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Let there be light.


  Genesis 1 recounts God’s actions in vast, poetic, unimaginable creation of all that we see around us. This is the same Creation that we live in today. It surrounds us to the point that many have come to take it for granted.

Usually, on an average day the details of living crowd out the grander vision.
The first thing God created, the very first words recorded in the Bible, the very first command was, “Let there be light.” And because all things are under God’s Sovereignty it came into being.

John 1 calls Jesus the Word but also refers to him as the Light of the World. Just as the world had no shape before-hand, being formless and void, so too our lives lived without the presence of God are in darkness, they are without shape and are void. The ability to perceive that light, the light of God, then is a vital part of the beginning of the world and creation in general. Without the presence of God to light the way for us to see, then we remain without that hope promised in Christ.

Note that the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the surface of the deep, something there, but not seen, hinted at but not revealed, just as at night there can be an awareness of created things around us, but not seen in the darkness. If we are in darkness how then are we able to perceive even the slightest hint of the full Glory of God?

Darkness separates us from God, darkness of the soul, darkness of the spirit, darkness of emotions and thoughts, darkness of action. In short, Sin is the darkness of separation, working to overcome any chance we have of direct relationship with a loving Father God.

God is light and light is essential in the seeing of what has been created. The other side of this is that God has gifted human beings with eyes to see.

O, but how many stories are there that tell of the blind who come to see and thence follow Christ who has given them vision and promise for new life?

In saying let there be light, God opens the way to relationship with Him – for those who walk in darkness cannot know God. I Thessalonians 5:5 states that “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” We are created to be children of the light who reflect the light of Christ who is the light of the world and for us to open the eyes of the unsaved and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan.” (Acts 26:18)

Let there be light: let all of creation have the ability given to us by God to turn to him, to turn to the dawn, to the light not just of the rising sun, but to the God whose light never sets, who is always shining on us, we whose hearts are full of love for Him who is love.

That we are given that gift of capacity to be light and love, created in His image: what an incredible gift. How then to accept this gift of new beginning? Open our hearts and minds and being to Jesus Christ.

Amen.



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