Light from Heaven

The phrase “Father of lights” was one which crept in to most of my father’s prayers. As a result its familiarity created a mental filter in my mind – blocking out its real meaning and significance. For the writers of the Bible this is a key concept – lying at the very foundation of their understanding of God. God is the Father of lights and, Luke tells us, “The light from heaven came in to the world” (Luke 3: 19 – NLT).

John the disciple, who rested close to the Father’s heart, (see meditation 1) refers to light again and again – in fact he appears to be preoccupied with it! In recognising Jesus as God, John uses the fact that he is the giver of light to all (see John 1: 4 - 9) to emphasise his point. And, Jesus himself claimed – “I am the light of the world”  (John 8: 12). Yet – it is one thing to recognise all of this as a concept and quite another to live in the personal experience and good of it. David was able to say – “The Lord is my light” (see Psalm 27: 1).

For John, to “live in the light” is to live in “God’s presence” (see - 1 John 1: 7) In the final analysis when the sun and moon are no more and all natural light has passed away – “The Lord your God will be your everlasting light” (Isaiah 60: 19 - NLT).