"And God saw the light."
Genesis 1:4
This morning we noticed the goodness of the light, and the Lord's dividing it from the darkness, we now note the special eye which the Lord had for the light. "God saw the light"--he looked at it with complacency, gazed upon it with pleasure, saw that it "was good." If the Lord has given you light, dear reader, he looks on that light with peculiar interest; for not only is it dear to him as his own handiwork, but because it is like himself, for "He is light." Pleasant it is to the believer to know that God's eye is thus tenderly observant of that work of grace which he has begun. He never loses sight of the treasure which he has placed in our earthen vessels. Sometimes we cannot see the light, but God always sees the light, and that is much better than our seeing it. Better for the judge to see my innocence than for me to think I can I see it. It is very comfortable for me to know that I am one of God's people--but whether I know it or not, if the Lord knows it, I am still safe. This is the foundation, "The Lord knoweth them that are his." You may be sighing and groaning because of inbred sin, and mourning over your darkness, yet the Lord sees "light" in your heart, for he has put it there, and all the cloudiness and gloom of your soul cannot conceal your light from his gracious eye. You may have sunk low in despondency, and even despair; but if your soul has any longing towards Christ, and if you are seeking to rest in his finished work, God sees the "light." He not only sees it, but he also preserves it in you. "I, the Lord, do keep it." This is a precious thought to those who, after anxious watching and guarding of themselves, feel their own powerlessness to do so. The light thus preserved by his grace, he will one day develop into the splendour of noonday, and the fulness of glory. The light within is the dawn of the eternal day.
Charles H. Spurgeon
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Today’s Bible Verse: [Genesis 1:1-5 LSB] 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Today I am going to start a walk through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
[Genesis 1:1 LSB] 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
This is simply a summary of what God did. He existed and He caused the heavens and the earth to exist.
[Genesis 1:2 LSB] 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
This describes what things looked like before the first act of creation. There was only darkness because light had not been created yet.
This does not mean that God lives in darkness. Instead, as this verse says, God is light: [1 John 1:5 LSB] 5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
We know nothing of the eternity that God lives in. All we know at this point is that the material world has not yet been created and it is empty, void, and in darkness; it is nothing.
Now, there are some that say that there is a gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. They say that God created everything in Genesis 1:1 and then there was some sort of cataclysm that caused Genesis 1:2. This is a false teaching because, as I said, Genesis 1:1 simply tells you what God did and Genesis 1:2 tells you what the universe looked like before He did it.
[Genesis 1:3 LSB] 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
This is the first act of creation and the beginning of the first day. And please notice the beginning of the sentence, “Then God said …”. God literally spoke light into existence.
[Genesis 1:4 LSB] 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Now He separated the light from the darkness. Looking at this, there was equal day and equal night so, the first day was an equinox.
[Genesis 1:5 LSB] 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
The light is called day, so, the day begins with light.
“And there was evening and there was morning”: evening is the transition between day and night and morning is the transition between night and day. This is not indicating that the day begins at sundown as the Jews believe. When light was created then the first day began, then evening happened, then night, and then the transition to the next day started.
In summary:
- God tells us what He is going to do; that is, create the heavens and the earth.
- God tells us what the material universe looks like before His first act of creation; basically, it is empty and void, nothing.
- God speaks light into existence.
- God separates the light from the dark, creating day and night. The first day is an equinox.
- The first day goes from light, day, to evening, the transition from day to night, to mourning, the transition from the first day to the next day.
[Genesis 1:3 LSB] 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
Think about this. God spoke light into existence. Since, as 1 John 1:5 tells us, God is light, then God entered our universe when He spoke it into existence.
If you are not reborn then I pray that He touches your heart today.
Please continue reading to learn the gospel.
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[Matthew 28:18-20 ESV] 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
He has been resurrected and sits on the throne with the Father. We are living in His kingdom now.
It is the job of the reborn to make disciples of the nations.
[Psalm 110:1 ESV] 1 A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."
He sits on the throne with the Father now and will return when His enemies have been made His footstool. He is making His enemies His footstool through the Holy Spirit and His church.
We, the reborn, are His church. He works through us through His Holy Spirit to make His enemies His footstool. It is the job of the reborn to bring His word to the world so that his enemies recognize His authority and bow the knee to Him. When that happens, He will return and defeat the final enemy, death.
Faith is given to His elect by God. Faith is the overwhelming belief in God; it is not head knowledge, it is a deep down in your soul belief that God is your creator and your means of salvation from His wrath due to the fall. This faith was given to His elect from before creation. We have it for His glory.
Through our faith we know that Jesus died for us, and we have justification through Him. This justification means that our sin is covered with the blood of Jesus and, though we may die physically, we are not dead spiritually and will be resurrected into everlasting life when Jesus returns.
It is the elect that have salvation and it is my prayer that you are among the elect and that this serves as your catalyst for awakening.
This is the gospel:
[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 NLT] 1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
[Acts 2:22-24 NLT] 22 "People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
[1 John 2:2 NLT] 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins--and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
This is penal substitution; that is, our sins were transferred to Jesus and His righteous transferred to us.
We all have a job.
[Matthew 28:18-20 NLT] 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.
Go forth and spread this good news.
I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.
Remember, God is sovereign. That means that he controls everything.
I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.
