God's authority — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God 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.

Before I begin engaging the text of this first day of Creation, I’d like to make a few things clear. First, the Bible is not a science book. Secondly, the scope of science is limited to the natural world. Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God because God is supernatural. My goal is not to attack or begin to address scientific arguments about the beginning of life. I believe there is a Creator God, and I believe the Creator God described within the Bible is God. What follows then is a somewhat limited interaction with the story of Creation and the beginning of the story of God, which, I hold, extends throughout the Scriptures within the Bible. Not only do secular scientists mostly disagree with Creationists and Intelligent Design advocates, but even Christian scholars have different views about how one interprets these early chapters of Genesis. My desire is simply to share with you observations about what is happening in this story and its significance.

We left off last week with the earth formless, void, and dark. Who would want to live on that earth? It’s the crisis in the story that we want and expect to be resolved. Furthermore, we read that the Spirit of God was “hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:2). That statement creates an excitement or expectation that something is about to happen.

In verse 3, something happens. What? God spoke. God said, “Let there be light.” What follows God’s command is what appears to be an immediate fulfillment of that command. Light came into existence. With nothing but expressed will, God created light. What’s the point? God is powerful. Furthermore, God has a mind and is not just a force in the universe. God can and does express His will and has the power to cause whatever He wills.

In verse 4, God does two more things. First, God “saw that the light was good” (v. 4a). We can draw a few things from this statement. One is that the light was complete- it was just the way God wanted it. God didn’t need to practice making light. This statement begs the question, “Good for what?” Did God need to create light? Was God incomplete before He created light? I don’t think so. I think this suggests that God saw or made sure that light was good for the earth and for the living things that He would put on the earth. In other words, this should give us a sense that God wants good things for His creatures and has the power to make it happen perfectly. I find that encouraging.

In verse 4, God also judges what is good and what isn’t good. God separated the light from the darkness. The author has told us that God saw that the light was good. Yet God separates the light from the darkness. Why? It’s God’s judgment that darkness is not good. We are not given any more details concerning that. But as we read through the Scriptures, we find that light and darkness are often used symbolically for good and evil or knowledge and ignorance. At the end of the Scriptures, the eternal scene of God’s realm is continuous light.

Finally, in verse 5, God names the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Thus, the first day of Creation is complete. The importance of this verse is God’s authority over light and darkness. At the end of God’s creative work, He will give humans the authority to name the animals.

So, what is the story revealing to us? God is powerful, thoughtful, and good and has the authority to determine what is good and what is not good. The story informs us about God’s character, doesn’t it? These truths about God’s character are essential for the people we will read about in the Bible and important in our walk of faith.

If an aspect of God in this text stands out to you, give God thanks for that, and pray that God impresses these truths upon your heart.