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Have you ever wondered what light God created when He moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:1-3) and said, “Let there be light”?  

On day one our Heavenly Father created a light which was different than the physical lights. Those physical lights were created four days later to light the earth and rule over the day and night (the sun, moon, and stars v14-19). So what was this first light that God created?  

We begin to see the answer in Psalms.

Thy word (dabar) is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

The Hebrew word dabar (or dhavar) means a speaking, an utterance out of the mouth. Take a moment and re-read those two verses above. The entrance of God speaking is what creates spiritual light.  It is a “thing,” an operative force of power.  In Psalm 138:2 a second Hebrew word, which also only refers to a spoken utterance, is used to declare what He magnified above His name:

…for thou hast magnified thy word (emrah = speaking) above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2b)
 
Notice in Psalm 103:20 that it is words spoken from above as light that prompt angels to go to work:

Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments (dabar = speaking), hearkening unto the voice of his word (dabar). 
 
From these verses we can realize that when God said “Let there be light” He was establishing that the operative power and authority of the creation would be words, His words.  Revelation words from the throne room of God are the foundational power over all creation. 

As we study “light” in Scripture, it becomes obvious that there are three types of light which were created: revelation light, the light of God’s presence, and physical light that we see with our eyes.

Let’s examine them in reverse order.  

Physical Light was created on day 4. It also lit the homes of God’s people in Goshen in Egypt, guided Moses as a pillar of fire at the Red Sea, and lit the oil lamps of the tabernacle. The Apostle Paul was surrounded by visible light from above on the road to Damascus as was Peter in in prison.  And in Deuteronomy 4:19 we are enjoined not to worship the lights in the sky.  These references and many others all refer to physical, visible light.

The Light Of God’s Presence is prominent in several verses as “the light of his countenance.” For example, Psalms 4:6b, 89:15, and 90:8 declare:
 
…LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

Revelation Light is the speaking that comes from God. In letting Him speak into our hearts, we are letting in His light to operate through us. Nearly every mention of light in the New Testament, from Jesus’ words  declaring us to be the light of the world, and urging us to abide in the light, to the exhortation in Romans for us to put on the armor of light, and to not let the god of this world keep us from the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ – all these refer to our privilege to hear and obey what God speaks as light from above. Transmitting this light is how we can shine as lights in a crooked and perverse world (Philippians 2:15).
  
Over thirty references in the New Testament alone encourage believers to walk by light, meaning by revelation, hearing and obeying His voice.  Matthew 4:4 urges us to live by every word (rhema = speaking) that is proceeding out of His mouth, and His speaking is the voice into our inner man that we are to hear as sheep who hear their Master’s voice.  Hearing and obeying His words constitute the reason why we may be invited to sit on the throne with Jesus as He does with the Father (Revelation 3:20-21)!
 
The Greatest Revelation Light of All is the Lamb
 
Several times in the Gospels Jesus declared that He is the light of the world, that He came to bring light to those sitting in darkness, to lighten the Gentiles, and to so let your light (from Him) shine that men may see your (resulting) good works.  Darkness flees from this light. The revelation light we receive from hearing His voice into our spirit is a monumental, and often is a meant-to-be transmitted thing. But it is even more powerful as we see from the final chapters in Revelation:

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. (Revelation 21:22-23)

How glorious is the light from our Father and the Lamb of God, the One who leads us as our Shepherd, the same Who is head of the church!  How awesome it is to have a conversation with Him each day at His feet!  We can walk by faith and not by sight from the revelation He gives us as we find Him in the secret place. Revelation 22:1-5 declares that there is no night at the throne. No physical light is needed because of the revelation light of the Father and the Lamb! 

May your days be full of revelation light from above as we learn more and more how to live by every word that is streaming out of His mouth to us, His light bearers. May the exhortation of Peter ring true in our hearts as we enjoy the light of God’s presence in seeking to fellowship with our Master, Jesus Christ.

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 marvelous light. (1Peter 2:9)