Marvelous Light

In Svalbard, Norway—a chain of islands halfway between mainland Europe and the North Pole—the sun stays up for just over 130 days, from late April to late August. The summer temperatures average around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but luckily for the nearly 3,000 residents, the North Atlantic Current moderates winter temperatures, which average around 3 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

One effect of the persistent light is that people often find it difficult to fall asleep; some also say it can cause hypomania, a persistent euphoric and energetic mood. In the Bible, light is a symbol of the Word of God and God’s law (Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23). Yet light is often used to describe the experience of salvation too. For example, the psalmist exclaims that the “Lord is my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1).

Paul’s encounter with light on the road to Damascus is another example—he saw “a light from heaven, brighter than the sun,” and soon afterward he was given a mission to the Gentiles: “to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:13, 18).

Even though Paul describes God as “dwelling in unapproachable light,” Revelation tells us that the New Jerusalem is “illuminated” by “the glory of God” (1 Timothy 6:16; Revelation 21:23). John helps to make the matter simple: “God is light,” but it is possible for us to “walk in the light as He is in the light” when we “confess our sins” and allow Jesus “to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:5, 7, 9). There’s nothing that can lift the spirits better than that kind of light!

Key Bible Texts

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9 KJV)