What is the light? Many people are familiar with the famous Hank Williams song, “I Saw the Light.” As the first stanza goes, “ I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin, I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in, Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night, Praise the Lord, I saw the light.” A subsequent verse talks about coming to Jesus like a blind man regaining sight. There are countless songs of faith that have reference to light. Those of us who grew up in Sunday school are probably familiar with the classic song,“This Little Light of Mine” and how we are gonna let it shine. Referencing to seeing the light, and shining that light, are intertwined in not only American culture but universally in regards to God and faith. 

I was at Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve and had just finished up a lantern cave tour where an extremely unsettling park ranger who was equating emerging from a cave into the light of day, like mankind leaving behind religious faith and walking into the eye-opening light of Science. I had to challenge this, as for a while, I had entertained the thought that emerging from a cave into the light of day is best an analogy of coming to Jesus and realizing there is so much more to life and existence than the darkness we often toil around in. 

The BIble is full of passages in reference to light. In John 8:12, Jesus calls himself the “light of the world” and says how his followers will “not walk in darkness.” I think this is telling not only of God’s character but of our own nature as well.  Without Him we are left with nothing but to walk in darkness. Like Hank Williams we wander aimless, chasing the wrong things. We are lost in that dark cave of existence. Then comes God as light, providing us clarity, direction, and vision. We can see purpose in life, as he leads us out of the cave into an existence so rich in meaning and abundant in spirit, more than we could have ever have imagined. When Jesus also says we will,  “have the light of life,”  I also believe that is not only a reference to clarity, direction, and vision, but also great joy. Light is one thing and life is another. When combined together joy is an outstanding byproduct. 

In 1 John when we read, “God is light: in him there is no darkness at all,” I think the Scripture also uses light to show the great contrast between the perfectness of God and depravity in His absence. He is the direct opposite of the darkness, of the evil so persistent in the world. He is unblemished, without a shadow of sin, incapable of it. It is Him, His truth that brings forth the distinction of good and evil. Anything antithetical to God is darkness. Anything of God is of the light. He is the source of all truth and meaning in the world. Darkness is chaos and lostness, a void and emptiness. God reveals meaning, purpose, direction, fulfillment, and wholeness. His light also helps us grow in spiritual maturity, just as a plant needs light to grow, so our spirit needs God’s light. If there was an absence of light in our universe, there would be no life on earth, just as without God so too our souls would not be. He is the source of life. 

Another very important aspect of the light of God is that it helps us understand sin and our independent hopelessness. Without God revealing himself, giving us his light, we would not know of our darkness, of our sorry state. We would not know there was salvation to be had. We would be blind slaves of the darkness. But God, who in no way is obligated to reveal Himself to us, through love and the blood of Jesus Christ, revealed his light, thus creating a contrast, allowing us to see we need a savior. Not only does He create this contrast,  illuminating our path to salvation, but he also gives us that light to carry as well.   

As Christians we believe God’s Holy Spirit dwells in God’s true followers, and that the Holy Spirit is of the light of God. That’s why we read in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus is talking to his followers during the Sermon on the Mount,  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

This light is God, is of God, and is in his followers. This light serves many purposes, and different parts of Scripture focus on different aspects. Some may attribute one specific belief to light, whether it be God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Christian, truth, or salvation. I believe, informed by Scripture, that the light is actually only one thing with many aspects. God is light, and in Him are all these things. In Him is the truth, salvation, and the Holy Trinity with whom the Christian partners with to carry that light. 

When Jesus calls his followers “the light of the world,”  I see it as the Christian channeling God’s light, serving as a beacon in a dark world to draw others to the Salvation of Jesus Christ. The man in search of truth, or even one whose heart remains open, will naturally be drawn to the light of God’s people. He will see this light in others, be drawn to it, only to learn that the light is the light of God beaming through the Christian. The light is not a product of the Christian, but the Christian merely serving as a conduit for God’s powerful light.  

We are also warned in Scripture that not everyone comprehends this light. No one is too far from the redeeming power of Christ, but those who succumb to darkness, subscribe to it, and are ruled by it, cannot understand the light. Secularism certainly does not have an understanding of it. Those consumed by their own selfish desires and lusts of this world don’t get it, for it is written, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” – John 1:5. 

We live in a world where many have become hostile to God, have elevated themselves to the center of focus, and have replaced God with other gods. Man himself, too, wants to be his own god. This is a characteristic of humanity’s own nature.  When man follows that path, putting himself first or false gods first, he sells himself immeasurably short and lives a life depraved and in darkness, whether he fully realizes this or not. Some surely don’t realize this at all. They have lived in a cave all their life, unaware of the existence beyond the cave. Others wander in the cave, and their soul does not rest, because they know there is more. They are in search. They know there is something beyond the cave. 

