As I sit at my desk to start work, the sun is coming up over the trees and shining directly into my face. I feel the heat on my eyelids, and my high school typing teacher would be so proud of me as I type this with my eyes closed! The sun is bright in the cloudless expanse. Fluttering leaves cause a strobe effect pulsing through the window. I love sunrise. I love early mornings. I love the smell of new opportunities.
I’ve been thinking about light and darkness recently.
In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. Before there was an earth. Before God created the sun and moon. Before oxygen and an atmosphere. In the beginning, the earth was without form and void — meaning empty and of no use — and darkness encompassed the abyss. It was dark nothingness before God spoke.
The word used in Gen. 1:3 is the Hebrew word meaning illumination or to make luminous. Science would tell us light must have a source. Genesis 1 tells us in the abyss of darkness, the Spirit of God resonated and God spoke. The Spirit — or breath of God — moved the darkness, and the Word He spoke expressed the desire of His heart. He wanted there to be illumination — for everything in creation to be clearly seen — bathed in the brightness of Himself. He was and is the source of light.
John begins his gospel with the same idea — in the beginning, God spoke. The expression of His heart was shown in two ways — the Word and the Light — both used in John 1 to describe Jesus.
“The Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it and is unreceptive to it)” (John 1:5 AMPC).
We know this present age is awash in darkness. Horrific scenes on the news remind us of the incredible capacity of evil committed daily. At times, we are tempted to be overwhelmed by the darkness. Hopelessness creeps its way into the chaos of this present age, and it seems that the darkness may never end. Then the sunrise comes.
John 1:14 says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory.”
Glory is another great word study. Part of the Hebrew definition is “brightness or splendor.” When all hope seems lost, God speaks and everything that seems so dark is illuminated by His presence.
Are you having difficulty seeing the light through the darkness? The sunrise is coming, beloved. Sin can never blot out the illumination of the Creator. When He spoke light into existence, that was an eternal Word that Satan cannot silence and he cannot extinguish.
“…God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (I John 1:5).