The Light of the World | Great Peace Living

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On the first day of creation, God said “Let there be light, and there was light.” Have you ever taken time to think about that? I’d like to ask you a question to consider. What is the source of that light? One might say, The sun, it is the light of the earth. God must have created it first. If we continue reading through the Genesis one passage we learn that it was on the 4th day of creation that He created the sun, the moon and the stars, (Genesis 1:14-19). So that takes us back to the first day and leaves the question unanswered. What was the source of the light that He created on the first day?

I fully believe that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). I think for us to come to an understanding of God’s word we must allow scripture to teach us, for we are told in II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” That’s not to say that we are meant to understand all things, because He has also told us that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belongs to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29. So then, can we understand this first day of creation, or is it simply one of those things which are secret, belonging only to God?

Let’s take a look at scripture, let’s dig a little and see if we can find the source of that first light. You see I think it’s clear and easily found. I see it throughout the scriptures. I see it in Egypt when the Israelites were spared from darkness, while the Egyptians suffered through the plague of darkness that was called “thick darkness” for three days (Exodus 10:22-24). I see it when the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, always being led by light, a cloud of light in the day and a fire of light in the night, (Exodus 13:20-22). I see it in the continual burning of light on the altar in the temple, where any strange fire could lead to the death of one bringing it. It was to be a perpetual fire before the Lord, (Exodus 27:20). Then I think there is a wonderful nugget of information found in one of the Psalms of David.

“In Your light…” this indicates a direct reference, notice that “You” and “Your” are capitalized. David is saying that the fountain of life is found in “You” and that we see “light” in “Your” light. But who is David referencing? If we look up into the Psalm for context in verse 5 David says “Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens.” The psalm is a praise psalm to the Lord God. So in verse 9 we can see that David is referencing the light of God and only in His light do we see light and that the fountain of life is in Him.

Ohh that is a pretty big clue. The fountain of life, that would refer back to the beginning, the creation account. So if David is referencing the beginning or source of life and then says that in HIS light we see light, perhaps he is saying that initial light came directly from God.

Moving forward into the New Testament scriptures the idea comes into clearer focus. Specifically speaking let’s take a look at first chapter of the book of John.

As you can see here the inspired author, John, is specifically referring back to the beginning. He is saying in the beginning the Word was with God and was in fact God. Then he goes on to explain that all things were made through HIM. Think about that for a moment. I mean really let that thought roll around in your mind. …

Everything that was made; was made through HIM. “In HIM was life and life was the light of men, and the light shines in darkness” remember back in Genesis, “the earth was without form and void and darkness were on the face of the deep” There was no earthly form, there was only void which literally means empty and in the emptiness there was darkness. But then John explains that the “light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.” This, I think, is key dear readers. If we are reading this as a physical light, and a physical darkness then why is the inspired Apostle John referencing comprehension? To comprehend means to understand to have knowledge of. So, if the darkness didn’t comprehend the light, is John truly referring to something physical? OR is he perhaps referring to the spirits of light and darkness. In other words, light being Christ and darkness being Satan. Looking through the passage it seems clear that John is referring to Christ, he is the WORD, He is the light of men, in Him is life, everything that was made was made through Him and He is the LIGHT.

I just love the book of John. He weaves the gospel of Christ so beautifully. He starts from the beginning of creation and threads the I Am statements throughout. Here we see, Jesus himself declaring the He is the “light of the world.” If we follow him we will have the light of life.

You may be thinking…’this is really deep, why does it even matter?’ That’s a good question. You see, I think it matters in the scheme of God’s plan for mankind. Think about eternity for a moment. Eternity has no beginning, no end. It simply, Is. So why then did God decide to create a world for mankind to live in? What’s the purpose? The book of Jude gives us a bit of a glimpse into the eternal world.

At some point in the eternal realm there were angels who made a choice to not keep their proper domain. To me that means that they did not do what they were created to do.

Thus, for the first time in all of eternity a separation occured. Satan and his angels were separated from heaven and no place was found for them, so they were cast out to the earth. This separation created a chasm between God and Satan. There was now good and evil. They were cast into everlasting chains ‘under darkness.’ Darkness, which was found in the void, in the chasm separating heaven with God and the void which separated Satan.

But, there is good news. God said, “Let there be light.” Simple. He said it. It happened, Light. There was now a need for light because there was now darkness which stems from Satan and his angels. God had and still has a plan. His plan from the beginning was to send light into the world, into the darkness. His plan was to send His Son, the Word, the Light from heaven to the darkness. He planned to create a people, a mankind and his only purpose in doing so was for them to have choice, free will. He wants them to choose to honor and praise Him, because He IS. He doesn’t need man. He existed and will continue to exist long before mankind was created by Him. He will not force mankind to obey. He will not force them to choose Him. Instead, He chose to send His Light into the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend God’s plan for the world. He sent his Light, His only begotten Son to redeem a people who would choose to follow Him.