Episode 225 - "God said, 'Let there be light!' - Genesis 1:3-5

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.

Episode 57 - "I am the light of the world" - John 8:12-20

John 8:12   Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

I’ve had the privilege to have extended backpacking adventures with each of my sons in the Rocky Mountains. For ten days each, we packed our own food and water, shelter, clothes, and everything we needed to survive and enjoy the trek through beautiful nature. 

Before each journey, the people who were responsible for making sure we were prepared to safely begin and complete the journey gave us rules and advice for that purpose. One of the rules was that we could not hike when it was dark. The reason was that someone might not see the trail or something dangerous and we could fall down a mountain or be attacked by a bear or lion. Furthermore, if someone fell, no one else would be able to see them in order to help them.

It makes sense then that Jesus uses light and darkness as a metaphor for obeying God or disobeying God. Do you remember what John said about Jesus in the opening verses of this book? He said that the Word (Jesus) is “the true light that gives light to every man.” (John 1:9) Jesus is God’s light that, if we walk in that light and follow that light, we can see where we’re going and not run into trouble. John also says that this light of Jesus is available to every man (person). 

This point of Jesus is not random. The context here is still the Feast of Tabernacles which celebrates God’s leading and provision for the Israelites during the Exodus. Already Jesus has claimed, “I am the Bread of Life.” (John 6:48) God had provided bread for the Israelites in the form of manna in the wilderness. But, Jesus pointed out, they still ultimately died. Jesus taught that he was God’s provision of spiritual food for eternal life. Now, he’s teaching the people that just as God led their ancestors at night in a pillar of fire, so he is God’s light to guide us truly to God throughout our life. Again, Jesus invokes the divine name “I am.” This is the second occurrence of this.

The Pharisees attempt to use Jesus’ own point from the Law in John 5 from Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15 that there must be two or three witnesses. They say that his claim is not true because he’s bearing witness about himself. But, Jesus points out again that there are other witnesses that confirm his testimony. Therefore, his claim is validated. What essentially happens here is that these Pharisees are trying to indict Jesus on a charge in order to condemn him. But, he points to the fact that they are indicted on account that they do not know him or his Father. 

It’s possible that their question, “Where is your Father?” may be a form of attack, perhaps insinuating that Jesus was illegitimate. Recall that Jesus, back in chapter five said, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” (John 5:17) The Jews understood that he was making God his own Father, making himself equal with God. In John 6:41-42, the hostile Jews say, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” I think these Pharisees know exactly what Jesus is claiming. But, they are attacking and refusing to accept anything he has to say. They do not really know Jesus or God the Father. Therefore, they do not have what they need for eternal life.

I think this challenge is not just for the people of Jesus’ day, but for ours as well. When we read the accounts of Jesus’ teachings, do we give an appropriate ear to his claims and judge according to what the other Scriptures teach about God? Do we judge his claims in light of the miracles he worked? Or, do we judge his claims based upon our own reason and self-centered agendas and values?

We need God’s eternal life-giving bread and light.

Episode 43 - Jesus walks on water

John 6:16   When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

So far John has given us four “signs” or miracles that Jesus performed; although he mentions at times that he’s worked many others. At the end of this book, John will say that the books of the world could not contain everything Jesus did. But, John is careful to select seven in the first half of this book to show who Jesus is. They are:

1. Jesus turning the water into wine.

2. Jesus healing the official’s son.

3. Jesus healing the lame man on the Sabbath near the the pool.

4. Jesus feeding the 5,000+.

Now the fifth miracle is Jesus walking on the water. That is an amazing thing and we would recognize that to be miraculous. The question is however, “What is it about this miracle that John decides it will be one of the few that he selects to give us detail.

In giving you my belief as to why, let me remind you that prior to the feeding of the multitude, Jesus told his antagonists that Moses wrote about him. Then, immediately after John tells us that, he tells us about how Jesus, in a manner even greater that Moses, miraculously fed this large multitude of people in a wilderness area. The people themselves noticed this because they said so and they wanted to make Jesus king. 

The scene here that John gives us is of the disciples getting into a boat on the Sea of Galilee without Jesus. (We are left to wonder whether Jesus told them to or whether they made an executive decision to leave without him.) Their intended destination is Capernaum on the other side of the sea. Scholars believe this may have been about seven miles from where they started. They are halfway across, a strong wind has come up making the water rough, and John says in verse 17, “It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.” 

Did you see that? They left Jesus. It was dark. Jesus (the light of the world) had not yet come to them. I don’t deny that this was what happened. But, it seems to me that John is giving us this detail to indicate that the darkness they were in was not just because of the hour of the day or clouds obscuring any natural light. This physical reality also represented their own ignorance and perhaps lack of trust in Jesus still. They needed Jesus to come to them to give them His light.

When they are in the middle of the sea, Jesus comes walking on top of the water toward them and they are frightened. A few things I notice about this:

1. These men got a head start and were collectively rowing toward their intended destination. Yet, Jesus caught up with them walking; wind and water were no impedance to him.

2. Moses, God’s prophet, also came to a large body of water. God instructed him to hold out his staff and God parted the water so that Moses and the people could walk through on dry ground. Jesus, the Prophet like Moses, just walks over the top of it. 

3. In response to their fear, Jesus, the Light of the world, and also the Word of God speaks to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” This could also be understood as “It is I am; do not be afraid.” Maybe I’m reading too much into this. But, the fact of the matter is that this book is loaded with double-entendres and I personally believe that’s what is happening here. Clearly, they hear his voice and understand that Jesus is identifying himself. However, I think John, after the fact, realizes God’s providential intent in Jesus’ words to also say, “I am (the Creator, Redeemer God of your ancestors) here with you. You do not need to be afraid.”

When Jesus said that, John says they gladly took him into the boat. But, the last little note puts the icing on this cake. John writes that when they took him into the boat, they were “immediately at the land to which they were going.” Don’t forget that they were only halfway across the sea when Jesus appeared to them. When he got in the boat, they were immediately at their destination. Wow!

If we see the same things in this text, I think we have a better picture of why John included this miracle. It’s evidence that Jesus is the Prophet like Moses. But, he’s so much more. He is the Light of the world. He is the Word of God. He is “I am” meaning, he is God.

We need Jesus in our boat don’t we. We need him on our everyday journey. We need to trust him and knowing that he is with us, we don’t need to be afraid.

Episode 4 - In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind

By now it should be obvious that one of my goals is for you to see the strong association John is making between “the Word” and the God spoken of in Genesis 1 who created the spheres of life and the plant, animal, and human life within them as well as everything necessary to sustain that physical life.

One of the important things for life to exist is light. For example, light is required for photosynthesis to occur. Photosynthesis is the way green plants make food. In the beginning, according to Genesis 1:2, the universe was dark and chaotic with no apparent life forms at all apart from God.

The first thing God does is to create light. Then, He separates the light from the darkness and calls the light “good.” What does that indicate about the darkness?

So, as we continue reading this introduction, John says, “In him was life . . .” Genesis 1 says that God was the one who possessed and gave life. John 1 draws another connection of the Word to the Creator, life-giving God of Genesis 1. The focus in Genesis 1 is clearly more on the creation of life itself. The Greek word used in John 1:4 for life certainly is often intended to speak of life itself. But, it can also be translated as the sustenance of life. As we continue through John, ask yourself if John is also demonstrating the Word as one that sustains life.

John’s thoughts concerning the Word expands quickly to say that “the life (in the Word) was the light of men/mankind.” He says more about the light in the following verse. But, stop here and write some of your own thoughts on why John says this. Why is this important? Why is it important for the Word which has life be light for mankind?