Skip to main content

Light

It is no coincidence that light is symbolic of Christ, the light and life of the world (Mosiah 16:9). Every characteristic of light is also characteristic of the Son of God:


  • All life requires light for survival and growth.
  • Light dispels darkness.
  • Light makes everything visible and clear (also used in the forms of lenses and mirrors) and is used to lead the way.
  • Light provides warmth and happiness; its absence leads to cold and depression.
  • The brightest light is white.
  • The solar system revolves around a light source (and isn't it interesting that sun and son are homophones in English?).
  • Light signifies knowledge (light bulb ideas, the word enlightenment, D&C 93:36).
  • Light comes from above.

The scriptures reveal how light has been used to symbolize the Savior:

  • Before the Savior was born, the Nephites experienced a day and a night and a day of full light (3 Nephi 1:15, 19).
  • On His day of birth, a new star--the brightest and only constant star--appeared (3 Nephi 1:21, Matthew 2:2).
  • When the Savior was crucified, there was darkness, for three hours in Jerusalem (Luke 23:44-45) and three days in the Americas in which no light could be made (3 Nephi 8:20-23).

Other facts about light:

  • Things that are black do not emit or reflect light.
  • Winter has the least daylight.

Discussion: In what other ways is light symbolic of Christ?

photo from Yury Khristich on sxc.hu

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Light was what Joseph Smith was surrounded by after he was first covered by darkness in the Sacred grove. light is what Moroni was surrounded by when he was in Joseph's bedroom.
DAD
January 20, 2010 at 12:12 AM
Anonymous said…
Jesus Christ is the light and the life of the world because he helps us, along with Heavenly Father, through tough times and through the straight and narrow path. He leads us away from spiritual darkness and into spritual light. Come follow him! Also, light helps things function. The spiritual light is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Constance
July 9, 2010 at 3:09 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Few Degrees

"I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees," said President Uchtdorf in General Conference April 2008 . To illustrate this point, he explained that if your course flying around the world were just one degree off, by the time you got back around, you would be 500 miles (800 km) off course. It almost seems unfair that a small mistake can have such a negatively dramatic effect on our lives. However, it is not one small error that does this, but many "small errors and minor drifts away from the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves. "The longer we delay corrective action, the larger the needed changes become, and the longer it takes to get back ...
2 comments
Read more

Teaching Children Really Does Make a Difference

A talk from stake conference today reminded me of the testimony I gave in September and meant to post here. Here's the gist of it . Sometimes I wonder if teaching the gospel to my children is really making a difference, especially because I don't see the results right away. Scripture study and family home evening require a lot of effort, and most of the time is spent getting them to sit and pay attention and not fight with each other. It reminds me of when Elder Bednar shared similar thoughts  in a past conference: Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bed...
2 comments
Read more

One but Not the Same

Zion --lds.org Moses 7:18 describes a Zion people as being of "one heart and one mind." And Mosiah 18:21 shares that when organizing the church, Alma commanded the people to "look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism." All this talk of oneness leads some people to believe that we are all supposed to be the same in thought and personality. That belief can scare away people from accepting the gospel. President Uchtdorf set the record straight in his talk during the priesthood session of the April 2013 General Conference: But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one...
2 comments
Read more