Let There Be Light

genesis chapter one begin where we began last week beginning at verse one we will read verses one through three it said in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth and the earth was about form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters and god said let there be light and there was light said last week we could probably do four or five lessons from that those three verses we were going to do two so this is the second one and then

we will move on further into genesis john chapter one again some that we read there a little further than last week in the beginning was the word and the word was with god the word was god the same was in the beginning with god and all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not and then from revelation 21 i want to read one verse there verse 23 talking about

the new jerusalem talking about heaven if you will and the city had no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine in it for the glory of god did lighten it and the lamb is the light thereof title of our lesson today is very simply let there be light verses in genesis begin the greatest book that was ever written this this bible the verses that we read there's probably no book in this bible in this book of books if you will that is more profound than this book of genesis there are just so many things

in there that we are studying this quarter it's a story starts at the dawn of creation yet it speaks of a god who existed for eternity before time as we know it began and after the angel declares time shall be no more he will exist in eternity in that direction if you will and while there are a lifetime of gleanings to be found in genesis it will never we will never plumb i don't think all of its depths or see all of what is there but we have to contend ourselves with what we can get and so we're going to try that this morning some truths that present themselves as

we strive to understand it so we begin today as we did last week with the first three verses of genesis as we observe then the bible offers no apology for god it doesn't argue for existence it doesn't try to convince us of his truths it just simply states in the beginning god and aren't you glad to know him he has no beginning now when it says in the beginning there it doesn't mean the beginning of eternity for eternity has no beginning but at the beginning of creation at the beginning when god was ready to create time

if you will so before that he had no beginning he has no end and his own description of himself comes as he reveals his name later in the bible to moses where he simply says i am that i am. notice he didn't say i am what i will be or i was what i used to be he said i am present tense what i am present tense he has always existed he is always there but to our finite minds and we look at this we have to ask ourselves and many times we do when we're feeling contemplative i guess where did god dwell what existed with him before creation of heaven is

the earth what was there we don't understand the complete emptiness where were the angels were they there at the present time when it said in the beginning were they already there or they're getting ready to create them we don't know did he dwell in a heaven that we picture in our minds where he sat on a throne or was there only god only god and nothing else nothingness even more mysterious what was god when we think about what god is or what god was of course it should say is because what he was is what

he is and what he always will be was he a a force some people look at god and say well he's just some force mysterious force that fills the universe well to some extent that's true he is everywhere man in him we live move have our being the bible says he is everywhere you cannot escape from the presence of god wherever he is there a force certainly that but he is also a a consciousness he is not just some force like electricity that you can run through a wire and get a result but he has a consciousness he

he can make decisions he speaks he calls things into existence he does those things certainly god was not a physical being as we understand physical we look at the physical and is always something you can test or feel or put in a test tube or do experiments on we can't do that with god the bible only describes him as spirit john said god is a spirit and those that worship him must worship in spirit and truth and as we saw last week spirit in both old and new testament refers to a wind or a breath in other words it's something

you can feel something you can experience but you can't see it something that has great power yet seems to exist in in nothingness you ever try to grab the wind you can't do it right a lot of times you look out the window and say wow look at the wind blow well you're really not seeing the wind blow you're seeing the effects of it so when god begins to move you can't say wow look at god what you can see is look what god is doing and the things that he is doing in a life amen so what he has that great power yet

it seems to to exist in something that we can't grasp with our hands and so for many that's just a stretch i can't believe it because i can't see it i can't believe it because i can't touch it or or those kind of things and as we move on to genesis chapter one and verse two it's probably gendered more discussion than the rest of this chapter with maybe the exception of man's creation the bible says that the spirit moved upon the earth without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and

the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters and from that verse as we said we could we could get several lessons but that word moved upon literally he hoovered hoovered over it he was there above it ready to do a creative work and he looked upon that and it said it was without form and it was void the two hebrew words tohu and bohu are always used together and they they are a chaotic emptiness a confusion if you will and nothingness and nothing that was there and the spirit of god is above it ready to put

it in order and ready to bring order to that chaos and to fill that emptiness and then it goes on and it says and darkness was upon the face of the deep before we talk about the let there be light before we talk about light i think we have to consider darkness darkness is simply said the absence of light right we can get brighter and brighter with light it can always be turned up it's pretty bright this morning when i look up there got lights shining right in my eyes brightness right light you can always get brighter pastor brad preached

a message about all the flashlights they had to get a brighter and brighter ones and trying to outdo one another with the brush see look at that let there be dimmer lights there we go old song said let the lower lights be burning i'm not sure if that means anything but we'll just leave that up there but darkness you can only get so dark when all light is gone you can't take anything else out of it it's kind of like heat and cold you know they say you reach a point of absolute zero where that's as cold as

it can get and you can't cool it down anymore well when you turn out all the lights and you shut off every source of lights and make everybody turn off their cell phones and everything else suddenly it is pitch black right it is dark can remember walking through merrimack caverns and they get us way down underneath there and they said we're going to show you what darkness is they flipped out all the lights you couldn't see your hand this far away you couldn't see the person next you couldn't see anything because light is completely absent

and so that is what we see when we consider darkness now here's what's interesting we often think of god as light right he's light he is the light of the world he is thought but outside of or without creation or before creation before this created realm that we know and that we can touch and we see the bible tells us that this this almost goes against our how we think god dwells in darkness let me show you this in the word of god moses approaches the mountain in the wilderness and he's ready to go up

and talk to god and receive the ten commandments and exodus 20 21 says the people stood far off and moses drew near as he's come into the mountain unto the thick darkness where god was that doesn't sound right but he recalls the scene again in deuteronomy as he's reviewing to israel the things that had happened to them and he said he came near and you stood under the mountain the mountain was burning with fire and it was under the midst of heaven it was there and you were looking at this mountain and

he said and it was with darkness and clouds and a thick darkness david spoke of god delivering him from saul and with the skill of a poet he writes this he said god bowed the heavens also and came down and darkness was under his feet he rode upon a cherub and he did fly and he was seen upon the wings of the wind and he made darkness pavilions round about him dark waters and thick clouds of the sky unless we think well all that was before he before creation solomon remind us in first kings 8 12 he said

then the lord didn't speak solomon the lord said he would dwell in thick darkness and one more time in psalm 97 verses 1 and 2 it said the lord reigns let the earth rejoice let the multitude of the isles be glad because he's reigning and then it said this clouds and darkness are round about him righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne so this is the condition where god dwells but it is into this darkness that god then begins to speak in genesis 1 3 the focus of our our lesson today says very simply

and god said and we talked about that last week the word of god god speaking and he said let there be light and there was light aren't you thankful for light today amen so much of the bible speaks of light from this creative act in verse 3 of genesis all the way up into the verse we read in revelation 21 we see this motif of light being repeated when we see the city had no need of the sun the glory of the lord did lighten it the lamb is the light thereof and much like spirit light is almost an intangible thing isn't

it you can't grasp the light that is shining on you today you can't put it in your hand you can't hold on to it you can't taste it you can't hear it you just know it is there and it is illuminating your path and light is the one thing that enables us to observe this universe when they put telescopes in space or on land or wherever they happen to be and look what are they looking for they look for light because they can't see it if there is no light when you put something under a microscope you either have

a mirror to kind of direct light toward the item or you put a an actual light underneath it but without light you cannot comprehend without light if we were in total darkness right now you wouldn't know where anything was you couldn't find the person next to you couldn't find them except for what you could you could feel but you could not observe it with your eye and so it enables us it enables us if you will to comprehend the universe around us in a physical sense we can see and so we know things are there

but more than all of that to the child of god light allows us to comprehend god god's light that he has given allows us in fact the psalmists the same psalmists that are writing that god dwells in darkness it says this in 104 2 he covered himself with light as a garment so although he dwells in darkness he puts on if you will light although we can't see god we can comprehend him through what he has created and just as light reveals what darkness hides creation reveals what we otherwise cannot see so

in a very real sense then light is a metaphor for all of creation when god said let there be light he was saying let them be able to see let them observe the things that i am doing psalm 119 verses 1 through 3 say it this way the heavens declare they call out they speak the glory of god and the firmament shows his handiwork he's talking about the stars and the things that you see the light that you see when you look up at the sky he said it declares god's glory he said day in the day it utters speech so

it never stops talking day in today it keeps talking and night and night it shows you knowledge there is no speech there is no language where that is not heard what he was saying is you can comprehend that there is a god just by observing the light that you see around you the seeing the things that are there the universe that he has placed to see the revelation of the glory of god the apostle paul got a hold of this same idea in romans 1 20 and he said this the invisible things of him in other words this

god that we can't see and this god we can't touch and that we can't get a hold of from the creation of the world in other words from the in the beginning when god said let there be light he said now they are clearly seen how by being understood by the things that are made so when we see the things around us and light allows us to comprehend what god has done we see the bible says his eternal power and his godhead and so it speaks to us there is a god there is a god now people can come up with all kinds of ideas of how

it happened and by chance this happened and by chance this happened and by chance this happened and so over billions of years finally we got to where we are today i was building a tool one time i'm a tool and die maker and i was building a tool it was a rather large tool had probably i don't know a thousand parts to it a whole bunch of pieces big thing the engineer that designed it he was he said he was agnostic and so had it all sitting there i had pallets lined up from here to the wall over there materials ready to assemble

and and he happened to walk i said hey joe come here i have an idea he said yeah what's up i said i think i'm going to pick all this stuff up with the forklift i'm going to throw it in the air and dump it off and he looked at me he goes what that's why i figure if we do it enough times it'll all come together just the way it's supposed to he's just shaking his head i said well isn't that what they say about creation enough time give it enough time you know suddenly it'll come together that screw will just happen to land

and happen to spin down and tighten itself and that piece will go over here and that thing will get hammered in over here you'd do it enough and yet people look at creation and everything that god has done and because they don't want to believe it they say ah just you know this big bang it all just happened by chance and over time it eventually something happened radiation hit this or something and it all sudden crawled out of the ocean and and here we are yeah i believe that one cannot see where there is no light

but paul says we can clearly see the invisible things of god by the things he has made so here's what we know we often speak as we think or think of god as light yet until he spoke it into existence there was no light so to be very precise light is the expression of god just as his word that we talked about the logos the god declaring in the beginning the things that he said were his expression of what he wanted to do we could say this if it weren't for light we could not know god and if indeed god is revealed

in all creation my question this morning and what we want to point to as we look through genesis we've talked about how much more is god revealed in jesus christ the pinnacle the ultimate of all creation the writer of hebrews talks about this in hebrews 1 verses 1 through 3 god who at sundry times in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days he hath spoken unto us by his son whom he hath appointed heir of all things by whom also he made the world and

then he says this talking of jesus who being the brightness of his glory the light if you will of what god is and the express image of his person upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins he sat down on the right hand of the mighty majesty on high what that phrase is telling us is that god's glory god's light when god said let there be light as we as we observed last week jesus was god's plan from this very beginning and when god said let there be light yes

he was talking about the natural things but more importantly he was focusing to the light that was going to come into the world to break the darkness of sin that was going to grip our world he was talking about jesus christ and no wonder john in his language that he borrows from genesis that we read in john 1 5 says in the beginning was the word the word was with god and the word was god the same was in the beginning with god and all things were made by him without him was not anything made that was made

in him was life and the light was the light of men and the light he said shineth in darkness aren't you thankful for the light aren't you thankful for the light that is in jesus christ and he said the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it did not understand it could not bring it down could not defeat the light when light shines darkness has to flee and john goes on to say in the lord word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory that word glory in the greek that doxa talks about us shining or to shine forth

we beheld what shines forth in god the glory he said as the the only begotten of the father talking of jesus full of grace and truth the verse we read last week no man had seen god at any time but the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father he hath declared or revealed spoken him to us jesus himself said in john 8 and 12 he said i am the light of the world and if you follow me you will not walk in darkness but you shall have the light of life and again in john 9 5 he said as long as i am

