Sunday Devotional: Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light.
The first two verses of Genesis 1 introduce us to the theme of the opening section of the book: creation. In this part of Genesis, God creates the heavens and the earth. His work of creation begins with a “void and formless” earth and the Spirit of God moving back and forth over the seas (“the deep”). This earth did not exist before God created it, though we are not told that He spoke it into existence as He does for all the following elements of creation. I believe we are to assume that God formed every particle, every atom, and every molecule that is in the created order, and that was just the start. Like the construction worker gathering the wood, bricks, mortar, and tiles into a pile on the construction site before building the house, God has created and gathered the foundational material for the cosmos, and will now begin forming it according to His pleasure.
God begins by speaking a word of command: “Let there be light.” In the Hebrew, this command consists of two words: yehī ‘ōr. He didn’t need to spend hours finding the correct elements to bring together, finding a power source, and figuring out how to make it all work. God issued a simple command, and He expected that command to be obeyed.
The response to God’s command is a repetition of the command using the same Hebrew words, prefixed by the conjunction “and” which, in this particular Hebrew grammatical construction, makes the verb past tense: “it is” becomes “and it was” (wayehī ‘ōr). This is important because it tells us that God’s command was carried out immediately and precisely. God said “Let there be light” and there was light. God commanded for there to be light, and light appeared, not something else. Not sort-of light, or something close enough to what God asked for. No, what God commanded is exactly what He got.
The verse doesn’t tell us the exact nature of this light. It isn’t the sun, moon, or stars since those will be created later. And it doesn’t say that this light replaced all the darkness. Rather it simply says that light came into existence. Light was now a thing where before there was only darkness. We will learn from the following verses that God is creating a distinction between day and night, but I think it’s important to consider for a moment what it means for God to bring light into existence.
Light is used in various ways throughout Scripture, not simply as a source of physical illumination so we don’t run into trees or trip over tables. It also speaks of mental and spiritual illumination:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130).
“Light” can also signify God’s presence, purity, and holiness, driving away darkness and revealing that which would rather remain hidden (e.g., our sin):
“Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples” (Isaiah 51:4).
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:21)
Perhaps most significantly, Jesus referred to himself as light:
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46)
So while there is a physical context in Genesis 1:3 for this light as that which will signify day, there is also a sense in which God bringing light to bear in the darkness speaks of His presence within creation. God is the one who brings physical and spiritual illumination to all that He has made. He is the source of all truth and justice, and He calls on His creation to walk in that light. It’s the light of God’s justice that exposes wickedness, and it is the light of Christ when we encounter him that exposes our sin. When our darkness is revealed, we will respond in one of two ways. We will either flee as we feel the weight of God’s judgment against us, or we will be drawn to the cross in repentance, where we find that God’s mercy is far greater than even our darkest sin.
Just as God brought light into the darkness at the birth of the universe, so He has brought His light into a dark and sinful world at the Incarnation, and Jesus calls on us, as His people, to reflect that light (Matthew 5:14). The Lord does not want us hiding His light, but unashamedly and boldly shining that light for all to see.
May we all be faithful in that call to shine the light of Christ in this dark and fallen world, as we grow in our love for the Light of the world, and the One who spoke into the darkness and created light.
