Genesis 1:2-5 "The First Day of Creation"
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsOn the first day of creation God formed the heavens and the earth... and shaped our planet from a formless void to the sphere we know today. God spoke and light divided light from darkness. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Notes
Transcript
Good evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!
Please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Genesis. Easy to find… all the way to the left.
Genesis has come under great scrutiny by scientists and skeptics… and many theories and counter-theories have been developed to prove or disprove the creation account… and origins.
I’m thankful for the work of Answers in Genesis… the Creation Museum… and for scientist and theologians who have a passion for science to dissect not only Genesis…
But also the counter theories… the Big Bang and Evolution… (Evilution)… and to expose the flaws in those THEORIES… and they are simply theories… NOT facts as so often presented in public school systems…
To indoctrinate… if they wanted to educate, they’d present both sides of the coin.
But there is an agenda there.
When we read Genesis… the book of Beginnings… called Bereshîth by the Jews (Hebrew for “In the beginning”)…
When we read it… understand that it was given to Moses by God… and the intent was NOT for it to be complicated.
You don’t need a Ph.D. to understand it… because it’s written for His children… it’s written in plain language.
If you have believe the first five words, “In the beginning God created...”
You should be able to take the rest of the book by faith as well…
And, it is a faith journey. No matter what… even evolutionists have to have faith in their theory… they have to believe in something they cannot fully measure or observe… because the scientific method cannot stretch all the way back to the beginning.
But there is One who was there… God. And through His servant Moses… He has given us this word to understand many origins…
In the first 11 chapters, God will teach the origins of the universe… all life on earth… the formation of marriage & family… the fall of mankind (the origin of sin)… the plan for salvation… the necessity for blood sacrifice for sin… races and nations of the world, languages, cities, trade, agriculture, music, worship…
These things are ahead… and these things are important… Chapter 1-11 alone are quoted over 100x in the NT; Genesis as a whole is quoted over 100x in the NT.
Jesus and the early disciples never threw the OT out… they never unhitched themselves… as some liberal Pastors are in the habit of so doing today.
I guess their congregations will never study Genesis. Pity.
Let’s dive in…we’re going to study the OT… we
did cover a lot of ground last time… V1… so… we’ll pick up where we left off… V2
And hey… at this pace… you won’t have to wonder about creation… because we’ll likely be face to face with the Creator before we finish Genesis.
He can tell you exactly how the beginning was…
I imagine we’ll ask God, “Tell us what it was like in the beginning.” And, He’ll say, “Sure.” And, then He’ll read to us Genesis Chapters 1-2…
Because we already have the explanation.
Hopefully God will give us a few more details (I’m sure we will)… but for now… we have all we need to understand the creation account… the beginning of origins. Praise God.
Tonight we are looking at Genesis 1:2-5 in a message titled “The First Day of Creation.”
Let’s Pray!
Let’s just back it up all the way to the beginning… why not…
Genesis 1:1-5 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Praise God for His word. Please be seated.
In the beginning God created…
God is the Creator… who in V1 created… Heb. bara (to create something from nothing)… Creation (eks ˈnēhəlō) “Ex Nihilo”… Latin for “from nothing.”
There is that which is God… and there is everything else… Creation.
Meaning… there are only two things that exist… the Creator and the Created.
Making God holy and distinct from His creation.
That which is created is NOT God… no matter what people think.
And, from God’s heavenly seat… He lays the foundations of all life and everything we know.
Creation did not come by chance… lighting did not strike primordial pond scum and set life in motion.
There’s no chance in creation… the likelihood of our universe having just the right factors to sustain life is beyond chance.
On YouTube, you can view the movie “The Privileged Planet” to get a sense of how our planet and galaxy has just the right measure of gravitational force… and light… and distance from the stars…
Too much or too little of any of a number of factors and life would not exist.
We have the best real-estate to view the rest of the Galaxy…
But, all that is chance… just a big bang… and lightning…
I’ve never known a big bang to do anything but destroy.
If lightning strikes water… it doesn’t bring life… it brings death.
It’s called electrocution. The water becomes charged with electricity and things die when they come into contact.
But, scientist say billions of years ago lightning may have struck and created phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon, and organic matter.
Just by chance… and since by change… conveniently morality doesn’t matter.
From a Biblical view however, in the beginning, we reject chance and subscribe to a designer with great wisdom… who used this wisdom every step of the way in creation…
Wisdom beyond measure… beyond comprehension… a characteristic of God…
Beautifully, in Pro 8, Solomon personifies God’s attribute of wisdom… in Pro 8:12 Solomon writes, “I, wisdom, dwell [share a home] with prudence [meaning cleverness or sensibleness; good counsel]…”
Wisdom and prudence are both feminine… so pronouns such as “her” and “she” accompany this poetic rendering of God’s character…
… and there are all kinds of lessons in Pro 8 about obtaining wisdom and the benefits thereof…
But, very interesting… in relation to Genesis… Solomon also ties wisdom to the creation account.
Listen to this… Pro 8:22-32 “The LORD [Yahweh, the God of Israel… ] possessed me [me being “Wisdom”] at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. 23 I have been established from everlasting [the word “established” lit. means “to pour out.” God’s wisdom was appointed before creation and was poured out upon creation], From the beginning, before there was ever an earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water. [Water appeared on Day Two of Creation] 25 Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth; 26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primal dust [the first dust] of the world. [Dry land appeared on Day Three of Creation] 27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, [speaking about the horizon on the surface of the ocean] 28 When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, 29 When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 Then I [still wisdom] was beside Him as a master craftsman [Wisdom is NOT the designer, but is at God’s side… implying an intimate connection…]; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men.” [Poetically personified… wisdom rejoices in God’s presence… at God’s work in creating Earth and mankind].
Such a beautiful Proverb.
Wisdom is personified as the LORD’s assistant in His creative work…
… poetically indicating that day by day in God’s Six LITERAL 24 Hour days of creation… (cat’s out of the bag now on what I think of days)…
… God was wise in what & how He created… beyond our comprehension.
Fascinating… and if you don’t think so… that’s fine… I’ll sit up here and be fascinated all by myself. I’m ok with that.
But, take this in… if God employed wisdom in creation… how much more do we need wisdom in life?
Pro 9:10 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom...”
If you want to be wise… start there… revere God.
If you don’t revere God you’re a fool, the Bible says “fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Pro 1:7).
James writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
Wisdom is attainable simply through prayer. Just ask God.
How many times do we encounter situations that are beyond us? Where there is no clear answer… no clear path.
Pray for wisdom…
Let her abide in your home with prudence and come alongside you in life’s journey.
As a homework assignment… meditate upon Proverbs chapter 8 this week.
And, for extra credit… chapter 9 as well.
Well, back in Genesis… in the beginning, God created… and He created several series of Trinities.
Of course… God ʾĕlôhîym (V1) is plural… in V 26 He says, “Let Us make man in Our image.”
Last week I shared a few verses portraying all three person of the Godhead having their hand in creation… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The heavens (plural)… the sky, the universe, and heaven as God’s dwelling place… another trinity.
We see this idea pictured in 1 Ki 8:27… Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the temple… “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”
The universe is pretty big. How big is God?
Bigger than all His creation. Isa 40:12 testifies, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?”
He’s got the whole world in His hands… right? (Ps 95:4, Job 12:10)
As God creates the heavens… multiple Trinities arise…
The universe is a trinity of space, matter and time… as seen in the creation of the heavens and earth and time when He divides light and darkness… in vv 4-5…
Space is defined as a three-dimensional continuum… it’s boundless, but is said to have three linear dimensions in classical Physics… the X, Y and Z axes.
Matter occupies space and is a trinity of length, breadth and height.
Time is a trinity of past, present and future.
And, these are interdependent… if you have matter, but no space… where will you put it?
Without time… when will you put is?
Space left to it’s own… is a cold vacuum.
God creates all three… right here in the first five verses of Genesis.
And, we’re going to see other trinities as we go along.
Such as mankind… a trinity of body, soul and spirit.
Thematic in the creation account.
V2 begins “The earth was without form and void...”
It was unformed and unfilled…
In Chapter one… we see the first three days of creation where God will form the earth… and in the final three days God will fill the earth, but in the beginning… before light and darkness are even mentioned…
The earth was created… matter was introduced into existence from nothing…
Earth in V2 means “land or world”, but not yet dry land… that’s not until V9 “let the dry land appear.”
God creates some sort of mass… with the necessary elements to make everything else.
God created something from nothing, but then forms trees, and animals, and man from those elements.
The top four elements in the human body are also the top four elements in dirt.... oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen…
Gen 2:7 reads, “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground...”
So right here in V2… the foundation for all life… the elements for life are being laid.
And it’s here between vv1-2 where historically some Christians went way off in interpretation… with wild imaginations, and poor exegesis (exegesis is critical explanation and interpretation of the text)… and they tried to harmonize popular science with scripture… and it’s a mess.
In 1804, Scottish theologian, Thomas Chalmers, told his congregation that millions of years were compatible with Scripture.
Forming what is known as The Gap Theory… or the “Ruin and Reconstruction Theory.”
Which STUPIDLY SPECULATES (and I have “stupidly speculates” in All caps in my notes, so I know to speak with emphasis when saying those words)…
… because you truly have to abuse and add to scripture to make this theory work and God says don’t add to or take away (Deut 4:2; Pro 30:6).
But, the Gap Theory goes something like… God created a fully functional earth in V1 of Genesis because we read “God created the heavens and the earth”…
… and then something happened which destroyed the earth (most likely the fall of Satan to the earth Ezk 28)…
… so “earth was without form, and void” (V2 of Genesis)… which they change to the “earth BECAME (not was), but BECAME without form, and void”… and speculate this state of ruin could have lasted millions of years.
Then God started all over and we read the rest of the creation account in Genesis Chapter 1.
Thus, the earth was in a state of ruin for millions of years, and then was recreated.
And, that’s just dumb.
The Bible is silent to this theory. On Blue Letter Bible, Don Stewart has an article on the Gap Theory, and at the end he lists 36 Difficulties With The Gap Theory… that’s a lot!
The grammar alone… which is difficult to see in our English bibles… but in Hebrew… every verse… except verse 1 begins with the conjunction “And” (our Bible may read… And, then, thus)…
This literary structure is called a Polysyndeton… the repeated use of the conjunctions connect and emphasize the words and phrases in the sentences.
Dr. Henry Morris in his book “The Genesis Record” (Great book… one of the best additions to my library)…
Morris who is known as “the father of modern Creation Science” wrote… “This structure clearly means that each statement is sequentially and chronologically connected to the verses before and after. Each action follows directly upon the action described in the verse preceding it. This pattern must apply to the first two verses, as well as to any other pair of verses in the chapter. Thus there seems no room for a chronological gap of any consequence between the first two verses of Genesis.”
These are literal days… not eons of time. 24-hour days… not millions or billions of years.
Another book titled “Unformed and Unfilled: A Critique of the Gap Theory” by Weston Fields, Th.D. from Grace Theological Seminary right here in Winona Lake. Dr. Fields taught at Grace College for about ten years… and then moved to Jerusalem to pursue a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and upon graduation was the Executive Director for the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation for a season before going home to be with the Lord in 2023.
Dr. Fields wrote an over 200 page book as a case against the Gap Theory… and dedicates an entire chapter to the verb “was” in V2…
… countering the idea that the “earth became” without form and then was recreated.
Good book if you want to dive deep in understanding the flaw of the Gap Theory.
We subscribe to original creation, not recreation.
The earth was created on Day 1… it was “without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.”
The earth was formless and empty… and darkness which by def. is “blackness or obscurity”… darkness is all over creation because there is no light… not until V3.
Darkness here is not evil… it’s just the absence of light.
In Isa 45:7 the LORD says, “I form the light and create darkness...”
Not moral evil, but our same Hebrew word in Gen 1:2…
Darkness was “on the face of”… or “over the surface of”… the deep.
“Deep” by definition seems to indicate the depths of the sea.
Most translations link “deep” to “deep waters” or “watery deep”…
But, what is the deep when the earth has no form?
We read darkness was on the face of the deep… and then further in the verse… the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The face of the deep… the face of the waters…
I feel pretty comfortable saying that the deep is water.
So it would seem water covered the entire planet during this first half of the first day.
We know dry earth doesn’t appear until day three.
Back in Pro 8… wisdom testified first of water on the earth… and then mountains, hills, earth, fields, and primal dust.
It was a dark and wet planet the first half of Day 1.
Earth was in a “not yet” state… unsuitable for life…
Of course God will form it to be inhabited… Isa 45:18 testifies God ‘formed the earth… established it… He did not create it in vain… and formed it to be inhabited.”
“And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (end of V2)
The word “Spirit” is ruach… which by def. means “breath, wind, and by extension spirit.”
Thus, context is king… and in the creation context God (plural) is front and center in creation, darkness and earth exist.
Is wind even present at this point?
God is… and God is creating… this is the Spirit of God.
Every Bible translation I looked at… including the Septuagint and the Complete Jewish Bible use the words the “Spirit of God.”
