We will first consider the natural, then the spiritual.
What is light? It is of the same essential ‘element as electricity, indeed of all energy. It travels at the speed of 186,000 per second. It is the connection between the mechanism of seeing and the object seen. With it there is vision, without it the best constructed eye in existence is useless.
Properties Of Light
What does it do? It brings us news of the Universe. Coming from the sun and stars it tells us of their existence, their positions, movements, constitutions, etc. Coming from objects around us it enables us to see our way round the world, and we can enjoy the forms and colours. Light is the conveyor of energy from, place to place in the world and universe, principally by the transfer of what we call heat. It has lately become clear that the individual electron, the minute element of electricity, has properties akin to light. Light therefore, using the full meaning of the word, transmits energy which is the mainstay of life, and gives to all living beings the power of observation; and it is akin to the matter of which all things animate and inanimate are made. We do it no more than justice when we speak of the Universe of light. A ray of sunlight leaves its source and comes to us in due time. On its way it passes through heat and cold and atmosphere. It is reflected many times and finally it comes to us from the object at which we are looking. Light helps us to make out this object and its details. Experience tells us the source of light, artificial or otherwise. When we use an instrument to analyse the sun’s light we can discover such things as the composition and state of the atmospheres it has gone through and what has reflected it.
Further analysis by a glass prism shows us the spectrum. We find the red waves are the longest and are bent the least on going through the prism, the violet are the shortest and are bent the most. Light passing through a slit is then broken up by a prism and on the screen we see all the colours of the rainbow which constitute light. If we place a piece of red glass before the slit we immediately cut off all the colours except red. There is no conversion of one colour into another — the only action is destructive. If yellow glass is used the violet is absorbed and we see yellow, and the strange part about yellow is that it is the only one which allows such a complex set of wavelengths to pass. If we use yellow and blue side by side we get green on the screen because the yellow cuts out the violet and the blue glass cuts out the red. When we use blue and yellow glass together we find we have a white on the screen because together they contain all the colours of the spectrum.
The Lessons
Now we will transfer these observations to the spiritual and we find we are led to the Bible truth that God’s Spirit fills the immensity of space and that by it He does all His works. Light is one manifestation of His Spirit, and by it all factual knowledge of the Universe is provided; the obvious counterpart to this must be His Word, the Bible. Here we are given the account of the creation of our world, by it we are given the ability to tread a clear path through it, and on the way to enjoy its forms and colours, to absorb its warmth and pass it on. As in the manner of a prism the light of God’s word passes through every man and each one passes it on in a particular way according to his `bent He receives a white light but it is coloured by his mental perceptions; thus to one person life is vigorous and purely sensual, to another it is a thing of beauty in which any discord of form causes pain. The former passes on heat which often scorches and is soon gone, but the latter gives out a gentle, enduring warmth. Of course, no one person is totally one or the other, but predominantly so.
We will now spiritually define the colours of the spectrum: First the three primary colours — Blue for divine, the healing power of the Word; Red for earth, flesh, and sin; yellow for faith. The secondary colours such as orange, green and various shades of violet are all mixtures of one or more of the above. The only one that we will concern ourselves with particularly is green, which stands for immortality. These colours are all in the white. We say an object is white if it reflects all the colours and absorbs none, or that it is black if it absorbs all and reflects none. If “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” shines in our hearts, what is reflected back? Christ was the Light of the World in every sense imaginable, He received and passed on the Light from God without bending it at all. It is possible for our hearts and minds to be so black that they give no evidence of the light. There are men who take all the good gifts of God and give nothing in return, who absorb but do not reflect. It is possible for the “god of this world” to “blind the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them”. Even if we reflect all the colours which go to make the purity of light it will be dimmed by an admixture of black. This is inevitable, but the black should be a continually decreasing quantity.
Rose Coloured Glasses
The light of the body is the eye. If the eye is single the body is full of light. No double vision double mindedness — pure light received from its source — no coloured spectacles which make us blind to certain colours, for you know, we can see only what we want to see — we have only to adjust the colour of our spectacles. There is a terrible danger here, for if we allow our vision to be coloured by prejudice, partiality, controversy, pride, tradition, bitterness, other people will always look more black than they are. That which is black in white light is indeed black, but that which is black through pink glasses may be the purest blue. Let us always remember that black in others may be due to our vision, and try to see each other as God and Christ sees us. It is a magnificent thing to reflect colour, to make manifest the presence of God’s light, but it is a terrible thing to introduce colour which will make bright characters look black.
