For thousands of years, the concept of “light” has captured the imagination of scientists, philosophers, poets and inventors. We are followers of Someone who called Himself “the Light of the world” namely, Jesus Christ.

Let’s examine “light” and discover qualities of light-bearers or disciples of Christ.
Listen to this sermonPreparation for Harvest Series.
“Light of the World.”
By Apostle Aje Pelser
Preached 16th April, 2006, Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town.

For thousands of years, the concept of “light” has captured the imagination of scientists, philosophers, poets and inventors. We are followers of Someone who called Himself “the Light of the world” namely, Jesus Christ.

Let’s examine “light” and discover qualities of light-bearers or disciples of Christ.

Definitions:
There are a few words used in the Bible for “Light” in different contexts. The following study serves to stimulate further thought and to understand what the author intended when writing about the light in a Christian.

The the words used for 'light' are studied under the following categories.
'Reference: Word: Strong’s #: Description: Origin:'
This will assist the reader in uncovering subtle meanings in the context of the scripture in which the word is used.

Gen. 1:3
“And God said: Let there be light…”
“light” 'ôr (ore) H216
illumination or (concretely) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.): – bright, clear, + day, light (-ning), morning, sun. H215; 'ôr (ore)
A primitive root; to be (causatively make) luminous (literally and metaphorically): – X break of day, glorious, kindle, (be, en-, give, show) light (-en, -ened), set on fire, shine.

John 1:7
“The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light,”
“Light”
phōs (foce) G5457
From an obsolete luminousness (in the widest application, natural or artificial, abstract or concrete, literal or figurative): – fire, light.
phaō (to shine or make manifest, especially by rays; compare G5316 and G5346);

John 1: 9
“the true Light, which lighteth5461 every man…” “Lighten”
phōtizō (fo-tid'-zo) G5461
From G5457; to shed rays, that is, to shine or (transitively) to brighten up (literally or figuratively): – enlighten, illuminate, (bring to, give) light, make to see.

2 Pet. 1:19
“word of prophecy;4397 whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light3088…”
“light” luchnos (lookh'-nos) G3088
From the base of G3022; a portable lamp or other illuminator (literally or figuratively): – candle, light.

2 Pet. 1:19
“until the day dawn, and the day star5459 arise in your hearts:”
“Morning Star” phōsphoros (foce-for'-os) G5459
From G5457 and G5342; light bearing (“phosphorus”), that is, (specifically) the morning star (figuratively): – day star.

All definitions and quotes are from the following sources:
Strong’s Hebrew & Greek Dictionaries; Thayer’s Greek Definitions; King James Version of the Bible. All these dictionaries are available for free download from www.e-sword.net

Lessons from Science
• There is the 'particle' theory, expressed in part by the word photon.
• There is the 'wave' theory, expressed by the term light wave.
From the time of the ancient Greeks, people have thought of light as a stream of tiny particles. After all, light travels in straight lines and bounces off a mirror much like a ball bouncing off a wall. No one had actually seen particles of light, but even now it's easy to explain why that might be. The particles could be too small, or moving too fast, to be seen, or perhaps our eyes see right through them.
The idea of the light wave came from Christian Huygens, who proposed in the late 1600s that light acted like a wave instead of a stream of particles. In 1807, Thomas Young backed up Huygens' theory by showing that when light passes through a very narrow opening, it can spread out, and interfere with light passing through another opening. Young shined a light through a very narrow slit. What he saw was a bright bar of light that corresponded to the slit. But that was not all he saw. Young also perceived additional light, not as bright, in the areas around the bar. If light were a stream of particles, this additional light would not have been there. This experiment suggested that light spread out like a wave. In fact, a beam of light radiates outward at all times.
Spiritual application:
Sometimes we are presented with a very narrow opening, a small gap of opportunity to share the light within, with someone else. As result of the wave nature of light, it can radiate through that gap and spread out, so too Jesus' light within can penetrate the smallest of openings presented to the ligth-bearer. While witnessing to people, their interest and agreement with the smallest truth, allows the light to radiate and fill their hearts, so that they too can receive the benefits of the Light of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Albert Einstein advanced the theory of light further in 1905. Einstein considered the photoelectric effect, in which ultraviolet light hits a surface and causes electrons to be emitted from the surface. Einstein's explanation for this was that light was made up of a stream of energy packets called photons.
Spiritual Application:
As we shine the Light of Jesus towards the person we are reaching, the light will cause evil spirits of oppression to be emitted from the surface of their souls, changing their very nature and behaviour (Just like an atom will change into another element as its number of electrons is changed). Casting out demons has a lot to do with our understanding of Jesus light within us, as we use the name of Jesus, His light dispels the darkness.

Modern physicists believe that light can behave as both a particle and a wave, but they also recognize that either view is a simple explanation for something more complex. In this article, we will talk about light as waves, because this provides the best explanation for most of the phenomena our eyes can see.
Light waves also come in many frequencies. The frequency is the number of waves that pass a point in space during any time interval, usually one second. It is measured in units of cycles (waves) per second, or Hertz (Hz). The frequency of visible light is referred to as color, and ranges from 430 trillion Hz, seen as red, to 750 trillion Hz, seen as violet. Again, the full range of frequencies extends beyond the visible spectrum, from less than one billion Hz, as in radio waves, to greater than 3 billion billion Hz, as in gamma rays.
As noted above, light waves are waves of energy. The amount of energy in a light wave is proportionally related to its frequency: High frequency light has high energy; low frequency light has low energy. Thus gamma rays have the most energy, and radio waves have the least. Of visible light, violet has the most energy and red the least.
Light not only vibrates at different frequencies, it also travels at different speeds. Light waves move through a vacuum at their maximum speed, 300,000 kilometers per second or 186,000 miles per second, which makes light the fastest phenomenon in the universe.

Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/light1.htm

Studies of 'light' from Scripture: