And God Said: Let There Be Light
(Light: The Spiritual Link to Salvation
and God - Part One)
Our Bible begins
with the following scripture: Genesis 1: 1-5
1 In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And
God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And
God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the
light from the darkness.
5 And God
called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the
morning were the first day.
Christians
and other Bible students are most familiar with this scripture from our Bible.
From the literal perspective, it is simply a logical progression that to remove
“darkness”, it is only necessary to provide “light”. But in addition, this passage introduces the
reader to the “spiritual” perspective that is the foundation to all that
follows. I’d like to follow that “spiritual” train of thought through several
Bible verses to help establish our role as Christians, as well as what lies
ahead for mankind. First, a review of
some relevant history.
When Adam
was created, given dominion over the earth, and lived with Eve in the Garden of
Eden, there was only “spiritual light”. (Genesis Chapters One and Two) But the Enemy was not far away, and
introduced the period of sin / “spiritual darkness” to mankind that still
haunts most of humanity today. (Genesis
Chapter Three) [Regrettably, most people are not even aware that they are
living in this state of sin / “darkness” in the eyes of God.] Even so, at that
same time, our God of Love instituted His Plan to bring man out of the “darkness”
and back into the “light”. (Genesis 3: 14-24) However, THE MAJOR FACTOR that has affected
or will affect each person from Adam throughout Bible history is WHETHER MAN
WILL CHOOSE GOD’S PLAN TO RETURN TO THE LIGHT, and ETERNAL SALVATION. The Scripture itself tells us that “the Grace
of God that bringeth salvation (“light”) hath appeared to all men…” (Titus 2:
11-14) No one has an excuse.
Following Adam
and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden, and the Enemy’s having taken dominion over
the earth, sin / “darkness” reigned for hundreds of years. (Genesis Chapters
Five and Six). Before flooding the earth to destroy sinful man, God found one
righteous man Noah and his family. God spared them and began anew to re-populate
the earth through their descendants. (Genesis Chapters Seven through Nine) However,
the influence of the Enemy and man’s inherited sin-nature combined to continue
to allow sin / darkness to dominate man’s behavior.
Then, in His
grace and love for man, God again chose one man Abram / Abraham through whose
descendants He would provide the blessing (of “Light”) to all the families of
the earth. (The “Abrahamic Covenant” - Genesis 12: 1-3) It would be through Abraham’s
son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob, and his twelve sons that the Nation of Israel
would be born. And it would be through that Nation of God’s “Chosen People”
that “THE LIGHT” would come.
Consider the
following references:
· After redeeming Israel from their
slavery in Egypt, the LORD committed to them that if they would keep His Covenant,
He would make them a special treasure to Him above all people; and they would become
a kingdom of priests to Him, and a holy nation. (An offer of “light”.) (Exodus 19:
5-6)
· Without even hearing the details of what
God would have them do, in their arrogance and self-righteousness the people of
the Nation of Israel collectively responded, saying: “All that the LORD hath
spoken we will do.” (A response based in “darkness’)(Exodus 19: 8)
· The LORD gave Israel “The Law” (Moral
/ Ten Commandments; Civil / Social Ordinances; and Ceremonial / Worship), thereby
revealing His standards for man’s behavior – “Righteousness”. (A picture of “light”.)
(Exodus 20 through Leviticus) He also re-affirmed
His Supreme Nature, and told Israel (through Moses) that if they would “walk in
My statutes and keep My commandments, and do them”; He would bring them many
blessings. (Rewards of “light”) (Leviticus 26: 3-13, Deuteronomy 28: 1-14) In
referring to God’s Law, a Psalmist wrote: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119: 105) That “light” shows the “path to salvation.”
