Let There Be Light!
A Message from Genesis 1
© 2006 Eric Bain
NOTE: This sermon is available in audio format @ www.sanctuary-church.com
Good morning, if you are not aware, we are beginning a brand new journey… a journey into our past… a journey that will have us looking at our earliest ancestors… A journey through the book of Genesis.
(Roll CD)
What you have just heard is a dramatic representation of Genesis 1, by Rob Lacey (put out by Zondervan Publishers)… I wanted us to listen to it, because I think it puts us in the mood for the story… that is Genesis. And if you’ve been around Sanctuary for any length of time, you may now know that I love to teach from the Stories… And Genesis is just chalk full of them…
• It starts out with creation and Adam & Eve…
• Cain & Abel
• Noah
• Abram
• Isaac
• Jacob
• Joseph
• And along the way there are things like miracles, murders, deceptions, kidnappings, battles of will, battles for love…
It’s like a great epic story!
How long will we be in Genesis??? I have no idea… We’ll be breaking it up along the way.
Nonetheless, grab a Bible and turn to the very first page… Or at least to first page of text…
-- PRAY –
Genesis 1:1…
In the beginning…
It sounds so simple really… In the beginning… As if it were the start of a great fairy tale or some story of fiction… But, no! This is no fairy tail… It’s not fiction… Oh, it is a story… yes… But it’s a story of actual events… (pause) In the beginning…
I’m reminded of another great literary beginning… (pause)
A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away...
Only that won’t work here, because really…
• We have to go back so far… so long ago… that there was no “time!”
• Think of this… If there really was no time, then can you go back that far? It’s a fascinating question! (Tangent!)
A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away...
No, that won’t work, because there were no galaxies!… You have to go to an existence, where there really was no time… and no place… It was just the beginning.
You see, it’s funny, because the story already has us asking a question - In the beginning of what?
• It can’t be the beginning of God…
• Because, He’s infinite. He existed eternally before this…
• So, the story starts with us wanting to know… (slow) In the beginning of what?
(pause)
I think we’ll come to a satisfying answer for that question, but for now we’ll just have to be content with saying that it’s the beginning of the Story. And yet, if that’s the case, then stories have endings. And so this story begins with us not only asking a question, but with us also anticipating that it’s going to go somewhere – That it’s going to have an ending. But where will it go?... What will that ending be?... Well, we’ll have to read the story, won’t we.
ILL – You see, In the beginning, is like the first statement of a really great novel… It gives us something to look forward to… And it leaves us with anticipation and a desire to read on… In the beginning…
GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty… darkness was over the surface of the deep… and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
Now… unfortunately, I have to step out of the story for a moment. It’s not that I want to; it’s just that – for many of us – we don’t have the ability to hear this story. In other words, it’s really difficult for us to grasp what the story is trying to tell us. Let me explain by way of an Illustration.
ILL: Imagine if you would… You’re go to see the original Star Wars played on the big screen. (Granted, I am going to be using a few of Star Wars illustrations this morning… but it kind of goes with my with my theme) Anyways, imagine if you were at the original Star Wars… Episode 4… and you’re there with a date. Nonetheless, the opening scene comes on with this giant space ship, which happens to be Princes Leah’s ship (only you don’t know it’s Princes Leah’s ship yet), followed by this huge Imperial Battle Cruiser. (Play this out) When your date suddenly turns to you and says… “Huh.. That doesn’t even look real!”
You overlook the comment, cause you just want to enjoy the story.
And then the scene where all the Rebel Troops are lining up in the hallway, and there’ that door…. And the Storm troopers come in Darth Vader makes his appearance and again your date pipes in… “You mean to tell me with all that technology they can’t make his breath quiet?”
(pause)
What would your response be? Shut up and eat your popcorn! Why? Cause the comments are ruining the story!!!
(pause)
OK, so what am I getting at? Well, I’m getting at the fact that many of us can’t even take in the Creation Story in Genesis (and just take it in), because we instantly get sidetracked with so many non-essential issues.
• For some of us… there’s this huge need to defend our faith!
• For others… there’s this huge need to defend our intellects!
• And for others yet… there’s a huge need to defend the authority of Scripture!
And so what I want to point out, is that all of it isn’t much different than if we went to the original Star Wars film and picked apart the special effects & the fact that Darth Vader’s voice is raspy… when the story isn’t even about that! You see, those things - while they may be true - they’re not central to what the story is trying to communicate. And for many of us, as we read the Creation Story in Genesis, a similar thing takes place – We get so sidetracked by these issues… that we miss out on the story… and what it’s trying to teach us.
So here’s the deal…
• As I have been prepared for this message, many people have asked me if I am going to be doing an apologetic for the six days of creation. In other words, I’ve felt a lot of pressure to go about the process of making an intellectual/theological defense for the fact that creation could have actually taken place as the Bible describes it (in six days). Well to that end, let me say this…
• I know some exceptionally smart people that believe they have justification that the creation of the cosmos took place in 6 literal 24 hour days… Just as they believe the Bible states…
• I also know some exceptionally smart people that believe they have justification that the Bible describes 6 distinct periods (of un-stated length) in which the creation event took place.
• And then, finally, I know some exceptionally smart people that believe they have justification that the whole Bible is nothing more than a crutch for spiritually weak individuals…
Now, I’m not exceptionally smart (educated beyond my intellect). But my suggestion to you… no matter who you are… Is, read the Bible. Not just a little bit of it, but all of it… Then put it to the test… Ask your self:
• Could this be true?
• Is it possible that God is speaking, and not just to all of humanity… But to me, as an individual, through this book we call the Scriptures?
And at that point… make a decision for yourself.
• I say this to bow-out, or to be weak, or mean, or even arrogant… But just to admit that if you have a firm stance one way or another… I don’t think that my lousy attempt to sway you to the other side is gonna help….
• Plus, I don’t think it’s my job… Rather, my job is simply to teach you the story… To help you hear it (maybe for the first time)… and then, let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
On that note… There are a few important things I want you to know about the Creation Story in Genesis…
• The first is that in order to understand the Creation Story, you need to really grasp a concept called progressive revelation. Now I know that may sounds scary… But let me explain. Progressive revelation is really nothing more than the idea that God gives us a little bit of detail about himself, and then as time goes on he progressively gives us more and more detail.
o ILL – Say we were to meet, for the very first time, over coffee… I went to college to study Business, in Minnesota. --- As time went on I would progressively reveal more and more about myself
Well this is what God does… he progressively reveals more and more of himself all throughout the Bible. So, in Genesis, what we really have, is an introduction! We are introduced to God. God begins the process of revealing himself to us… And he is going to progressively reveal more and more of himself… In other words, who he is and what he’s like… all throughout the Bible. In fact, he doesn’t even stop there… I would argue that God is still in the process of revealing more and more of who he is and what he’s like, even today!
So… Genesis begins with a question… In the beginning of what?
The answer is: In the beginning of God revealing himself to us… to humanity. You see… We’re told that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” In other words, he stepped out of the infinite… and into the finite. He stepped out of a realm beyond our understanding… Beyond our existence… And stepped into a realm that is our existence… that we can understand.
You see… isn’t it true that all of human experience is based on time and location?
• It’s when’s and where’s…
• It’s beginnings and endings…
• It’s Where you were when…?
• And what did you do when…?
(pause) And we’re told… In the beginning God stepped out of the infinite and into the finite… Or in other words, time, as we know it, began. In the beginning….
(Pause)
The second thing we need to know in order to really grasp what the Creation Story is trying to teach us is a little bit about the people that God was first revealing himself to. In other words, what was the context in which the Creation Story was first written down? I mean… If God is going to progressively reveal himself throughout all of human history, then what were the people like that God first chose to share the Creation Story with?
Well… One of the really big differences would have been that they didn’t have the scientific understanding that we have today. But perhaps more important, is the fact that their world view was entirely different than ours.
You see, in their world, there were many different people groups, all living in relative, close proximity… And all of these other groups had, not just one, but numerous gods that they worshipped. And with the worship of these gods, the line between creation and deity was blurred. You see, they had sun gods, and moon gods, and water gods and earth gods. And so it’s into this context that Yahweh, the one, true-God of the universe, first begins to reveal himself.
In other words, it’s into an audience that was so confused about who God is… and what God is… that God first begins to reveal his TRUTH in Genesis 1.
Now, here’s a funny thing… For so many Christians today, we desperately want to defend the Creation Story as one of truth… but, what if the truth that we’re so desperate to defend… isn’t the same truth that God is trying to put forth through the Creation Story?
• I’m not saying our truth isn’t any less true…
• I’m just trying to say, what if the that truth isn’t what God is trying to communicate?
Here’s why I say that… to the Ancient Near Eastern audience, the scientific problem that God created the entire cosmos in only six short days wouldn’t have even registered on their radar. Why?… because, in their day and age, the creation of matter wasn’t viewed as the most powerful representation of a god. In fact, neither was how long it took for a god to create it. But rather, in their day and age, the greatest exercise of power, when looking at the gods… was found in the naming and fixing of destinies.
In other words, as God first introduces himself to these people - in their context - it wasn’t such a big deal that he created in just six days… As much as the fact that he created… and named… and fixed the destinies of the heavens and the earth… the sun, moon and stars… the plants, animals, and fish… and people!
You see… What God first chose to reveal to these people, was that he was not A god IN creation… But rather, he was THE God OF Creation. In other words, He wasn’t one of many… He was the only! And He wasn’t part of the creation, but rather he stood outside of it… and He created it… all of it! And then to top it all off, he gave everything a destiny… or a purpose!
You see, the truth being communicated through Genesis 1, isn’t so much a picture of how God created (6 days), as much as it is a picture of who God is… and where he stands in relation to his creation.
QUESTION: So, Let me ask you a question… If God is the only God… And he’s so powerful that he was able to create the entire Cosmos… and give a destiny to every aspect of it… (pause) Well, then does whether or not he did it in six, literal days… really have any practical relevance to your life, today?
APPLICATION: But, here’s another question… If God is the only God. And He existed outside of our reality and yet he stepped into it and so that we might know him… So that we might have a relationship with Him… And He is a God of power beyond our understanding… And He not only created, but he assigned roles and functions to every aspect of his creation… In other words, He created everything out of nothing… and He established order where there was no order… and he gave purpose where there was no purpose… and direction where there was no direction. Well, if that’s the God that reveals himself in the Creation Story…
• Then do you really think that he’s not powerful enough to bring order to the disorder in your life today?
o What is it that you need God to straighten out in your life?
o What is it that you need God to make sense of?
• And do you think that the God that gave purpose and direction to all of creation doesn’t want to give purpose and direction to your life, today? Of course he does!
And here’s the really cool thing… I think that he even gives us a glimpse of what that purpose and direction are, right here in Genesis 1.
You see, we’re told in Genesis 1 that In the beginning God had the Earth in it’s rawest form… It was literally consumed in darkness… Now there’s nothing in the story that leads us to interpret this darkness as evil… But then God said… Let their be light!
I find it interesting that this light of the beginning… the light of the very first day…. Couldn’t have been light like you and I often think of light. I mean, after all the sun and the stars weren’t created until the 4th day… So what is this light that came in the beginning?
Well, to be honest, I would to suggest that to the earliest readers… this was likely a complete mystery! But it doesn’t needs to be to us today. And the reason is… we have progressive revelation. You see, we have a much greater picture of who God is than they did in those early days… So let me take you on a brief journey through history… To see what we can learn…
Later in the book of Genesis, we’ll read that when Moses first encounters God on Mt. Horeb, he describes the experience as a bush that was on fire but not consumed… In other words… A light came from a bush… But it didn’t destroy it…
Some time after that, when Moses returns from God’s presence on Mt. Sinai where he received the Law, we’re told that his face radiated with an inexplicable light… (note: 1400 BC)
A thousand years after that, the writer of Psalm 89 wrote…
PS 89:15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.
In other words… The light… is the very presence of God…
Could it be that this is the very same light that we read about in Genesis 1?…. Could it be that In the beginning God created and with a simple word he said… Let there be light… And in that instant God ushered his presence into his creation? In other words, he brought forth nothing short of himself. Separating that which he was in, from that which he was not… Light and darkness…
Now this is interesting because I want to suggest that this line of thought wouldn’t be contradictory to Scripture… You see, the Bible teaches that God has the ability to be everywhere, but not that he is everywhere.
And again, thinking of this idea of Progressive Revelation… some 500 years after the Psalmist wrote, Jesus came and walked on this earth… And the apostle John wrote about him saying…
JN 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Later, John also wrote this…
1JN 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Jesus and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Peter also wrote to early Christians saying…
1PE 2:9 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Finally, Jesus tells his followers…
MT 5:14 "You are the light of the world.
And Paul wrote saying…
EPH 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you a¬re light in the Lord… Live as children of light.
So, where is all this light talk leading us?… Well, I think it’s bringing us to the biggest application point we can take away from the Creation Story. Oh, it’s not a point that the first readers would have understood so many years ago… But, it’s a point I think we can take away, nonetheless!
In the beginning, God said… Let there be… light! And with those words, he ushered himself into his creation so that he might have a relationship with people that do not yet know him. And then somehow, through the mystery of Christ Crucified… intermingling with our faith… that light (the presence of God himself) becomes a part of us. You see, we become named by God… as Children of the light!
In other words… God wants to use us to reveal himself to this dark world. Guys, if we are Christians we have a destiny and a purpose that was declared by God himself… in the very beginning!
We are to be light in the darkness… That’s our destiny!
To quote Star Wars one last time… Fulfill your destiny!
CONCLUSION:
We began this morning with, In the beginning… And I hinted that it was a literary introduction to the Story of Time… To the Story of God ushering in his presence into that of all humanity… However, I also said that with that beginning, we were also left anticipating an ending.
In the Book of Revelation, we are told that In the End, those that are Children of the Light will go to live in a City of Light… And yet those that have remained in the darkness will forever be in that darkness. Guys, time is running out. Do you realize that the very last words of Jesus, as recorded in the Bible are this…
I am coming soon.
Give Homework Assignment: Could you be the light to someone in the dark?
• Bring them to church.
