Let there be Light
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Let there be Light
Genesis 1:1-5
Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there
be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he
separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the
darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was
morning—the first day.
Genesis 1:1-5, NIV
Light and darkness is contrasted all throughout Scripture. In Genesis these terms
refer to the light of day and the darkness of night but in the New Testament these terms
refer to the spiritual darkness that comes from being in a fallen state of deprivation and
separation from God (Romans 3:23, 6:23) versus having the spiritual light that comes
from being born of the Spirit (John 3:5-8) and adopted as His children (John 1:12). For
many spiritual light and darkness are not easy terms to understand. For example, since
God is pure light and in Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5) does this mean that those
who are born again no longer have the darkness of sin inside of them? Since we know
this is not true of anyone (1 John 1:8-9) then how can a person say that they are truly born
again? And since the cross is foolishness to those perishing in their sins (1 Corinthians
1:18) then how can the Spirit of God hover over and convict anyone to be born again
when God cannot look on sin (Habakkuk 1:13)? In today’s sermon I am going to answer
these questions by drawing an analogy between what we do know physical darkness and
light to what we struggle to understand, spiritual darkness and light.
God Created the Heavens and the Earth
Before we get into the analogy I want to first turn your attention to the very first
statement in Genesis: “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” While
this statement seems straightforward it is the subject of great debate in philosophy,
theology and metaphysics.1 While these debates are beyond the scope or intent of this
sermon there are a few points that I would like to make. First, while Genesis 1:1 could
1 John H. Walton, Genesis, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2001), 67.
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refer to an extended period of time prior to the seven days of creation,2 the seven words
of this verse were most likely
intended to be not only a literary
introduction to the Creation story3 but
also an anticipation of the end of the
universe4 when the new heavens and
earth will come (Isaiah 65:17;
66:22).5 Until God spoke nothing
existed but Him.6 Since something
cannot be created out of nothing,7
Creation of all things between the
heavens and the earth, which
encompasses the entire universe,8 is to
be seen as a divine activity9 in which
all things seen and unseen owe their
existence to Elohim.10 While the Creation story is not intended to prove or disprove
scientific theories, given amble evidence of miracles in the Bible one can say with
confidence that Genesis accurately teaches the origin11 of “matter, life, values, evil, grace,
the family, nations, and other things—in a way that unites us all.”12
2 John H. Walton, Genesis, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
2001), 69.
3 John H. Walton, 70.
4 K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman
& Holman Publishers, 1996), 126.
5 D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Zondervan Study Bible: Built on the Truth of Scripture and Centered on
the Gospel Message (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 25.
6 Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale Old Testament
Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1967), 48.
7 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged
in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 3.
8 John E. Hartley, Genesis, ed. W. Ward Gasque, Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Robert K. Johnston,
Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 43.
9 John H. Walton, 70.
10 John H. Sailhamer, “Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990),
20.
11 James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Books, 1998), 15.
12 James Montgomery Boice, 16.
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Illustration – The Darkness and the Light
To help us better understand how much physical darkness and light affect our
ability to function, I did the following illustration at church. I first constructed a cave out
of some two by fours, plastic and a tarp. I placed a giant stuffed spider on the outside
roof of the cave and spider web all throughout the inside to make it a little scary. I then
took a black marker and wrote on the
inside roof of the cave the following
phrases from Genesis 1:3-5: “formless
and empty darkness,” “Spirit of God
was hovering,” “Let there be Light,”
and “Separating the light from the
darkness.” I then asked if any children
wanted to volunteer. They got to
choose one adult to accompany them
so that they might enter and feel safer
in the cave. I gave each child a glow
stick. Once inside the cave the adult
and child were to look for one of the
above phrases and were permitted to
use the glow stick if they wanted too.
It was hard to find the phrases that were written in black on a blue background and even
more difficult to interpret them for many words were written backwards. To make it
more exciting those who participated and did not find a phrase a small prize, those who
found a phrase with using the glow stick got a bigger prize and those who found a phrase
without using the glowstick got the biggest prize. To make sure everyone got a turn each
team was given a maximum of two minutes in the cave.
Physical and Spiritual Darkness and Light
While the illustration was a lot of fun its intent was to create what is called an
analogy. An analogy is the comparison of two things for clarification. Jesus often used
something in the physical world which was
easy to understand to explain something in
the spiritual world that was difficult to
understand. For example, Jesus used the
process of physically sowing seeds to help
His audience understand why the same
Gospel message was received by some and
rejected by others. Jesus used the process
of making bread to help His audience
understand that the kingdom of God would
exert its influence from within a person and
in turn the born-again believer’s faith and deeds would influence the world. Jesus used
the process of separating physical wheat from tares to help explain how God at the final
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judgment is going to separate His own from non-believers so that some will go to heaven
and the others burned in hell (Matthew 13). In today’s sermon I am going to use the
darkness and light of illustration of the cave to help explain what the Bible means by
spiritual darkness and light.