in the world i am the light of the world so let's do a real quick recap here number one god was in the beginning he was there number two he dwelt in utter darkness number three he spoke everything into existence number four he created light and that light reveals who god is and then we come to this that jesus is the complete revelation of god because he said i am the light of the world i want to talk about this darkness just a little bit more before we go in any further what is this darkness in which which

god dwells i don't think we completely grasp that idea when he says because we often think of darkness as referring to sin but we also know there's no sin in god so god's not saying i'm dwelling in a sinful place i think it's significant that while god said that i'm going to dwell in thick darkness yet the powers of evil are also referred to as powers of darkness perhaps it's because the god who dwells in darkness operates in this realm of light he created it so that he could have dominion over it

he created it so he could rule it he created it so he could redeem it he could create it so that he could say it is good and bless it said it was for his pleasure they are and were created now here's the thing satan is neither a creator nor omnipotent he can't speak the world into existence he can't say let there be light and there was light he can exhibit an influence in this realm of light he can work behind the scenes but his abode is in the dimension of darkness and god created this physical realm of light

for his glory thou art worthy o lord receive glory and honor and power because you have created all things and for your pleasure they are and were created satan does not have that kind of realm instead he deceptively tries to transform himself into an angel of light he tries to be what god is he is always trying to assert the true light but here's what we know to him is reserved jude said the angels that kept not their first first estate he hath reserved an everlasting chains under darkness unto judgment of

the great day jesus described the plot of the sinful in the plot of those who refused the light he said in casting the unprofitable servant into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth we don't like to talk about that we don't like to talk when jesus said in matthew 25 41 then he shall say to those on the left hand those that he did not know depart from me cursed into everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels so there is a place of darkness satan will never enjoy walking

in the light he will never be part of the glorious things god has created and god has prepared for those that love him god created all that he could have that fellowship yet to choose darkness is to deny that fellowship with god to say i'd rather live as john wrote that men loved darkness rather than light to follow in that way is to miss what god has for our lives and here's the thing creation provided the template these verses right here provide a template of how god would work throughout the physical realm throughout

the world that he created whenever things are without form and void whenever things are chaotic and empty wherever it happens to be the light will bring order and fullness only after speaking light into existence did god stop and say it is was good god looked at the light he saw the light and he said yes this is good anytime darkness has taken control remember there's a god that can speak light into the darkness creation may have been the first time the light dispelled the darkness but it was certainly not

the last time god is still a god of light god still wants to shine in every situation we said this motif is carried throughout the bible we see it over and over israel faced 430 years of darkness in the land of egypt they suffered under the oppression of task masters and they were they were servants and slaves to pharaoh but the promise to abraham in genesis 12 was this i'm going to make you a great nation and i will bless thee and i'm going to make thy name great and you shall be a blessing i will bless them that bless

you and i will curse them that curse you and in you abraham all the families of the earth are going to be blessed and yet here they are in egypt and it seemed like nothing but a distant memory and a hollow promise well god promised us this and god said we could do that and here we are as slaves in egypt but here's what we know god was not finished in his timing and when he would get the greatest glory god stepped in to the darkness he said i've heard the groanings of the children of israel whom the egyptians keep

in bondage and i have remembered my covenant god never forgets his promises god never forgets his word and he speaks it it will come to pass notice what he says here wherefore say unto israel this is exodus 6 verses 2 through 7. he said wherefore say unto the children of israel i am the lord notice this i will bring you out from under the burdens of the egyptians i will rid you of their bondage i will redeem you with a great outstretched out arm and with great judgments i will take you to me for a people

and i will be to you for a god and ye shall know that i am the lord your god which brings you out from the burdens of the egyptians so first there's one plague and then another plague and then three flip plagues that israel and egyptians had to go through and then the fourth plague comes and this time israel is exempt for that and five more plagues follow but all of them only upon the egyptians and so the israelites are wondering what is going to happen what by now the the land is devastated and the crops were destroyed