· Conversely, if they (Israel) would “not hearken unto
Me, and will not do all these commandments; and if (they) shall despise My
statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that you will not do all My
commandments, but that you break My covenant…”, then He would bring many
judgments against them. (Punishments for sin / unrighteousness / darkness) (Leviticus 26: 14-39; Deuteronomy 28” 15-68)
· Over the following centuries, Israel struggled
mightily and unsuccessfully to overcome their sin-nature; and the dark forces
of the Enemy; and without the knowledge that none of them could meet those
highest standards of God. If they were to ever to be a “Kingdom of Priests” who
would evangelize (bring “light”) to the rest of the world (Gentiles) they would
have to have a knowledge of / be able to recognize sin / “darkness”. (Romans 3:
1-20)
· Among the several prophets that the
LORD sent to Israel, it was Isaiah who most directly addressed the Nation’s
role in bringing “light” to the rest of the world / Gentiles. (Isaiah 9: 2, 6-7;
42: 5-7; 49: 6; 60: 1-5) It is very
important to note that his prophecies foretold both the First and Second
Comings of our Lord Jesus…”THE LIGHT”. But it would be seven centuries before the
Lord’s First Advent, and Israel remained in darkness. Four hundred years
passed between the closing of the Old Testament, and the opening of the New
Testament. However, we learned from our
Bible study that God was not giving up on His Chosen People, Israel.
· Now we remember the Scripture: “But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we (Believers)
might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4: 4-5)
· Not long after the Lord’s birth, the
Scripture records Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus meeting with Simeon, a
just and devout man who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would “not see
death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ”. Simeon responded that he was then ready to “depart
in peace, for mine eyes have seen (the Lord’s) salvation”, which the Lord had prepared…(to be)…”A light to
lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of (His) people Israel.” (Luke 2: 25-35)
·
Also
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle John placed the
Lord’s Coming into its true spiritual perspective…From the beginning in Genesis
Chapter One, our Lord Jesus was the one “True Light, which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world.” (John 1: 1-9)
· A few decades later, as the Lord was
beginning His earthly ministry, He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum, thereby
fulfilling the prophetic words of Isaiah, as noted above in Isaiah 9: 1-2, referring
to “light”. It was then that the Lord
Jesus “began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at
hand.”….(Matthew 4: 13-17)
· As the Lord began His Ministry, He specifically
targeted only the people of the Nation of Israel. (Matthew 10: 1-7) In His “Sermon on the Mount”, He affirmed their
role in being a source of “light” to the rest of the world / Gentiles. By their
serving as examples of light, they would bring others to glorify our Father in
Heaven.(Matthew 5: 14-16)
· But it was the later encounter that the
Lord had with the Pharisees who had sought to discredit Him, that gave Him the
platform to establish His position, saying: I am the light of
the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. (John 8: 1-12; 9: 5)
· Near the end of His earthly ministry,
the Lord had an additional moment to provide some insight into the concept of
“light” to His Disciples and others nearby, saying: “Yet
a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest
darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he
goeth. While ye have light, believe in
the light, that ye may be the children of light.” (John 12: 34-36) If they would only recognize who He was, they
could fulfill God’s role for them to evangelize the Gentile world.
· In the foreknowledge of God, the Lord
Jesus knew of His pending rejection by Israel, and that it would lead to His suffering,
Crucifixion, death, burial and Resurrection. But He also knew that was part of God’s
Plan to bring the “light” of salvation to the Gentile world, without the
priesthood of the Nation of Israel.
With that
beginning, and following through the first nearly 4,000 years of man’s history according
to Israel’s calendar, (https://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/year.htm
) God would then turn to one member of His Chosen People to be His “light”
to show a new path to salvation to the Gentiles…and those Jewish believers who
would accept it. The Lord’s seemingly unlikely
choice was the Pharisee who led the fearsome opposition to His earthly
ministry, Saul of Tarsus…later known as the Apostle Paul. (Acts 26: 1-18)
In Part 2 of
this post, we’ll look at the role of Christians serving as “light” following
the Lord’s Ascension.
Dr. W. A.
(Bill) Robinson
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