Looking for Light

When I began writing this blog in 2017, the theme was Sighting Light.  My goal was to look for the light of the Lord each week and share that light with my readers.  I still try to share light, but sometimes, it’s more of a life lesson, or a strange thing put into Biblical perspective.  This week I began reading Genesis 1, yep the start of the Bible.  You have probably read it too, but have you noticed that there was light before there was the sun?  

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

We read that God created the heavens and the Earth from nothing and that the earth held nothing it lacked form and content.  It contained water, but it was dark.  It did, however, have the Spirit of God.  God said, ‘let there be light’ and it appeared, and it was good.  It’s not for another ten verses, that the sun is made.  ​

16God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

Where does the light come from in verse 3 if the sun wasn’t created until verse 16?  I think the Spirit of God includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We read in the New Testament that Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), we read that Jesus was with God in the beginning, that through him all things were made, that in him was life and that life is the light of all mankind. (John 1:2-4)  We see that light was present on the Earth before the sun was created to produce light, so what was the origin of the light before the sun?  I think this light was the pure and holy goodness of God.  And it’s still present today.  Darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5) Through Jesus, those who walk in the light, will never have to experience darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

We are living in unusual times.  Everyday we see perplexing things on the news - things that happened, that we cannot understand; things that happen, that shouldn’t have happened.  We see troubling things that make us wonder what’s next.  We see things that frighten us and make us think twice about our relationships, and our goings and comings.  We see things that make us wonder - where is God - and could God allow this to happen?

Well, when we read the Bible, and it’s right at the beginning, we see that God, the Spirit of God was here before anything else.  He was present before the Earth even had form.  We see that even without the sun, the most obvious source of light, there is light.  We see that God intentionally separated the light from the darkness and that in the NT, written hundreds of years later, that darkness had not overcome light.  Since John, hundreds of years have passed, and darkness still has not overcome light.  

Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash

​If we keep reading in Genesis, in chapter 3, we read about the creation of man.  We read that man was created in the image of God - not that we look like God, necessarily, but we are mind, body, and soul.  Man has the ability to think, reason, and plan.  God gave man everything he needed to be successful at pleasing God.  He gave man work to occupy his mind and the need to use hands, and He gave man parameters.  Man, with all of his abilities, decided he didn’t like the parameters, and could plan his own course.  Man decided to sin.  And today, man continues to sin.  What we see on the news, the things that make no sense, the things that should not have happened, are the result of man’s sin.  We see sinful hearts resulting in sinful actions, and we blame God.  When we look at Genesis, and see that everything God does is good - without argument, light is good, plants are good, fish are good, and man is good.  Sinful man, well, not so good. 

As time has continued, sin has continued.  Paul tells us that, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)  The many, is us today.  We live in a sin-filled world, a world that makes no sense, one in which the almighty dollar rules, and we lie, cheat, steal, and kill for it.  For our own glory, we tweet, post, defame, and endanger.  This is not love.  This is not good.  This is not how we should live in the light.  

Jesus came that we might have life, even after our physical body has expired, through Jesus, we can have life with God in Heaven for eternity.  If you are looking for light, in what seems like a dark world, this is it, Jesus is the light of the world.  Yes, you have sinned, but so has everyone else.  Jesus came that your sins can be forgiven, that you won’t have to be eternally penalized for your sins.  Jesus came to give man a second chance at life.  He came to be man’s do-over.  Everybody needs a do-over sometime.  If you are living in what seems like darkness, I invite you today, to walk into the light.  Pray this prayer: Lord, Jesus, thank you for my life.  Thank you for everything you have done for me, even when I didn’t give you the credit for it.  Lord, I am a sinner and today I confess my sins to you and ask you to forgive me.  Lord, I ask that you come into my heart and change me to be more like you.  Lord, change me from having a heart of malice to a heart of love.  Change me from a heart of selfishness to one who is devoted to others in love.  Lord, I ask you to take me out of the darkness and bring me into the light.  Lord, I know that only you can do this for me, I’ve tried other things and failed, Lord, today, I put all of my trust in you.  Amen. 


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To the teachers and students starting school on Tuesday, pray.  It’s going to be alright.  Education is a privilege.  Follow the new rules and procedures that are in place and it will work.  Teachers, love your students, the past few months have been different.  They may have suffered a loss.  Be mindful and show them that you care.  I’ve said, this year’s words are “monitor and adjust,” but I am revising that.  This year’s motto is “care before content.”  Amen.  
 


Continue to stay sanitized and wear your face mask!
Have a wonderful Labor Day!
Kim