04/05/2025
"For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6 NASB 1977).
5457 phōs (a neuter noun) – properly, light (stressing its results, what it manifests). In Scripture, 5457/phōs ("light") is the manifestation of God's self-existent life (H.E.L.P.S.).
God's light (5457/phōs) reveals His presence and preferences. In contrast, darkness obscures God's will and presence. Through the light of faith, God reveals and shares His life which overcomes all spiritual darkness. Jn 1:5: "The light (5457/phōs) shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (NASB) (H.E.L.P.S.).
Reflection: We cannot see things as they really are, unless God gives us light. God's light alone reveals reality, so the Psalmist proclaims, "In Thy light, we see light" (Ps 36:9) (H.E.L.P.S.).
Helen Keller the famed blind orator remarked, "Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments, as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations – because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness" (H.E.L.P.S. Word Studies, 2025).
As God commanded the light to shine in the darkness at creation (Gen. 1:3), so he “turns on” the light in peoples’ hearts so they can see who Jesus Christ is. People who do not believe are blinded by Satan (v. 4). But believers see the light (NKJV Study Bible, 2007).
Paul here compares the conversion of a sinner to the entrance of light at the dawn of creation. Originally God commanded light to shine out of darkness. He said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). Now Paul is saying here that the same God who originally commanded light to shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts. This is very beautiful. In the first creation God commanded the light to shine. But in the new creation, God Himself shines into our hearts. How much more personal this is! The events in the early part of Genesis 1 are a picture of what takes place in the new creation. God originally created man as an innocent being. But sin came in, and with it came gross darkness. As the gospel is preached, the Spirit of God moves on the heart of a person, just as He moved on the face of the deep after the original creation. Then God shines into the heart of this person, showing him that he is a guilty sinner and needs a Savior. “The material creation in Genesis began with light and so also does the spiritual creation. God ‘shines in our hearts’ by the Holy Ghost, and then spiritual life begins” (Believer's Bible Commentary, 2016).
