BSF Genesis: Week 2, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.

• Said let there be light and there was, Light was good, sep’d from darkness, called “day” and “night”
• Keep my lamp burning, turn darkness into light
• With you is fountain of life, in your life we see light
• Word is lamp to feet and light to path, unfolding of words give light; understanding to simpleminded
• In him: life; light of all, shines in darkness, not overcome. JTB came to testify re: the light, JTB witness to it (JTB=John the Baptist)
• Light has come into world but people loved darkness (evil) evildoers hate light, exposed, truth->light
• Jesus is the light of the world, followers will never walk in darkness, but will have light of life
• Unbelievers blinded, not see gospel light=glory of Christ/image of God, light shine 2 know God
• Chosen people, royal priest, God’s possession, called out of darkness into His wonderful light
• Walk in Light=fellowship and purification for sin, if confess sin, He is faithful/just & will forgive

4 a. GREED: the eye is lamp of body, healthy (generous) eyes fill body with light, stingy eyes with dark; IDOLATRY: Light cannot have fellowship w/ evil; DEEDS: Live as children of light, expose deeds of darkness, shameful what disobedient do in the dark; FAULTLESS: shine like stars; FORGIVEN: walk in light, if say in Christ but walk in darkness you lie; ETERNAL: God’s glory is the light of heaven.

4 b. To help me be a better witness in and with my emotions. The worry and stress I carry and that I, at times, allow others to see does not convey the trust that I have that God is in control. I find my mind and emotions at times in a dark place despite knowing that God’s light will overcome all darkness and worry.

My Daily Journal:

On opening night of BSF we discussed that the bible as a whole is the method God has chosen to reveal Himself to His creation.  That is true for it as a whole and for each part or element of it.  Everything in the bible is suitable to teaching and learning about God.

In week 1 of BSF we focused on the big question: Who is God?  Specifically as revealed in the first chapter of Genesis.

This week we look deeper into: What can we learn about God from what He did? Again, with a focus on Gen 1.

So, after going from eternal nothingness to creating ALL of the heavens and the earth (all mass, matter and laws that govern it), God wasn’t ready to call it a day.  No, he said, “let there be light and there was light.”  Then He separates the light from darkness, calling the light day and darkness night.

We can go a lot of directions with this.  Light is just light and it is also not just light.  Light is the shekina glory of God that was a pillar of fire in the desert.  Light is justice and mercy of God shining on all.  Light exposes darkness.  Light is a word that encompasses all of glory and goodness and power and energy.  Jesus is the light of life and the light of salvation. Scientifically, light is unique.  According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, light is the only constant.  We won’t even get into the Particle / Wave Duality of Light and Matter & Quantum Entanglement discussion.  But, let’s just say that light is a much bigger thing than most of us recognize as we live our daily lives.  There is nowhere anywhere that does not contain some light either in a visible or invisible spectrum.

And what of darkness?  We learn in these first few verses that God allowed choice far before He created anyone capable of making that choice.  His light, His glory is capable of penetrating everything.  As we peer deeper and deeper into space, it is impossible to find any space where there is not light.  Scientist are even now making discovers through analyzing light bending around galaxies.  But God allowed there to be darkness, for there to be a place where people can choose to not be in His light (even though that is an illusion because the waves of light always penetrate the darkness).

We can follow lots of discussion and dissect the Hebrew words used for light and darkness, but what strikes me is something for more simple and one that we almost always miss in reading God’s story of creation.  Look at Gen 1:5b, “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”  When I think about the end of a day, I might think about midnight.  I might call it a day when the sun sets.  But look at what God did.  And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

See, the important message is that from the very beginning God never left His creation in the dark.  He never called it a day until it was morning and the light shined again.  He didn’t leave his people in the darkness of sin, His Son Rose from the darkness on Easter morning.  He will not leave His creation and His children in our current state, but take us up to the new heaven for all eternity, to live forever in His perfect light without darkness and without night.  Now that’s a good day!