By Pastor Dave Farmer

I. VOCABULARY STUDY OF LIGHT

Whenever you study a word in the original languages you attempt to find it's root. Most words exist in a family. Think of this as a genealogical study. You start with the parent. Every word has a parent from which it originated. Then there are brother and sisters. It even has kinfolk in another language family. Somebody left home and began to live in a new culture and reared his family under a new language. So equivalent words are gathered to establish meaning.

Since every word exists in some family what we try to do is to examine its genealogy and trace its family tree.

A. The Verb

1. PHŌTÍZŌ [ φωτίζω, #5462] to bring to light, to make known, to illuminate - 11 times. ¶

a. The Natural Concept of Light

1) The announcement of the fall of anthropocentric religion of the Tribulation by a super angel whose radiant garments illuminated the earth, [Revelation 18:1].

2) In the future God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be the light source for an eternal day [Revelation 21:23; 22:5].

b. The figurative use of Light

1) The Holy Spirit's pre-salvation ministry of making clear the Gospel of Light to those who walk in darkness [John 1:9; 2 Timothy 1:10].

2) Those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ are described as "enlightened" [Hebrew 6:4; 10:32].

3) The Holy Spirit's teaching ministry of bringing to light the truth of the Word of God [Ephesians 1:18; 3:9].

4) The future ministry of our Lord Jesus whose appraisal at the Judgment Seat of Christ will bring to light all the hidden and obscure motives behind our actions [1 Corinthians 4:5].

B. The Nouns

1. PHOS [φῶς, #5457] meaning light - 72 times. ¶

a. The Natural Concept Of Light

1) The word light refers to the physical light we find in the natural world which God created on the first day of Restoration [ 2 Corinthians 4:6a ].

2) Natural light is sometimes supernaturally produced.

a) Natural light at times is produced supernaturally as when the light that Paul saw on the road to Damascus was brighter than the sun [Acts 9:3; 22:6, 9, 11; 26:13] or the supernatural light in Peter's cell [Acts 12:7].

b. The Figurative Use Of Light

1) With reference to the Trinity:

a) The Father as to His nature is light [1 John 1:5; James 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:16].

b) The Son is given the Title "Light of the world" which indicates His work as Savior and Redeemer [John 1:4,5,8,9; 3:19 -21; 8:12, 9:5,11:9 ; 12:36a, 46; Luke 2:32; 1 John 2:8 ].

c) The prophesy of His coming spoke of Him as "light" explaining that "A Great Light" has appeared and "a light has dawned" meaning His ministry of sharing the message of salvation had begun [Matthew 4:16].

d) Our Lord's teaching on the light [Matthew 6:22; Luke 8:16; 12:3; 16:8;11:33-35].

2) With reference to the unbelievers

a) Religious unbelievers are blinded by false doctrines and rituals have a reversion for God described as a deep seated hostility toward the Light [John 3:19-21].

3) With reference to believers

a) Phase One - Salvation

1) We are called out of the kingdom of darkness by the Gospel of Light [2 Corinthians 4:4-6] to live in God's kingdom of light [ Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:13;1 Peter 2:9].

2) At the moment of Salvation, faith alone in Christ alone, we are placed into union with the Lord and so our position is called "Light in the Lord" [Ephesians 5:8] and we are also "saints in the Light" [Colossians 1:12].

3) One of the blessings of being "In Christ" is a new role given to us, we are ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ [Matthew 10:27; Acts 13:47]; Jesus calls us "lights of the world" [Matthew 5:14] and Paul says we are "lights to the Gentiles" [Acts 13:4]; as John the Baptist was a light to the Jews [John 1:7; 5:35].

b) Phase Two - Our Christians Walk

1) Believers are required to "Walk in The Light" which is their moment by moment, daily fellowship with God [1 John 1:7; Ephesians 5:8; Matthew 5:16; 1 John 2:9,10].

2) As we live in the light we utilize what God has provided; that is, primarily the light of His Word whereby we gain spiritual strength, nourishment, and guidance [Psalm 119:105,130]. Light is a synonym for the Word of God [2 Samuel 22:29, Ephesians 5:13; Revelation 21:24]

3) It is the nature of light to shine, to illuminate, to be a blessing, so the believer who walks in the light produces light [Ephesians 5:9 "the fruit of light" ; Matthew 5:16]. For this reason they are called "the sons of light or the sons producing light" [John 12:36c; 1 Thessalonians 5:5].

4) We are warned about the spiritual dangers of satanic influence [Luke 16:8; compare Ephesians 2:1; John 11:10; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Romans 2:19] and therefore we are "to put on the armor [weapons] of light" Romans 13:12 cp Ephesians 6:10-13]. Sadly, some believers are satanically deceived and walk in darkness duped into thinking they are walking in the light [1 John 2:9, 10; Luke 11:35].

c) Phase Three - Believer in Eternity

1) The light-bearers in the future will no longer be needed in the eternal city for there are new sources of light , the Presence of God [Revelation 22:5] and the billions of believers in resurrection bodies [Matthew 17:2].

2. PHOTISMOS [φωτισμός, #5462] "light" - 2 times. ¶

a. Light is a synonym for the gospel and salvation [2 Corinthians 4:4,6].

3. PHOSTER [φωστήρ, #5458 ] lights, luminaries - 2 times. ¶

a. The natural concept of "light" from heavenly bodies [Septuagint of Genesis 1:14,16]. In the future God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be the source of light for an eternal day [Revelation 21:23; 22:5].

b. Figuratively of believers as ambassadors of Christ shining their light in the darkness of the Cosmic system [Philippians 2:14].

C. The Adjectives

1. PHOTEINOS [φωτεινός, #5460] - 5 times. ¶

a. "shining, bright, radiant." as the radiant garment of the Resurrection Body [Matthew 27:1,5].

b. "full of light" the teaching of Christ illuminates the person, bringing understanding of God's plan [Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:34, 36].

2. PHOSPHOROS [φωσφόρος, #5459 ] "morning light, or as a noun “morning star”-1 time. ¶

a. The metaphor of the Lord Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 1:19, "the morning star."

D. Compound Words - Verbs

1. EPIPHOSKO [ἐπιφώσκω , #2020] "to dawn, to become light" - 2 times in the Gospels. ¶

a. The natural concept of light, as the earth rotates daylight hours come [Matthew 28:1; Luke 23:54].

2. EPΙPHΑUSΚO [ἐπιφαύσκω, #2017] “to shine upon,” Ephesians 5:14 - 1 time.¶

a. As we live in the light, we utilize what God has provided. The expression in Ephesians 5:14, "Christ shall shine on you " indicates a restoration to fellowship, His favor, and blessing after we have acknowledged our sins, "Awake sleeper and Arise from the dead."

For those of you who are familiar with lexical studies will recognize the format. Although these are my own studies and conclusions, I was benefited greatly from Vine's work. Vine, W. E., & Bruce, F. F. (1981). Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament words (Vol. 2, pp. 267–270). Old Tappan NJ: Revell.

¶This sign associated with a Greek word indicates that all its occurrences in the original are mentioned.