Genesis I Notes. God and Creation

Transcription

1 III. Theme: God and Creation 16-Jun-02 Genesis 1:3-25 Schaeffer pp , The power of God in creation is repeated in our lives as God converts us, restructures our lives according to His Word, places His name on us, gives us Christ s righteousness, and holds us until the Day of His return. Review Well, we started our study of the Primeval History Genesis chapters 1-11 last week. We didn t get very far only two verses! So we ll have to pick up the pace a bit as we move along. But before we move along, let s stop for a minute to reflect where we are. Last week we looked at Genesis 1:1-2: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. As we saw from our study last week, there is a richness to these two verses. We learn a tremendous amount about God and His work. We talked about the fact that before in the beginning, before the beginning of time, there was still something God. And God has always been there. And in that sequence before the beginning, there was love, and thought, and communication between the members of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so, Schaeffer rightly points out to us that when the beginning begins, it begins with love, and thought, and communication. The beginning was a personal beginning, not the impersonal big bang of something inanimate and impersonal. For that is the alternative that the world gives us to a personal Creator. They give us the Big Bang, Primordial Soup, and apes as ancestors. In other words, no dignity of origin, no purpose for living, no hope in dying. Yet Genesis 1:1-2 presents us with a Person. And that should encourage us, for we can know our Creator, because He is knowable. We saw that Genesis uses the special word for create sparingly to denote the creation of something out of absolutely nothing ex nihilo. Often times, we gloss over this, but it is simply amazing! God spoke, and the worlds came into being! What power! What majesty! What glory! What did God create? He created everything the heavens and the earth. God created the heavenly realm and the angels, but doesn t tell us much about that here. Instead His focus is on the earth. After telling us of the creation of both the heavens and the earth, the rest of the focus of Genesis 1 is on the earth. The earth is the place where Man will be created, the crown jewel of the Creation week. Genesis 1:2 tells us that the earth as it was originally created was unsuitable for human life. It was without form, and void. The earth was dark and without light. But the earth was still good it was the way God intended it to be at this stage. Isn t it interesting the God who could speak the worlds into being chooses to speak the earth into existence as formless, empty, and dark? If He so wanted, He could have created everything perfect in one day, or one hour, or one minute, or one second, or one nanosecond. Yet he chose to create the earth in the fashion described in verse 2. So that His Spirit could hover over the waters of the earth in intimate contact with it and ready for the subsequent acts of Creation. Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 25 DSB 9-Sep-05

2 Introduction God didn t create and walk away. On the contrary! He is intimately involved in His creation. The Spirit is said to be hovering over the formless earth. The only other place in the Pentateuch these two words are used together is in Deuteronomy 32:10-12, describing God s intimate care of the nation of Israel: Dt. 32: He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, 12 so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. There is a parallel here between Creation and the Exodus. God delivers Israel from the dark, chaotic world of Egypt by hovering over them in care. The intimate relationship of the Spirit of God with the Creation is parallel with the mighty act of redemption and care of the Exodus. The Exodus is nothing less than a re-creation of God s people under God s care. The same could be said for us. As sinners, we are ruined by sin, empty of any righteousness, and filled with darkness. We need the power of the Spirit to hover over us, to re-create us, to form us into a new creation, to fill us with life and light. 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. Genesis chapter 1 thus gives us a proper framework for the conversion of all believers. So let us dive in to the rest of Genesis chapter 1 to see what else we can dig up and learn about our God, ourselves, and our world. Let s go ahead and read Genesis 1:3-2:3 to look at the days of creation. Although we will read the entire account, we will be looking at the creation of Man and the Sabbath separately next week. Read Genesis 1:3-25 The Pattern of Creation Days As you listened to the days of creation, perhaps you could hear the pattern for the days. Atkinson: One of the most striking features of Genesis 1 is its pattern. The story is structured around the theme of one week of six days leading to a seventh. The regular refrain moves the story along: there was evening and there was morning. The gradually increasing complexity of what God creates gives a sense of deepening order and meticulous structure. God is bringing order and form into His world. The author is concerned with order and with pattern. While there is a structure and repetition, there is also variation between the days. In general, the creation pattern can be summarized in this way: Introduction And God said Take Hold of Creation Creative Word Let there be... and it was so Restructure Creation Lordship And God called Distributes Creation Commendation It was good Evaluates Creation Conclusion Evening and morning Enjoys Creation James Jordan calls this creation pattern the pattern of world transformation. He preached on this subject recently at our 2002 theology conference on creation. Jordan says: We can Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 26 DSB 9-Sep-05

3 summarize God s activity in Genesis 1:1-2:4 as a five-fold sequence of actions. First, God takes hold of the creation. This is expressed by the phrase, And God said. Second, God restructures the creation. This is particularly in focus in the first three days of the creation, wherein God separates light from darkness, waters above from waters below, land from sea. The world is rendered more and more glorious in the course of time by being broken down and restructured. This act of restructuring is what we generally thing of as work in the strict or narrow sense. Third, God distributes His work. This is particularly apparent in the last three days, during which God gives the firmament to the heavenly bodies, the sea to the fishes, the land to birds and animals, and all things to men. Fourth, God evaluates His work. This is noted repeatedly by the phrase God saw what He had made and it was good, climaxing at the end when it was very good. Fifth, God enjoys His work. God s Sabbath rest on the seventh day was not apart from the creation; it was in it. The Work of Creation Let take a closer look at these five steps in the work of creation. Word And God said. God speaks, and creation happens! We talked about this last week. He creates ex nihilo, by fiat. That is, He creates something from nothing, simply by the word of His power. The Latin translation of Let there be light, fiat lux, has given rise to the phrase creation by fiat. God speaks, and it exists. Now, we can t do that. Sure, we can make things, simple things like a cake, or complicated things like a car, but we need to secure the raw materials, and then reform them into different components of our final product, and then put them together, and process them, and so on, before we finally get what we want at the end. It s a difficult, time consuming, and potentially costly process to make something, whether we are baking a cake or making a car. But God does it instantly, just by speaking. On Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard always tells his first officer, Commander Riker, Make it so, number one! Would that we could make it so simply by saying so! Jer. 10:12 But God made the earth by his power; He founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. Heb. 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. But let me make another point here. By comparing Genesis 1 with John 1, we see that Jesus Christ is the Creative Word of God: Jn. 1:1-5, 14 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Do you hear the similarities to Genesis 1? In the beginning. All things were made. And the light shines in the darkness. John is bringing us back to Creation, and He is telling us that Jesus Christ is the Creator. He is the Word of God. John is affirming in a powerful way the Deity of Christ, and the power and glory of Jesus. When we read And God said, we should Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 27 DSB 9-Sep-05

4 be thinking Jesus. Jesus has the power to turn water into wine. Jesus has the power to multiply bread and fishes to feed the multitudes. Jesus can calm the seas, heal the sick, raise the dead, and forgive sins. He is the Creative Word of God. Separation Let there be... and it was so. When God speaks, He is effective. The Creation happens. And one of the key ways in which God transforms the earth from formless, empty, and dark to formed, filled, and light is through a series of differentiations, divisions, or separations. Schaeffer: After the initial creation out of nothing come the various differentiations. The word divided or separated is the key, for it is repeated over and over through this chapter. God begins to make divisions or distinctions. He separates light from dark, the firmament above from the firmament below, the dry land from the sea, and so on. God divides things. He gives parts of His Creation different purposes and functions. You see, it s okay to be different, because God is the Creator of Difference. Today, the big thing in corporate America is Diversity Diversity Training, Diversity Awareness. While some of the message is anti-scriptural, the core comes straight from Genesis 1-2: God makes mankind in His own image, and makes all of us unique and different. We are all therefore infinitely valuable as image-bearers of God. Unfortunately, the Diversity crowd misses the mark completely, but that doesn t mean we should dismiss the message of valuing our neighbor, because that is Biblical. Eveson: Not all division or separation is wrong. The reason for all the separation laws in the old covenant legislation was to remind Israel, and to show to the world, in every aspect of their lives, that Israel was called by God to be His holy people, separate from all the other nations. Naming And God called. God also names things. He gives them identity. Light is called light, and darkness is called darkness. He calls the firmament above Heaven and the dry land is called Earth. Having naming rights in the Bible is a sign of authority or Lordship. By naming the various parts of Creation, God is saying, This is mine it belongs to me. We do the same thing today. The Cooks named their baby girl Micaela. Although I like the name a lot, it was not my decision. It was theirs. Why? Because Micaela is the Cooks baby girl, not mine. I don t have the naming rights. They have the authority, and the responsibility to care for her. I don t. We have had a cat for almost a year now. It s Hannah s cat, and so she named it Buttons. We ve given Hannah the responsibility to take care of Buttons, so she has the right to name him. Now it s true that Diane and I help out in taking care of the cat, but that s okay. Hannah is under our supervision, and we are training her up in that responsibility. God did the same thing with Adam. In Genesis 2, God brings all the animals to Adam, and Adam gives them names. At least two things are happening here. First, Adam is learning about Creation. He learns that a ram has a ewe, a stallion has a mare, a bull has a cow, etc. And he learns that he doesn t have one of those. So he learns about Creation. But Adam is also taking dominion over the animals by naming them. God is transferring His authority over to Adam, to be the steward of Creation. Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 28 DSB 9-Sep-05