Even The Message surprisingly reads “God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.”
I was expecting something different from The Message… not sure what.
Josephus in Antiquities 1:27 wrote “a wind moved upon its surface.”
I like Josephus for a lot of things… but he got that wrong.
This is the Spirit of God…
And, the Spirit of God is present early in creation… when only darkness and the deep exist… the the Spirit does something very interesting…
He ‘hovers’… over the face of the waters.
Some Bibles translations read He was ‘moving’
The Hebrew word is only used 3x in Scripture…
Deut 32:11 “As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young...”
Some translations read the eagle “flutters over its young.”
The Spirit was hovering… fluttering over the waters.
Jer 23:9 “All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man...”
Shake… same word.
The Holy Spirit is doing something here… shaking the earth… vibrating the earth… some rapid back and forth motion.
Energizing the earth. God not only forms the universe, but gives it Primal Energy to set it in motion.
In the universe… energy is transmitted in the form of waves—light waves, heat waves, sound waves, radio waves…
Radiation… our heat from our Sun… transfers via electromagnetic waves traveling through space…
Does any of this stem back to this hovering… this shaking… I don’t know…
But notice… this is all before God speaks in V3… so much happening before we even read “Then God said...”
In V2… the Spirit is moving and preparing the earth for God’s creative word.
And today… the Spirit is still moving… I spoke to Dan Finfrock today about doing an Inductive Bible Study training for our community…
And he traveling the world literally and is seeing the Spirit move is dramatic ways… tied back to discipleship of the word.
2 Pet 1:21 reads, “… for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is still hovering and shaking… and moving ALL over the earth.
It’s all the same God… yesterday, today and forever.
The God of creation who formed this ball of dirt… is the same one who will never leave you nor forsake you…
He formed a seed… that grew into a tree…
And, then He came from heaven to earth…
And that tree was cut down and made into a cross which He died on… so in faith… we can be with Him always.
That’s the greater miracle over this whole creation account.
Back in Genesis… Some think the Spirit is shaking the world and pulling it into a sphere…
Going back to Pro 8:27, we read, “When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep...”
Is that what the Spirit was doing? Shaping the deep into a circle… shaping the horizon into a sphere?
King James says, “he set a compass upon the face of the depth...”
Isa 40:21-22 “Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth...”
The earth is a circle… better a sphere…
The fact that God set a compass or drew a circle indicates originally the earth was formless… not a sphere…
But matter and molecules of water which were not yet energized… and gravity was not yet functioning to draw the particles together into a mass with form.
But, earth becomes a sphere because in V5 we will read “So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
First day… this means rotation… means axis… means poles… and then gravity is in view.
But initially… no electromagnetic forces for light… only darkness… no gravity for matter to form into a mass and take shape…
So… there was existence of a physical universe… but no form… nor motion… nor light.
There are those… even Christians today who challenge the earth being in the form of a sphere… and they believe the earth is flat.
“Flat-earthers” they’re called… “Flat-brainers” may be more appropriate.
They have watched too many YouTube videos… and social media posts and have found themselves down a dark rabbit hole… misinterpreting scripture… and it seems like a dangerous road… probably one step short of faith deconstructionism.
They take verses like Dan 4:11 which is the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (NOT “Thus saith the LORD”… so a red flag already)… as a proof text for Flat Earth…
Dan 4:11 “The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.”
Flat-Earthers postulate, ‘how could a tree be seen all over the earth if the earth is curved? It has to be flat!”
Well… the tree couldn’t be seen with a curved earth… that true.
BUT… read on… in vv 20-22 Daniel interprets the dream, and says “The tree that you saw… (v20)…” [and then he describes the tree… and then in V22 says “It is you...”
The tree was symbolic for Nebuchadnezzar… it’s not a literal tree.
And, they misinterpret various scriptures like this…
They take “firmament” in Gen 1:6 as a hard dome.
The Lexham English Bible says “vaulted dome”… bad translation.
Firmament doesn’t mean dome… it means “expanse.”
I guess we live in a snow globe?
You can buy your very own Flat Earth Snow Globe for the low price of $26.99!
The nicer globe is $63… and the flag is $22.
I love the description for this item… “Learn about the world around you with this scientifically accurate flat Earth snow globe. This incredibly life-like replica depicts how our planet actually looks like – unlike that bloated marble-like object “scientists” and other pseudo-intellectuals claim the Earth is actually like.”
I guess I’m a pseudo-intellectual.
