This is a great and deep question, especially when reading Genesis
The Bible says light existed before the sun.
Genesis 1:3 – “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:14-19 – The sun, moon, and stars weren’t created until the fourth day.
So how can there be light before the sun?
God Himself is Light
1 John 1:5 – “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” God doesn’t need a sun to produce light. He can radiate it Himself. This is seen again in Revelation 21:23, where the New Jerusalem has no need for the sun, “for the glory of God gives it light.”
Some scholars say the “light” on day 1 wasn’t from a visible object but the creation of energy or the separation of order from chaos—setting up time, day/night cycles, and physical laws. In this view, light symbolically represents God bringing structure to the universe.
Different Sources of Light
The “light” in verse 3 may have come from a temporary source—a supernatural or temporary illumination God used before making the sun. Like a construction site may have temporary lights before permanent ones are installed, God may have done something similar.
God’s Progressive Creation
Genesis 1 follows a logical structure: first, God forms the environment (days 1–3), then He fills it (days 4–6). So, He created light (day 1) and later gave it specific forms (sun, moon, stars on day 4).
Light existed before the sun because:
God can shine light without needing the sun. Light can mean order or energy. A temporary light source may have been used. The sun was created later to rule over the day and night already in place.
This shows God’s power to create light and life independently of natural sources.
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