How was there light on the first day of God's creation when the sun and moon were created on the fourth day?

Answer 1

God made physical light energy to exist before there were any actual 'light givers' such as the sun, moon, (reflected of course) stars, etc. This is seen by some to emphasize the fact that light energy is more fundamental than the existence of any 'light giver'. It would thus make no difference to God whether He created waves of light energy or actual physical bodies that emitted light. This of course He did later as noted in the question.

Some have also pointed out that God Himself is referred to as 'light' and the book of Revelation notes that God Himself is to be the source of light at the end of time when the world and universe as we currently know them cease to exist. This seen in one sense as re-creation, or return to an original condition of perfection, so it may give us a clue as to what happened originally.

Answer 2

The ancients did not fully understand that the sun is our sole source of daylight. They thought of the sun in terms of the sun god, who ruled the day, just as the moon god, represented by the moon itself, ruled the night. This is reflected in Genesis 1:18, where the sun and the moon were in the firmament "to rule over the day and over the night..."

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Answer 3

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."

Answer 4

In the Genesis creation story, light was created on the first day by God, even before the sun and moon were created on the fourth day. This light is often interpreted as the divine presence or a supernatural light that illuminated the world before the physical luminaries.