What is the meaning of light in Genesis chapter 1?

Answer 1

The light of the first three days was not the sun or any star. Rather, it was light that God created before the sun, and which emanated from a point in space without any physical source; like what we might term a "white hole." On the fourth day, God created the sun.

Answer 2

Genesis 1:3: "And God said, let there be light : and there was light." This was day one of creation, but the sun was not created until day 3.

The ancients did not really understand that the only source of light in the world came from the sun. Without the light of day, there could be no first or second day, so the story says that God created light. The sun was created to rule over the day (Genesis 1:18) not as the actual source of light, in line with ancient understanding of the sun.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation