Bible Study Genesis Part 8-Light Be

Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel.

God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries.

We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God.

We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day.

The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold.

And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture.

Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible.

It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision.

Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us.

It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word.

We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death.

In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death.

Never treat what God has said lightly.

There's truly nothing more important to you.

Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

All right, we are back in the book of Genesis.

I almost said the letter to the Ephesians, and I'm sure everyone on this call would have been like, what?

No, let's not go back there.

We are in the book of Genesis.

We are making slow progress, but we are getting through it.

And I'm hoping that you're seeing how important it is for us to stay at this pace.

These are the foundations of our understanding.

Well, we're not Jewish, John.

Why is Genesis our foundation?

We are Christians.

We have our legacy from the Jews.

We love the Jews.

We expect everyone that loves everyone that loves God loves the Jews.

And they have helped us.

Jesus was a Jew.

Every one of the early apostles was the were Jews.

Most of the early disciples were Jews.

Slowly that all changed, but that's not important.

That doesn't mean the Jews aren't important to God.

Of course they are.

If you understand your prophetic books, if you understand the book of Revelation, you know how important the Jews are to God, and they will continue to be important to God right up until the end.

They're going to get this earth.

Earlier we were talking about Abraham and Lot.

I'm going to tell you right now, this earth will belong to the Jews.

They will rule this earth.

Jesus, David will most likely be sitting on the throne of this world.

I know that's probably controversial for me to say, and I'm not going to back it up at this point, but that's what the Bible leads us to believe that David will be sitting on the throne of this earth.

Wouldn't that be wonderful to see David sitting on the throne of this earth?

Jesus, of course, will be ruling and reigning with us, or we'll be ruling and reigning with him in the end.

He will be in charge of everything else.

So tonight we're going to start.

We're still in the first chapter.

Tonight we're going to start with verse three.

I'm not going to read the first two verses because I'm sure most of you are sick to death of hearing me read the first two verses.

So we will jump right into verse three now.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

Now I don't need to tell you this, but there is a really big difference between a dark room and a room that's lit, right?

It not only looks different, but it feels different.

Would you rather walk down a sunny sidewalk or a dark alley?

Maybe they both lead to the same place.

Heck, the two thoroughfares may only be about 50 or 60 feet apart.

And maybe nothing dangerous has ever happened in that alley.

But still, our choice is usually clear, isn't it?

Most of us would prefer to walk on the sunny side, wouldn't we?

We all want to be in the light and avoid the dark.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

Now you know what strikes me about this?

What strikes me is that this earth was in total darkness.

By the way, you and I don't know what that's like.

You and I have never been in total darkness.

There are some that believe that hell is absolute darkness.

Some say there is fire somewhere in there, but some say the real hell, that what makes it hell is total darkness.

That's frightening.

But this earth, before God said, Let there be light, it was dark.

It wasn't even dimly lit.

It wasn't dusk or dawn, it was all dark.

Now you know why I say that.

Because God had to say, Let there be light.

No need to say that.

If there was a little light making the scene a sort of Hollywood spooky scene, otherwise, he could have said, light brighten.

He couldn't do that because there was no light.

Okay, so what?

Before the light of Christ, our hearts are hopelessly dark.

There is nothing in us that could ever be mistaken for light.

You trying to fix your problem with sin is as ridiculous as that completely dark earth trying to strike a match.

Now I know that isn't a popular message.

In fact, maybe one or two of you are a little angry at me for saying that.

Or simply dismissing it as the fabricated ravings of a conservative Christian.

That's kind of the modern cool thing to do now.

Ah, he's just, he's just a religious nut.

Maybe that's what you think about me.

I'm not someone to be taken seriously.

My statements aren't something you need to take seriously.

Oh, he he means well, but I think he's a little over the top when he says things like this.

Well, need I remind you that I'm not the one who said it.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

He didn't say, let there be more light.

He didn't say, hey, let's encourage the earth to dig deep down and figure out a way it can brighten its own day.

You know, I'm sure God would have preferred if he could have said it that way.

But he couldn't.

The world was in a mess for some reason.

And well, there's no other way to think of it.

The world had to have gotten itself into this trouble.

So God had to step in and say, let there be light.

Now let me give you my opinion on this verse.

Verse three, by the way, I have no biblical evidence to give you to back this up.

But verse three, listen to me.

Verse three, I do not believe, is the point where light was created.

In fact, I'm not even convinced that light is a created thing.

I think light has always existed.

I believe that light is somehow intimately related to God.

Either he's light or his presence is indicated by light.

I know that doesn't make sense, and I can't prove any of it to you.

And when I say that to you, you know what I mean.

You must not take it as fact.

If it isn't in the Bible and I say it, then it is not to be treated as anything but possible and not certain.

Okay.

But verse 3 says that God said, let there be light.

Now you may be thinking, it sure sounds like he created light right there to me.

Well, in my opinion, listen to me, this explains my position.

In my opinion, what is being reported here is the moment God moved light onto this recreative scene.

He moved it, he shined it, he focused it from somewhere to drive out the darkness that was on the face of the deep.

Why do you say that?

Do you think God was in the dark when he said that?

Do you think God was in the dark when he said, Let there be light?

Think about it.

That's why I don't believe that light was created then.

Because God could not have been in the dark when he said, Let there be light.

That's why I believe all that was is moving light.

So why did he do that?

Because light was to be an essential component of the recreation of life.

Now you say to me, Are you sure?

And I'll say, No, I'm not sure, but I think I'm right.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

And God said.

Now I want you to notice something else very important.

We see here, and we're going to see all the way through to the end of this process, that the means by which God creates is his word.

And God said, When God wanted something to happen, he simply said it.

When God said it, it became.

Okay, so what?

Now I'm sure none of you would say, so what to something like this, but we are conditioned to express it internally.

I'll say it for the millionth time.

We're spoiled.

We've heard and God said, let there be light, and there was light so many times, we don't think about it anymore.

We don't think about what it actually says.

It has almost no impact and likely never did because the way we're taught it never leads us to take it seriously.

No one expands on it.

No one encourages us to meditate on it.

No one teaches us of its magnificence.

We're never encouraged to contemplate what it means.

You know, I bemoan the fact that Christian bookstores are awash with these read the Bible through such and such time guides, read the Bible through in 365 days, read the Bible in three months, read the entire Bible over summer vacation as if reading is the only relationship to the Bible we need have.

We are now accustomed to viewing the Word of God as a mere bit player in the drama of our Christian lives.

Well, in this ministry, we're dedicated to the exact opposite.

The only reason we exist is to bring respect and reverence and reliance on the Word of God.

It's been a long time since the Bible meant anything to the everyday Christian.

I think you have to go back at least a hundred years to find a time when the word of God held an important position in the church.

Today it's almost completely ignored.

We want to change that.

We at chapel ministries want to change that.

The word of God was important to Jesus, to his apostles, and to all of those who are tasked with spreading the gospel.

In fact, the good news is really not good news if you don't know what the bad news is.

The bad news is primarily laid out in the Old Testament, that bad news being that sin has entered in the line of the human race, and God's only alternative is to destroy it.

He sent his son to do that, to destroy the power of sin in our lives, and that is the good news.

If you go around telling people at the bus stop, hey, I want to tell you about your redeemer, and in response, you hear, well, why do I need a redeemer?

And you don't know the answer, the one you're trying to reach with the good news is just going to move on.

If even you don't know why you're trying to save someone, why should they be convinced they need to be saved?

The only way you and I will be effective at spreading the good news is if we are aware of the bad news that preceded it.

And that means you must know not only what God says, but you must know that there is immeasurable power in what God says.

That's why we study Scripture.

You may think it's just a dusty old book, but it's not.

It's the record of God's powerful saying.

Through what God said, all things that exist exist.

The sweet psalmist marveled at that thought.

Psalm 33, starting at verse 6, by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Verse 8, let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him, for he spake and it was done.

For he spake and it was done.

The word done is in italics in the King James.

Most of you already know when you see a word in italics in the King James and some other English language translations, it means that word was added by the translators.

They usually add words when they think it will enhance the understanding.

Sometimes when they add words, it does help us.

But here it actually weakens the original statement and actually weakens it considerably.

Eliminate the word done and then read it.

For he spake and it was.

In fact, that's really the way we should be reading these verses in Genesis.

The King James says, and God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

But it's better expressed, closer to the original, to say, and God said, light be and there was light.

Now, if that doesn't raise the hair on the back of your neck, then I'm not doing my job and you're not fully getting it.

In fact, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but this is actually the first time we encounter God saying anything, and his voice is carrying with it power.

Enough power to move light.

He is commanding the forces of the universe simply by speaking.

Why would we doubt someone like this?

Why would we dare question such power?

Why don't we just fall down on our faces in total worship to such a one as this?

By the way, just to point out an interesting fact here in Genesis chapter 1, here we see God speaking things into existence ten separate times.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

We won't count them as we go through, just take my word for it.

Ten separate times God talks things into existence.

Some have therefore called it the Ten Commandments of Creation.

We have our Ten Commandments, and creation has their Ten Commandments.

But we do need to be careful here because the Hebrew, as I'm sure you've already noticed, is rather complex.

We don't want to read things into this that are not there, but it's still fascinating.

Now, before we go any further, I want you to remember that God commanded light where there was once total darkness.

We're spending a lot of time on these verses, but I don't want us to lose sight of the fact that what's happening is happening in so-called real time.

Don't forget that the previous verse told us that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, was moving upon the darkness, which was upon the face of the deep.

He was doing something, he was getting ready to do something.

The earth was in chaos.

Why?

Don't know.

It shouldn't have been.

It wasn't chaotic when he created it.

It was created in perfect order and it was supposed to operate in perfect order, but something happened.

It was now chaotic and dark, as dark as you can even imagine.

And with a word, God brought light.

Now we're going to spend some time talking about how God uses light and darkness in the Bible to teach us these vital truths.

But first, and as part of this next discussion, let me summarize what we know so far.

God created a beautifully perfect universe.

Wait a minute.

How do you know it was perfect?

The Bible doesn't say it was perfect.

Well, that's true.

But God is perfect, and because of that, nothing he produces is imperfect.

Now, if we think too long about that, we're going to get confused.

So let's just settle the fact in our minds and move on.

Let's not give the devil any time to see doubts.

God is perfect and he creates perfection.

He created a perfect universe, and that of course includes a perfect earth.

And then something happens to his creation.

Don't know if this happened to the whole creation.

Could be, but we do not know, or I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we do know that this earth was affected by something because darkness and chaos dominated what was once perfect.

The spirit of God became troubled.

He brooded over the face of the waters.

The King James says he moved.

The sense, however, is a sort of anxious, not in a nervous sense, but anxious in the caretaking sense, a sense of high priority.

The spirit of God was anxiously hovering over the chaotic earth in a protective, corrective way.

And God told the light to push out the darkness and chaos.

And he did that by simply saying, light be.

Somehow darkness had settled into the original creation, and God's grace intruded, and his word brought light.

Did God say any of that?

Did he say, I'll help those that help themselves?

Of course he didn't.

Likewise, he didn't say, Here's a list of my demands.

You must not swear, you have to keep your room clean.

You're not allowed to go to the bar.

You must say all the right things.

You must do all the right things.

You realized he didn't do any of that.

And you know why he didn't do any of those things?

Say any of those things?

Listen to me.

Because it would have been a complete waste of time.

Bargaining with the forces of darkness will yield no results.

There is nothing that darkness can do to undark itself.

You can't force it, you can't command it, you can't cajole it.

Darkness cannot change itself.

Even if that was all it wanted, even if it was its greatest desire, darkness could not provide.

Its own light.

The only way, listen to me, the only way is for light to be brought to darkness.

Darkness can't sit here and work its way into being light.

Darkness, darkness, by its nature, is dark.

And only a change in the nature of darkness will convert it to light.

Now I'm hoping that you're beginning to notice that what I said to you in the beginning of our study of this book is true.

I hope you're beginning to notice the reason God doesn't want you to focus on the how of creation.

If you spend all your time on the how of creation, you're going to miss the point of the story.

As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, if you continue to pursue the how of creation in this book, you will most certainly become frustrated and, well, disillusioned.

If you think the how question is the all-important point, then you'll likely end up doing one of two things.

Number one, doubt that God is interested in your curiosity, or doubt that God wrote the Bible.

The lack of the presence of the information you seek will lead you to believe that the ones who wrote the Bible are ignorant of the details that you think are important or what you've been told is important.

That is precisely how the world has decided to treat the Bible because it doesn't satisfy them, because it doesn't give them what they want.

They think it doesn't know anything.

So they do all they can to discredit it, which I don't understand.

We had an atheist friend who died recently, and before he died, he had a blog and he signed off his blog every single time.

Remember, God doesn't exist.

Why would you say something like that?

Why, if you don't believe that God exists, why in the world would you tell other people not to believe it?

There's only one reason Satan.

The people that don't believe in the Bible, it's not enough for them to not believe in the Bible.

They want you to not believe it too.

They want to discredit what you believe in because they don't believe it.

You know why?

Because Satan's behind that.

If someone tries to tell you the Bible is nothing but a bunch of stories, Satan is standing behind them trying to tell them, tell that guy the Bible is nothing but a bunch of stories.

Listen, if you don't want to believe it, fine.

But don't try to convince other people that it's not real.

But if you're paying attention, you will have realized by now that God, even way back here in the beginning of Genesis, is talking about redemption.

The story thus far in Scripture is a story of how God has through grace devised a plan to return to perfection what has become corrupted.

The first few chapters of Genesis are meant to establish in our minds that God is that not that God is good at making stuff, but rather he's really good at remaking stuff.

Yes, he is good at making stuff, but he's really good at remaking stuff.

That's what he wants you to know.

That's why he didn't tell us how he made things, but he's telling us in meticulous detail how he can remake things, because that's what's important to you.

That's what's important to me.

Why is it important to me?

Because I need to be remade.

The race of man was created perfect, and something happened to corrupt it.

And now God is on the remake process, and he wants you to know it.

He's establishing right now, he's the one to go to if you need to be remade.

He did it with that dark world, he's gonna do it with you.

The real story of Genesis chapter one is the gospel.

He is demonstrating that nothing is beyond renewal.

And if he did that for the original dark void without form creation, surely he can do it for me.

And surely he can do it for you.

Now, next time we'll begin a very in-depth discussion about light and darkness.

And if you're going to be able to follow along, you have to have in your mind God's real intention in giving us the book of Genesis.

So much more to cover.

We'll pick it up there next time.

We hope this study has blessed you.

God's word is a great treasure, and it's our belief that a thorough, purposeful study of it will bring all of God's children to an understanding of his eternal plan of redemption.

It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners.

Please join us again soon.

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