heart, and says to them, when in their blood, Live; so by the mighty power of His Word, He commands the fear of Him in them, and it continues.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Certain it is, that man hath neither life nor light in himself till it be communicated unto him from God.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): In communion with Him who is the Light as well as the Life of men, we see a whole universe of glories, realities, and brightnesses. Where other eyes see only darkness, we behold “the King in His beauty, and the land that is very far off.” Where other men see only cloudland and mists, our vision will pierce into the unseen, and there behold “the things which are,” the only real things, of which all that the eye of sense sees are only the fleeting shadows, seen as in a dream—They who see by the light of God, and see light therein, have a vision which is more than imagination, more than opinion, more than belief. It is certitude. Communication with God does not bring with it superior intellectual perspicuity, but it does bring a perception of spiritual realities and relations, which, in respect of clearness and certainty, may be called sight.
A. W. PINK: The one who has been favoured with this supernatural experience has learned that only “in thy light shall we see light.”
ALEXANDER MacLAREN: In communication with God, we see light upon all the paths of duty. It is wonderful how, when a man lives near God, he gets to know what he ought to do. That great Light, which is Christ, is like the star that hung over the Magi, blazing in the heavens, and yet stooping to the lowly task of guiding three wayfaring men along a muddy road upon earth. So the highest Light of God comes down to be “a lantern for our paths and a light for our feet.” And in the same communion with God, we get light in all seasons of darkness and of sorrow. “To the upright there ariseth light in the darkness,” Psalm 112:4.
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): Beg of God that He would do these two things for thee: First, Enlighten thine understanding. And, Second, Inflame thy will…Cry hard to God for an enlightened heart, and a willing mind.
