When is light, light? This is akin to the question, when is sound, sound? We are all familiar with the scenario of a tree falling in a forest and the only person present is deaf. The question is, is there a sound? Well, the answer depends on your definition of sound.
Technically, the tree produces a longitudinal sound wave in the air, but is that sound? In order for us to hear a sound there must be a complicated series of mechanical, hydraulic, electro-chemical, and neuro-chemical reactions for us to interpret these longitudinal waves as sound. Thus sound sensation is really produced in the auditory center of the brain. Similarly, if a light switch is turned on and the room contains only blind people, is there light? There are electro-magnetic vibrations from the atomic stimulation within the light bulb, but unless there is a receptive sense organ such as the eye, there is no light. The photo-electric and photo-chemical reactions in the retina produce an electric current in the optic nerve which in turn produces an electro-chemical effect in the optical center of the brain and we see the light. So in a sense, we create light in our brains.
A star’s thermo-nuclear reactor produces electromagnetic vibrations that travel trillions of miles through the darkness of space, but they do not produce light until they impact matter such as the earth's atmosphere. In the Bible story of the creation of earth the first words spoken by God were, "Let there be light." The source of this light is a moot question. Some believe it was from the glory of God’s presence while others believe that He ignited the solar furnace. Whichever is true, the subsequent day-night cycle requires a stationary light source and a rotating earth. It is possible that God set the earth spinning on that first day, but since all the other planets are rotating, and since the earth probably existed prior to creation week in a dark, chaotic state, it is also possible that it was already rotating. "And God called the light day and the darkness night" (Gen. 1:5). In this case darkness is defined as the absence of light because darkness has no physical basis for its existence on its own except in its relationship to light.
Florence Nightingale labored as a nurse during the Crimean War on behalf of the wounded and suffering British soldiers. She established standards of antiseptic treatment and TLC that made her the mother of the modern nursing profession. Her lasting image is that of a white robed figure making her rounds through the darkened wards of the hospital late at night. She became known as "the lady with the lamp." She was the light bearer to give courage and hope to those helpless patients. Similarly, Jesus came to this earth to be a light bearer to a sin darkened world to succor and save those who are lost. He spread abroad the marvelous light of the gospel, the truth of a loving heavenly Father who desires our well-being and salvation.
In the earth made new there will be a sun and moon and the stars will shine for ever and ever, but the Holy city will be lighted day and night by God's presence. The gate shall not shut and "there shall be no night there" (Rev. 21:25). "And the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev. 21:23).
Thus, the Lamb of God in this world and in the next, is "the Lamp of God."