Two more verses…
Ps 67:7 speaks about the “ends of the earth”…
The earth has ends… it cannot be a sphere, but “ends of the earth” is a figure of speech from a poetic book.
Job 9:6 “He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble...”
The pillars must hold up the flat earth! The earth is not moving through space.
Job is another poetic book… and the verse has nothing to do with the earth’s shape.
Job 26:11 says “The pillars of heaven tremble...”
I guess the sky or universe is flat too then.
They are reading flat-earth beliefs into the text!
This is mis-interpretation of scripture.
If you think the earth is flat… go to Answer in Genesis… they have a number of articles on this subject… I stopped counting at 40 articles… writings on how and why the flat earth theory was started… why Christians are being duped today…
And start with the Answer in Genesis Kids article.
If you think the earth is flat… that may be the best place to start… a kids article.
This is one of the most ridiculous resurgences in Christendom.
Did you know that from very high altitudes (50,000 feet or more) the earth’s curvature is visible?
Did you know we have photos of earth from space? Apollo astronauts and International Space Stations clearly show the curvature of the earth.
Not to mention a dozen other reasons from the earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse… to not all stars being visible depending on your hemisphere… to ships disappearing as they sail away… and numerous other reasons… all because the earth is a sphere! It’s NOT flat.
Well… I’m glad I got that off my chest.
Do you feel better? I feel better.
Back in Genesis… V3… “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
So… in just the first three verses… God forms the Four Fundamental Forces of Physics…
Nuclear forces which bind protons and neutrons within an atom's nucleus… realized in v1…
Physics speaks of strong and weak nuclear forces… and numerous other trinities are seen on the atomic level.
Gravitational forces act between any objects with mass… these are being realized in vv 2-3…
Electromagnetic forces act between charged particles, encompassing both electric and magnetic interactions… we possibly we see this with light v3… certainly by V14 with the creation of the Sun.
And these three forces (nuclear, gravitational, and electromagnetic)… they run the universe…
V3 reads, “Then God said...” Who is God?
God in this verse and in V1 is the Hebrew word elohim… which can be translated as God or “divine being”… sometimes the Bible uses this word for pagan gods… so, you must pay attention to context… again context is king…
Exo 12:12 “… against all the gods [elohim] of Egypt I will execute judgment…”
Exo 18:11 “...Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods [elohim]…”
Josh 24:20 “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods [elohim]…”
Josh 24:23 “… put away the foreign gods [elohim] which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” [Yahweh Elohim Yisrael].
THAT’S the God of Israel… context… context… context…
Back in Genesis 1… we are beholding Creator God… who is the One True God… because all the pagan elohim did NOT create… they were created by man.
What kind of god is that?
How stupid is that? If a pagan god were real… why would it need mankind to make it?
I love the accounts in the Bible where false gods are put in their place as powerless before the One True God… Yahweh.
The Ten plagues of Egypt systematically attacked the worship and power centers of various false gods of Egypt… and what did those gods do to retaliate?
Nothing.
In 1 Sam 5… the Philistines defeated the Israelites and took the Ark of the Covenant back to Ashdod into the house of Dagon (their pagan god)…
And, the next morning… Dagon had fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD.
It’s like Dagon was rendering worship to where it was due.
And so the Philistines sat the statue back up and then the next morning it had fallen again… and this time it’s head… and both the palms of it’s hand were broken off… only Dagon’s torso was left.
Instead of the Philistines recognizing the significance of this… they said, “Get the ark outta here!”
And, then I assume they broke out their duct tape and crazy glue and put humpty dumpty back together again.
Might I suggest… if you’re worshipping a god who can be broken… you’re worshipping the wrong god.
Last week we discussed how God… elohim is plural…
The Bible teaches that the Father was present in the creation account (c.f. Isa 64:8; 1 Cor 8:6) as was Jesus (c.f. John 1:3; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2) and the Spirit (c.f. Job 33:4; Gen 1:2…
Very interesting we see God in V1… the Spirit in V2… the then God said in V3…
So now we have the word of God going forth…
2 Pet 3:5 “… by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water…”
Heb 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
No big bang… that would be visible. Creation came by the word of God… which is invisible.
John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
And, so a beautiful picture of the Trinity once again… God… Spirit… Word.
This phrase, “Then God said” appears 16x in the Bible… 8x right here in Chapter One of Genesis… 11x in the Book of Genesis…
And it tells us that everything in Creation is born out of the word of God.
