Christ, the Light of the World
2/7 Reading Portions: Genesis 40; Mark 10; Job 6; Romans 10
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2/7 Reading Portions: Genesis 40; Mark 10; Job 6; Romans 10
Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
ILLUMINATION
Elohiym, the triune God, had already told us in the first verse that He had created, from nothing, the heavens and the earth. In the second verse, He told us that there was a great calamity, but He also gave us gospel hope to overcome that catastrophic event. Now, our blessed God recapitulates. He gives us details of how He brought forth the creation He just told us about in the first verse. He started with light, and He did this by a verbal command. Literally from the Hebrew, I’d translate it this way:
“And the triune God said, ‘Light be!’ And it came to pass—light.”
Why was this the first act of creation? While there are many things we can glean from this, let the meditation of our hearts focus on two things today.
First, the most important truth: that the statement was prophetic of the Lord Jesus Christ. During the Lord’s earthly ministry He stated,
“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
Because, as we’ve seen this past week, that everything was created for God’s ultimate glory, so therefore, everything exists for the sake of the gospel through Christ’s exaltation. Our sovereign God begins creation with the Light of Christ. Creation begins with Christ’s preeminence, and thus, His exaltation. יהי אור (ya-HEEY ōr), translated “Let there be light” in our English Bibles, or “Light be,” can also be translated “Light is.” Or in fact, “Light is, was, will be.” God was not speaking Jesus into existence. Jesus is the eternal second Person of the Trinity. God was speaking emphatically that the world could not be made apart from Christ’s light (John 1:1-3; Col 1:17; Heb 1:1-2; etc.).
Second, because God’s statement was a verbal command, “Light be,” it is incumbent upon His entire creation to obey Him, to respond in love and godly fear to His love, grace, goodness, and holiness. Therefore, the creature’s first response to the love, grace, goodness, and holiness of the triune God, is to love Christ’s light in fearful reverence. It is written,
We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19
Hallelujah! What a Savior!