It’s starting to get really exciting now …
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:3-5).
Light amazes me. It moves just shy of 300,000 kilometers per second. If you drove your car to the sun at the speed limit, it would take you 157 years to arrive. But if you could ride a beam of light to the sun, it would take you only eight minutes and twenty seconds! Whether we’re talking about light produced by friction or nuclear reactions or fire, it all comes from God! That includes the long-wave radio waves and the short-wave x-rays. And I’ve just scratched the surface. Light is built into the very fabric of our universe. As Einstein taught us, mass is but latent energy, and energy is unleashed mass; and the amount of energy contained in mass is represented by the elegant equation E = mc2 … E for energy, m for mass, and c for the speed of light.
So we’ve completed the first day of Creation, but we don’t yet have a sun. I only mention that so that we don’t get too dogmatic about some of the details which we may not fully understand. Where we do have questions in our study of Genesis, whenever possible, we ought to look to the New Testament to shed light (pun fully intended) on the subject. For example, last week I mentioned that I question the validity of using the word “now” at the beginning of Verse 2 to open the door to a pre-Adamite race. My questioning doesn’t come from my expertise in either Hebrew or science, but it comes from Romans 5:12. If we lose the doctrine of sin “coming into the world” through Adam, then we’ve gutted much of the Bible. If nothing was corrupted before sin, I find it hard to wrap my mind around any kind of death before Adam, though I know that some scholars insist that Paul is referring only to human death. So I would encourage you to “let Scripture interpret Scripture” whenever possible. It won’t settle every question in your heart, but it will go a long way.
One thing we know for sure: what sin corrupted into disorder (I know that I’m getting ahead of myself in the Creation account), Christ’s Cross has the power to bring back into order! Praise God!
So let’s get back to Day 1. “And God said” is used nine times in the Creation account. God spoke, and from nothing everything was made. This is (I’ll quote John Gill here) “expressive of the will, power, authority, and efficacy of the divine Being; whose word is clothed with power, and who can do, and does whatever he will, and as soon as he pleases; his orders are always obeyed.” God by definition reigns supreme and unchallenged. That’s why we call Him “Lord” or “the Lord Almighty” or “King of kings and Lord of lords.” In Greek mythology, the gods compete with each other. Even Zeus can be undone. But not our God! He rules. He reigns. Period.
“Let there be light!” When we lived out in Southern California we learned all about the “May Gray” and the “June Gloom.” It looks cloudy and foggy until about 11:00 in the morning, but–without fail –the sun breaks through for yet another gorgeous day. “And there was light.” Was this light physical? Yes. Was this light philosophical? Also, yes. I don’t think this was an either/or. I don’t think that Moses is only referring to physical light here. This light is the very knowledge, power, righteousness, and Word of our great God expressed via the medium that is light. By the way, there is ultimately no darkness which can overcome the light (John 1:1-5).
“And God saw that the light was good.” The word employed here for “good” is used 44 times in the Old Testament, and can mean practical goodness, desirability, beauty, quality, moral goodness, or even philosophical goodness. So I think that we can take this sentence to mean that God determined that the light was fulfilling its intended purpose. God delights to shine His truth into the darkness of our ignorance. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet …”
So what made the “night” night? I think this: that it was distinct from the day. Maybe God our magnificent Creator used some kind of cloud cover which allowed light to penetrate – or not. I’m speculating now, so don’t take those clouds to the bank, but suffice it to say that this “evening and morning” refrain of distinction (and order) will be used by the Lord on every successive workday. But it will be conspicuously absent on Day 7, which I’ll get too later in this series. If you’ll indulge me, I’ll blog more about the wonders of Creation next week, but I encourage you today to take a quick journey from the Bible’s first book to the Bible’s last, to Revelation 22:5 specifically. In Christ, you and I are headed to a place where “night will be no more.” Can you imagine? Jesus the Light of the world will be so present with us – forever – that He alone will be all the light we’ll ever need.
Let there be …” When God speaks to us, His word is invincible. There is no other. I’m so glad that Christianity is not a system of rituals and rules meant to gain God’s favor. No! The beating heart of the Bible, from cover to cover, is truth. And it all starts with the truth of who God is. Only the Light of Jesus can deliver us from the folly and foolishness and futility of religion. We need Light!
Yours by grace,
Pastor Charles
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