God didn’t use cosmic dynamite… or a hammer and nails… He spoke literally… “Light be”… and light was.
And, this will be the pattern for each day of creation… it’s all born out of the word of God… again John 1:1-3.
Jesus is speaking these things.
So… now light enters creation. What is this light?
On day four of creation God will establish “lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night”…
On the fourth day… God made the sun, moon and stars whereby the celestial sphere will illuminate the terrestrial sphere…
On the fourth day (V14) the Hebrew word for “light” is “maor”… meaning a “light source” or “light-bearers”…
This is a different Hebrew word from V3 when God said, “Let there be light.”
Light in V3 is Heb. “or” meaning light, illumination, brightness.
The effect is the same… but what is the source?
In eternity… in God’s Holy City… the New Jerusalem… what is the light source there?
Rev 22:5 tells us, “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.”
Is God’s divine light that produces light for the New Jerusalem in eternity…
Is that the same light here in Gen 1:3?
This light doesn’t have to travel 93 million miles (the distance from the Sun to earth)… it’s instantaneous… not 8.33 minutes later… which is how fast light travels 93 million miles.
That’s really fast, but the word of God says, “Light be… and light was.”
Not light was 8 minutes later.
And, notice how much richer V4 is in consideration of the source of this light…
“And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.”
If God is the source of this light, of course it was good.
God is good (Ps 73:1; 1 Tim 4:4)
God is love (1 John 4:8 & 16)
The light is good… and God divided or separated the light from the darkness.
God made a distinction.
The Apostle Paul will draw a parallel between the original division of light and darkness to a sinner exiting darkness and entering light.
In 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Before Christ… we were all in darkness…
Scripture says “light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil...”
We loved darkness prior to Christ.
But, in the work of us becoming born again… becoming a new creation… Paul writes “God… shone in our hearts… so we could know His glory… seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
And, as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ… Paul also exhorts us to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
He rhetorically asks, “… what communion [what fellowship] has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14)
None… because God divides light and darkness… literally and spiritually.
And, in originally creation… God saw the light, that it was good.
6x for 6 days… in Genesis one we will read “it was good.”
And, how appropriate the first time we read this phrase it’s shrouded in the picture of God separating light from darkness.
Darkness… on it’s own is not pronounced as good… the first time we read “it was good” was when light broke darkness.
God creates balance and order…
As light enters… God creates time, days and seasons… preparing a creation where our bodies can fall into circadian rhythms…
And no doubt God had in mind all the anthropomorphisms for light and darkness that will be in the written word and spoken by the Son…
John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
1 John 1:5 declares, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
For us personally, in 1 Thes 5:5 Paul exhorts, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”
And… light is good. When I walk in the light… I’m less likely to trip and fall.
When I walk in the light… I’m more likely to be in fellowship and not isolated.
When I’m in the light… I live above reproach.
In Eph 5:8, Paul wrote, “For you were once darkness, [not in darkness… you were once darkness… wow…] but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light...”
And, then he describes fruits of the Spirit.
That’s how we are to walk. God declares all this as good.
Wrapping up in V5 “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
So… now enters the rotation of the spherical earth… now enters the night and day cycle.
From this verse… the Jewish reckoning of a day is formed… “evening and morning”…
Sundown begins the day from a Jewish perspective.
We start the next day immediately after midnight… which is not a biblical rendering of time.
The Jews have it right.
And, look… final thoughts before we close…
Genesis was written by Moses and given to him by divine inspiration…
And, when the Jews first read this… they understood it to be literal.
They didn’t read this and think, “Oh this is the Day Age theory” or this means “Theistic Evolution.”
And, we’ll come back to those next week…
We’ll look at the Hebrew word day “Yom”… and what that means.
But, enough for tonight… I don’t want anyone’s head to explode.
No big bang head explosions tonight.
Worship Team please come.
Genesis was written for God’s children testifying of original creation and it was written for us to understand… and it’s understandable if you take it at face value.
What did we read in Heb 11? “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God...”
By faith… not by science. If you can trust the word of God in the beginning… you can trust the prophecies of a coming Messiah…
You can trust the Gospel that He will save you from your sin…
You can have faith in Jesus Christ…
And, the process of Salvation He is doing in you through justification, sanctification and glorification… past, present and future.
And, you can trust the eschatological outlook of that which is to come.
“…we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Let’s pray!
If you need prayer for anything, we’d love to pray with you… just grab one of us after service.
You have a few more days in the world before weekend…
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