Formless and Empty Darkness
Being in a physical cave of darkness can teach us a lot about spiritual darkness.
Once the team got into the cave they immediately lit their glow stick for without it they
could not find or read the phrases that they were looking for. In verse two we are told the
“earth was formless and empty.”
“The evil that involves mankind is the
product of our own choice, expressed
as a rebellion against God, and it has
affected us so totally that there is now
nothing we can do to restore
ourselves or regain that position of
privilege and responsibility that we
lost by rebellion.”13 Even though
creation declares the glory of God
(Psalms 19:1-2), His eternal power
and divine nature (Romans 1:20);
knowledge of God alone cannot save
a person. The soul without light is
one that is spiritually dead, sinful and utterly barren of any fruit.14 Within an
unregenerate soul exists the forces of chaos15 for until the soul finds its Creator he/she
will forever be looking for but never finding the truth (2 Timothy 3:7). While living
without boundaries16 can bring short term happiness, if a soul rejects the Truth that will
set it free (John 8:32), he/she cannot be released from the from the bondage of sin that
will inevitably bring eternal, spiritual death (Romans 6)!
13 James Montgomery Boice, 18.
14 C. H. Spurgeon, “Light, Natural and Spiritual,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons,
vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 637.
15 John H. Walton, 72.
16 John H. Walton, 73.
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Spirit of God was Hovering
The act of shaping and forming the world began with the Spirit of God hovering
over the waters.17 In a similar manner the act of the “second creation,” i.e. being born
again, can only be initiated and accomplished through the power of the Spirit. While no
one can know where the Spirit comes
or goes (John 3:8), the coming of the
Day of the Lord (Joel 2:28-29), the
conception of Jesus (Matthew 1:18),
the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) are
just a few examples of the Spirit’s
creative and redemptive activity.18 In
the illustration each team in the cave
soon realized they needed to use the
glow stick or they would never be able
to see the phrases. In a similar manner
the Gospel message cannot be “seen”
or understood until first the Spirit of
God gives the person enough light to perceive and then to either accept or reject the truth
concerning God. The Spirit does not need to participate in the darkness of a person to
reveal to them light. Since God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9), we can be
assured that everyone will be given enough light to make this choice!
Let there be Light
In the illustration the moment the person chose to use the glow stick the darkness
had to give into the presence of light.
In a similar manner the moment that
God said “let there be light” there
was light! The moment that a person
asks for forgiveness of sins, believes
in the atoning death of Christ and
makes Him the lord of their lives
(Romans 10:9), they go through the
second creation and are born again,
not of flesh and blood (John 1:13)
that is corrupted and perishable (1
Corinthians 15:50) but that born of
water and the Spirit as an eternal
17 C. H. Spurgeon, “Light, Natural and Spiritual,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons,
vol. 11 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1865), 637–638.
18 D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Zondervan Study Bible: Built on the Truth of Scripture and Centered on
the Gospel Message (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 26.
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child of God (John 3:5). While how beautiful are the feet that bring the Good News
(Romans 10:14), planting and watering the seeds of righteousness cannot bear fruit
without the Spirit’s power to raise the soul from dead to life (1 Corinthians 3:6)! God
can look upon a person born again even though their old self still sins (1 John 1:9-10)
because of His seal is on their heart (Ephesians 1:13) and Jesus has paid the price for
their sins (John 3:16).
Separating the Light from the Darkness
The purpose of this sermon was not just to clear up some misconceptions
concerning spiritual darkness and light but was also to finish with a warning that the day
is coming when God will separate the wheat from the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). In the
creation story God separated the
darkness and called it “night” from
the light that He called “day.” The
day is coming when God will
separate those whose names are in the
Book of Life from those He never
knew (Revelation 20:15). On that
day, while all will bow their knees to
the Creator (Philippians 2:9-11) only
the wheat will go and be with Him in
paradise. Those who never knew
God (Matthew 7:21-23) will be
gathered together and placed in fiery furnace where there will forever be weeping and
gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50). Now that you know this to be true I pray the Spirit of
God will reveal Himself to you and you will chose to bow your knee to Him and have
your soul hear God say “let there be light.”
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