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Let There Be Light
Let There Be Light
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good” (Genesis 1:3-4, ESV).
This statement shocks me more than just about any other in the Bible. As God brought order to the chaos, the first thing He brought into existence was light. Just imagine for a moment what it was like before that. There was just absence of light. Had man been there, he would have seen nothing. There is no sight without light. But then God said, “Let there be light,” and it was there in all of its blinding brilliance.
The shocking part is there was light but no sun and no stars. That doesn’t come about until the fourth day of the creation week. There was light with no source. There were day and night, but no sun or moon. Amazing.
Just stop and think about what this says about our God. Those who can’t see past their test tube simply can’t fathom this. They question the possibility. They claim the Bible simply can’t be true because this statement is scientifically impossible. But those who can look with eyes of faith recognize the truth exclaimed in James 1:17. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (ESV). God is the Father of lights, the Father of light. He is the progenitor, the originator, the author, the ultimate source of light. There is no light that does not ultimately originate from Him.
As I John 1:5 says, “God is light, and in him is no darkness” (ESV). He does not need to create a source to create light, He merely has to allow His essence and nature to shine forth. And so, John had spoken of Jesus, the logos of God saying, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (ESV).
That is our God. Light. Supreme, brilliant, blinding, pure, clear light.
And so the psalmist explains why he has no fear when darkness surrounds him. “For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:27-29, ESV). He goes on to say God’s way is perfect and His word is true. There is no need to fear, God lights the way.
Isaiah explains when we should fear. “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment” (Isaiah 50:10-11, ESV). We should fear only when we decide to light our own torches and walk by the light of our own way.
When darkness surrounds us, God’s light can illumine us. We can best see His light in His Word, which always prove true. As Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (ESV). When we tie this with Isaiah’s statement above, we learn we must not pervert, distort, or stain God’s Word with our own ways. God’s way works; our way does not.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expresses the need for light in our lives by saying, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness” (Matthew 6:22-23, ESV). He pictures the eye as the lamp of the body. What the eye looks on is what makes its way into our hearts and minds. If we look on darkness, our whole body will be dark. If we look on light, our whole body will be filled with light. Do you want to be governed by darkness? Or do you want to be light filled? I know the answer. Focus your gaze on God and on things above (cf. Colossians 3:2). Let your whole body be filled with God’s light and watch as that light pours over into all of your life.
Then you will look forward to coming full circle to the place where there is no sun, moon, or stars because God no longer uses a source for light except Himself (Revelation 21:23; 22:5). In God’s kingdom, He is the light. There is no other. That is our God. Let’s focus on Him and let His light fill us for all eternity.
—Edwin L. Crozier
- January 26, 2014--Let there be light.pdf (258.50 kB)