and the livestock had been depleted confusion and chaos if you will reigned in the land of egypt and yet the end was not yet because the ninth plague would drive home the point in a way that none of the others had exodus 10 21 says this and the lord said unto moses stretch forth a hand to heaven that there may be darkness over the land of egypt even a darkness which may be felt moses stretched forth his hand and there was a thick darkness in all the land of egypt for three days they could not see one another

they did not rise from his place for three days but all the children of israel had light in their dwellings egypt was in darkness but god's people were dwelling in light egypt got to feel the absence if you will of the presence of god while israel was basking in his light it's interesting this separation would continue until israel was far out from the land of egypt they were they left egypt after spoiling the egyptians pharaoh regrets his decision he decides to overtake them and he chases them down to

the red sea and it seems they are trapped between mountains the red sea had the army coming behind and israel thought they had reached their end and exodus 14 19 tells us this the angel of god went before the camp and he went behind them and a pillar of cloud went from before their face and stood between them and here's what it said it came between the egyptians and israel and to the egyptians it was a cloud and darkness it was nighttime they couldn't see a thing but it gave light by night to israel the light shined

and god dried up the sea and israel walked through we get to the new testament and almost 2 000 years had passed israel lived through judges and kings they worshiped jehovah and then they would worship baal they sacrificed their flocks to the one true god and then they turned around and sacrificed their children to molech they possessed the land of canaan then they were carried off into babylon their kings reigned in jerusalem and then their eyes were poked out and they were carried into jerusalem as

the city or into babylon as the holy city is leveled and burned to the ground they heard the warnings of the prophets and now for 400 years there's no voice of a prophet in israel they went through motions they were offering sacrifices they had returned to jerusalem and herod build them a temple and put a wall around the city and and they were there and offering sacrifices but no glory filling the house god's presence not there as it had done in the days of solomon spiritual darkness had covered the land yet

in that darkness there was still a hope i can imagine in some of their synagogues as the people pull out the scroll and begin to read and they read from isaiah 9 2 the people that have walked in darkness have seen a great light there's a hope there's a light coming they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them the light hath shined isaiah 16 verse 1 through 3 arise shine for thy light has come the glory of the lord has risen upon you behold darkness is going to cover the earth and growth darkness

the people but the lord is going to arise and his glory shall be upon on thee and the gentiles will come to thy light can i tell you that 400 years of darkness was about to meet its match because the birth of jesus christ was upon this wise the bible said the light was coming into the world things were about to change and it began as just a faint light in the sky one star up there that the wise men look at and say hey something significant's happening let's go there's a king born let's go see the king of

the jews we've seen his star not the noonday sun not some bright announcement one star and they begin to see that and then suddenly the shepherds are out in the field and the glory of the lord shines about and the angel is there the light getting brighter go quickly go to bethlehem and see the one that is born king of the jews and jesus is born and he is taken to the temple on the eighth day to because that was was the custom to be circumcised since he was a jew and he walks in there and simeon sees him

and he said my eyes have seen thy salvation which you prepared he said it's a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of thy people israel the light was getting brighter he was seeing this light that it was bible talked about and for some three and a half years the bible tells us that god command who the same god who commanded light to shine in the darkness paul writes he has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god where in the face of jesus christ so as men looked upon

jesus christ they could see this light shining john said it this way the light shined in the darkness shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it comprehended it not israel had been in darkness so long that when the light was walking among them most of them did not recognize it for what it was but you know what that didn't stop the light some understood some comprehended some let the light break through their darkness matthew 17 said after six days jesus takes peter james and john as brother

he takes him up to a high mountain apart from everyone else and he was transfigured his changed he looked different before them in his face the bible said did shine as the sun and his arraignment was as white as the light they couldn't hardly even look at him because of the brightness they saw the brightness of the glory of god in jesus christ and that's the way it's been throughout history darkness covers the land but the light always breaks through here we are 2 000 years later the bible says evil men