In the book “Law of Moses” regarding the priests’ garments which were for glory and beauty, we read “What do we read in this but the fact that glory and beauty are the attributes of Divine wisdom, whether we regard it intrinsically or in its living expression in all experience. Qualities are best discerned by contrast. Baseness and hideousness are the reverse of glory and beauty. We have but to look at the ways of men apart from God to see how vainglorious and ugly they are in all ways and senses. The man who is the slave of vice; the community that is given over to lust and violence; the nation that is sunk in superstition, idolatry and darkness — are extreme illustrations of the ugliness that belongs to human nature divorced from light and law — an ugliness that extends to faces and persons, as well as the minds of men. But there are many intermediate shades — from the partial insipidities of the common people to the ornamental brilliances of high life. Even the fair aspects of average refinement are but the picturesque wrappage of that which is unbeautiful itself. In a word, the natural man, in all his manifestations, is an ugly creature. He is indebted for the little ameliorations that we see in modern life to the indirect scintillations of the glory and beauty that belong to revelation. There is more profound philosophy than people imagine in the Bible classification of “the works of the flesh”, and “the works of the Spirit”, and on James’ apparently narrow-minded declaration that “every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of Lights”.
Some Colour Significances
We will consider two very good examples to illustrate our points up to now. Esau means ‘rough’, Genesis 25 v. 30. Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red (that delicious red) for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom (meaning red or ruddy). I wonder if this is the origin of ‘rough and ready ruddy?’. Esau, then, by name and inclination was only concerned with present physical desires. Jacob, on the other hand, was a discerner of the things of God, because included in the birthright he desired the priesthood which Esau despised, or profaned. It is very noticeable that when Isaac is blessing the one he thought was Esau the emphasis is upon feeding and physical supremacy in war, with no mention of the promises of Abraham, but when Isaac blesses Jacob preparatory to his departure he asks that the blessing of Abraham may come on Jacob and his descendants, with its inheritance of the land. These meant nothing to Esau but all the world to Jacob when on his lonely journey to Laban, God appears at Bethel and confirms the Abrahamic promise to Jacob. Esau was like a red glass — he destroyed all light waves except the red — his light therefore could only shine red on to whatever he came into contact with. Everything was coloured by his fleshly instincts. Jacob was like the yellow glass — faith. Working side by side with the divine will produce immortality in the future, and finally faith swallowed up by the divine blue will reflect the pure white light of the righteousness of God Himself.
1 am quite sure that it is superflous for me to draw your attention in detail to the occasions when the colour of an object emphasises the lesson which is being taught. The red of the hangings of the tabernacle, the likening of sin to scarlet, the red horses of Zechariah, the great red dragon of Revelation, and the woman on a scarlet beast are all variations of the same theme. How keenly Christ must have felt it when he was clothed in a robe which contained red. Let us turn with relief to yellow or gold but do not let us confuse this with unpolished brass which denotes the strength of flesh alone — Goliath’s armour was of this nature. But we must think of Rev. 3:18 where we are counselled to buy gold tried in the fire — bought, a sacrifice in order to obtain faith. Incidentally, have you ever noticed how yellow predominates in the spring flowers — is this an earnest of the resurrection when faith emerges triumphant despite the darkness of the world that now is.
Blue — that heavenly colour, which lifts our thoughts and eyes above and beyond all earthly things; the cloth of the tabernacle wholly of blue; the ribband of blue of the garments; the Word of God which cleanses, heals and redeems us if we will but let it. Think of the woman who, oh, so full of faith yet fear, touched the fringe of Christ’s garment and was healed.
Colour In Revelation
This brings us to the vision given in Chapter 4 of. Revelation which revealed one on a throne that looked like a jasper stone, encircled by an emerald rainbow. Jasper is a greenish purple and denotes “a change”, symbolising the Spirit whilst the sardius stone is flesh coloured, like a carnelian, symbolising the flesh. The rainbow denotes the new covenant which gives life — immortal life.
Again we see the predominance of green in the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem yet the tinge of red conveys the knowledge of the Adamic origin of the constituant parts, the attainment of salvation through trial and sanctification. At this time the whole purpose of God is completed for verse one says that the first order has passed and there is no sea of nations hostile to God. The city is like the jasper — it is the foundation of the new order (v. 19); it is the wall or enclosing (v. 18); and it is the whole emanation of it (v. 11) the corporation of individuals every one of whom has been made spirit. No need now of created light because God, the untreated light, is in the midst of her for evermore. There is no night (no blackness), all the myriad shades are absorbed in that perfect light — no longer seen through a glass prism darkly, indistinct and blurred according to our natural bent but face to face in everlasting joy.
Here is the great truth that, only when we see things in the light of God, do we see things as they really are. It is only when we see things in the light of God that we see what things are really important and what things are not. Things which seem vastly important like ambitions and prestige, money and gain, lose all their value and importance when they are seen in the light of God. Pleasures, habits and social customs which seem permissible enough are seen for the dangerous things they are when seen in the light of God. Things which seem
to be hardship, toil, discipline, unpopularity, even persecution, are seen in their glory when seen in the light of God. As the Psalmist says, “In Thy light shall we see light”.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay