Let There Be Light Series

Billy Graham in his book World Aflame tells of how he sat in the office of

Dag Hammarskjold at the United Nations shortly before he was killed in the

plane crash. He said that Mr. Hammarskjold seemed deeply depressed, and as

he looked out over New York City he said quietly, "I see no hope for

permanent peace. We have tried so hard and we have failed so miserably.

Unless the world has a spiritual rebirth within the next few years, civilization

is doomed." Graham goes on in his book to quote leaders in every branch of

life and around the world who are pessimistic about the future. Man with all

of his light still lives in the dark.

Jean Paul Sartre, the French Existentialist, said, "There is no exit from

the human dilemma." Sir Winston Churchill said, "Our problems are beyond

us." Graham says that man is caught in a fire raging out of control, and in his

first chapter he paints a picture that is frightening. Graham wrote this nearly

40 years ago, but the fact is we still live in a time where it is the dark ages

spiritually. Can we be optimistic about the future? Yes we can if we know

God through Jesus Christ. We know a God who from the beginning has

turned chaos into harmony, and He has brought light out of darkness. God

has a plan for this world and so there is always a bright tomorrow, for we look

for a new heaven and new earth wherein dwells righteousness. The basis for

optimism if found in man promises of the Bible, but we are going to study the

first chapter of Genesis to see the method of God's creating that encourages us

to be optimistic.

We find harmony and rhyme even in the very statement of the original

chaos of the world. In Hebrew the two words describing the chaos rhyme. It

says, "And the earth was without tohu and bohu." The word tohu describes a

condition of shapelessness. There was just a conglomeration of matter. Bohu

means that it was empty and void. There was no life of any kind. Our world

started out as chaos. God created the raw materials just before He began to

form it for the habitation of life.

God did not create all in immediate perfection. We see here a progression

from the raw material to the finished product. There are some who have

developed what is called the Gap Theory, which says that God created heaven

and earth perfect in verse 1. Then a great catastrophe caused it to be

destroyed, and so in verse 2 we have the chaos of that fallen world which God

reforms again into a perfect world. The vast majority feel there is no basis for

reading so much between the lines. It is obvious that Moses intended to convey

no such impression, but rather, that God, like a skilled workman,

began with dull and drab raw materials, and by wisdom formed them into a

world of beauty.

We note that darkness was upon the face of the deep. Water was the most

abundant substance that God began with as raw material. Water covered the

whole earth and it was dark, for light was not yet created. it was a very bleak

picture. It was a giant mud pie sunk in a cold dark world ocean. If there had

been anyone around to see such a sight, they certainly would think it was a

God forsaken planet. But this verse says it was not so, for the Spirit of God

moved over the face of the waters. The Holy Spirit is pictured like an eagle

hovering over its young. Here the object is lifeless, but the Holy Spirit is eager

to give birth to life. Milton in Paradise Lost expresses it like this: "Darkness

profound covered the abyss, but on the watery calm His brooding wings the

Spirit of God out spread, and vital virtue infused, and vital warmth,

throughout the fluid mass."

Here is a picture of the material realm identical to the chaos and darkness

of the spiritual realm, which the Bible speaks of often. The wicked man is said

to walk in darkness, and darkness blinds his eyes. His understanding is

darkened, his heart is darkened, and he loves darkness rather than light. But

in both realms the darkness is turned to dawn, for God speaks and says, "Let

there be light." In both the physical and spiritual world God has turned the

chaos into harmony, and the darkness into light. Paul can say that we were

once children of darkness, but are now children of light, and we walk in the

light. We are delivered from the power of darkness because, as Peter said,

"We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light."