and seducers they're going to worse wax worse and worse they're going to become more and more deceiving and being discreet deceived spiritual darkness we look even here in our country it seems to cover the land we see christians that are marginalized and mocked and i i heard a just this week someone on the radio saying you know we are probably about 60 64 of americans claim to be christian they said by 2070 it will be less than 30 if it continues on this trend spiritual darkness covers the land we

see what was once universally declared to be sin and codified in laws and looked about as as sinful behavior now accepted as societal norms and you have to just go along they say go along with it it's our choice to do what we want all around the darkness of sin seems to grip our land but can i tell you the power of light to transform a life will never be diminished no matter how dark the night is it's always been said however dark the night no matter how dark the light will always pierce it light always triumphs over darkness

paul said it this way where sin abounds grace does much more abound the darkness where god is said to dwell we don't understand that it's beyond what we can explore with our senses but thankfully since we can't perceive that he chooses to enter into where we live one song says it this way he came down to my level when i couldn't get up to his when i was in darkness the light came to where i was another song we sing sometimes he wraps himself in light and darkness tries to hide if there's one thing we can say

for certain it is this when the light shines in our life when god reveals himself in our situation darkness and confusion has to go i said it has to go john saw jesus in the revelation yes he saw him on the cross yes he saw him resurrected yes he was there on the mount of transfiguration but when he saw him in the revelation when he saw him in his heavenly glory he said his head and his hairs were white like wool and white as snow his eyes were his flames of fire his feet like fine brass they as if

they burned in a furnace his voice is the sound of many waters his countenance he said was as the sun that shineth in his strength what did he see he said i see light jesus is the light and when the sinfulness of this world becomes so dark as it will when all semblance of life is gone even when the man of perdition the antichrist reigns on this earth even after the spirit of god withdraws himself from the people of this you know what for the church those that choose the light the light will still shine yes there will be those that are cast into outer darkness

but in the righteous it said the city has no need of the sun because the glory of the lord lightens it the lamb is the light thereof and the nations of them which are saved not the lost but those that are saved shall walk in the light of it and the king of the earth to bring their glory and honor to it its gate shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there why because the light will forever shine now he said an outside of the city and he lists those that lived sinful i don't think they're going to be walking around

the city the outside saying i want the gates no they're going to be as the bible describes it outer darkness away from the presence of god and here's what we get from all this every life your life my life everyone you know is a microcosm of this darkness and light dichotomy david said it this way i was shaping in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me paul reminds us in romans 3 23 for all have sinned and we've come short of the glory of god there's darkness there's things in our life but yet

in the midst of that john offers this hope i know we like to read john 3 16 god so loved the world he gave his only begotten son and it is a beautiful scripture whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life the next verse says god did not come into the world to condemn the world didn't send his son to condemn the world but that why that we might be saved he did not come to condemn you he came to save you but then he goes on in verse 19 and he says this here's where condemnation comes from

the light comes into the world and men say i'd rather stay in the dark that's what brings condemnation he said men loved darkness rather than light because their dark deeds were evil for everyone that does evil hates light they don't come to the light lest his deed should be reproved but he that doeth truth comes to the light can i tell you this morning you don't have to live in darkness you can come to the light you don't have to live in an old life of sin you don't have to carry the condemnation you don't have to follow

the what comes you can walk in the light paul told the colossians he said given thanks unto the father which hath made us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light he has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son and then he wrote in ephesians 5 8 for ye were sometimes or before times or before you were darkness but now are ye light in the world lord walk as children of the light i think god wants to say to somebody this morning let there be light

you might be living in darkness you might be looking at things say it can't happen for me my bible says when god speaks it it can happen and god said let there be light and the light said well i don't know if i can go there and it's a little bit too dark in here people say i can never come to god i've done too much in my life you don't understand the light he wants to shine in your life this morning he wants to touch you he wants to change your life you know when the light comes in the darkness has to go there is no option

and he is speaking to you this morning let there be light we're about to close but let's bow our heads for just a minute lord god we're thankful for the word that you have given us because it is life it is light it can change hearts it can change minds it can set make us new creatures in you it can make us like jesus christ the bible tells us and it will transform us it does not matter the dark