I am so blessed to understand this light, to have this light. I know the light of God is so radiant. The clarity, the truth, the guidance, the salvation, the joy is so real, so powerful, so convicting, so life-giving.  It makes any sapling on a nurse log become the strong unwavering tree in the forest. It casts beautiful, rich, wonderful colors in one’s sunset. It illuminates a path out of the forest in the darkness of night, out of the cave into the full light of His glory. 

 I do not boast of myself at all when I say this, for this is not of me. No, rather I boast in Him. It is all God, and I desire for his light to be stronger in my life. I want His light in my life to guide people to Him. I know by my own efforts I always fall short from being the light God so desires for me. His desire for me is bigger than I could ever imagine, but I live by His mercy.  I must strive to draw closer to Him, to let His Spirit dwell more richly within me, for He is the light alone. 

I feel sorry for the man who replaces God with science. I am not anti-science, but I do warn of making science a God. Science does not have all the answers for life and the human condition. Science does not fulfill man’s spirit. Man’s ability to perform science is a great gift and a great tool. It has done so much good for humanity, clearly myself included. But, science is also a human study, a set of procedures made by man to serve his purposes. To rob the analogy of light from God and place it on science, is just not justified nor appropriate by any means. Science can’t but scratch the surface of the questions we have about what is true. And we must always approach science critically and skeptically, because it has also contributed to a lot of evil in the world. Science proves itself to be wrong time and time again.

 A hot button issue in the world today is race, especially in terms of racial injustices of the past. What’s often not discussed is that it was a scientific “fact” that degraded some humans over others. In the 1800s it was science that had “proven” superiority and inferiority of races. Harvard’s own Louis Agassiz was a great proponent of polygenism, using science and the then “scientific” study of craniology to claim human races were distinct species. Carolus Linnaeus of Sweden, was a naturalist, who was the father of such studies. His ideas were also propelled by Petrus Camper, a Dutch professor of anatomy. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a German scientist, also carried these studies on and invented the term “caucasian,” which was one of the many “scientific” terms used to distinguish the different species of humans. These scientists were no fringe individuals, but authoritative voices of the scientific community at distinguished schools. Of course their science has been invalidated today but we must acknowledge those once “scientific facts”’ as a root of racism. Notice I said “a root” and not “the root” for there are many roots on the plant of racism, including pride, fear, and power…  I acknowledge all of these, but science was also a major root and a driving justifier behind slavery. Few will ever discuss and acknowledge this, because to reveal this great flaw of the past, tarnishes the god of science whom many worship. 

Unlike the light of science,  the light of the true God never changes its facts. It has and is always consistent. It reveals to all men that they are all made in His image. We are equally inherently valuable and loved. There is no other “light” in this world that has done more to bring people out of oppression and injustice than the light we find in the Christian faith. 

Yes, science when executed rightly can shed some light on some of our questions, and I am grateful for that, but even what science gets right is pointing us to the truth of God’s light. He is the source and Creator of that truth. Sadly, the park ranger who emerged from the cave thinking he was walking into the light because of science, I believe sadly was just walking into another spiritual cave chamber. May one day he truly walk into “the light of life.”

Just the spring prior to this visit to Oregon Caves, I was exploring an unmarked cave with Zach back in western Kentucky. We were there for hours. We had grown accustomed to its cool darkness, the cold water rushing through it, and its gloom. It was fun exploring. I quite enjoyed being there, but finally emerging from the cave to the bright richness of spring, to the blooming trees and blossoming flowers, and the radiant sun, my senses had never been so incredibly overwhelmed! At that moment I thought, this is what it’s like coming to know God. 

So many people live life in the cave, unaware there is more, so much more! It also reminds me of a baby in the womb. It lives in that dark place. The womb is its world and existence, but then it’s born and awesomely emerges into a whole new consciousness and greatness. It’s from that concept Jesus talks about being spiritually born again. Whether it’s emerging from a cave into the light of day, from a womb into the world, or from one door into another place, as John Muir taught me, these are all concepts reflective of a common Creator, designed to teach us truth and bring us to Him. May you find and walk into that Light. 

If you enjoyed reading this, check out my book “Still, Calm, and Quiet“

Check out my previous entry here: “Oregon Caves and the Creepiest Park Ranger”