5 God told Adam that he was to rule over creation, and so God is training Adam in that responsibility. So God names the Creation, because it is His. Goodness It was good. Schaeffer: Genesis 1 tells us over and over again an important thing about this creation: that it was good. This phrase is repeated 6 times. Kelly: Each time this phrase is used it conveys to us the fact that in each part of God s creative work there was a perfection which completely fulfilled God s will. Schaeffer: And in verse 31, the sum of the whole of God s judgment was that it was very good. This is not a relative judgment, but a judgment of the holy God who has a character and whose character is the law of the universe. Why does God declare everything to be very good at the end of the 6th day? Because with the creation of mankind, Creation was now complete. Every step along the way was just what God wanted. But more work still remained. However, at the end of the sixth day, nothing was lacking. Creation was perfect. It was exactly what God wanted it to be. Man and woman, the final creation, were the crowning glory of His work. After Adam and Eve, Creation was done. It was time to rest. It was very good. Day So the evening and morning were the x th day. We also need to address is what is meant by the word day in Genesis 1: Now, here is the first point where I disagree with Schaeffer. On page 57, Schaeffer says: What does day mean in the days of creation? Day in Hebrew (just as in English) is used in three separate sense: to mean 1) twenty-four hours; 2) the period of light during the twenty-four hours; and 3) an indeterminate period of time. Therefore, we must leave open the exact length of time indicated by day in Genesis. I disagree with Schaeffer s open-ended conclusion. I believe that the six days should be considered as six literal, 24-hour days. That is the clear reading of the text. What else do an evening and morning make up? It is only when you bring in baggage and other assumptions about science, the age of the earth, or a variant theological perspective that you are forced to play semantic games with the meaning of the word day. In an attempt to square the account of Genesis 1 with the popular scientific paradigm of evolutionary time scales (millions and billions of years), some true-meaning evangelicals have proposed the Day-Age theory, where each day is really an age that lasts millions of years. I guess this allows evolutionary processes to work, but of course, that then blunts the force tremendously of clear statements of the text, like Let there be and it was so. That doesn t sound like it took much time. Sometimes they cite 2 Pe. 3:8 in support of their theory: 2 Pe. 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Even though in context the reference has to do with God s patience and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, not in some kind of creation math, even so 6 days times a thousand years/day is only six thousand years, not four billion. Sounds like fuzzy math to me. Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 29 DSB 9-Sep-05

6 In Psalm 8, the question when I consider the heavens, the works of your fingers... what is man? seems to suggest that man is insignificant, a mote in God s eye. This would be the natural man s conclusion. But Psalm 8 continues and tells us that man is made a littler lower than the angels and crowned with glory to rule over the creation! Man is not insignificant; Man has tremendous dignity! The whole of Genesis 1 builds up into a crescendo to the Creation of Man. Man is made last, but certainly not least. No Man is most important. All of Creation is made for Man. Man is the crowning achievement, made in God s very image. The force of Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 point us to God making Creation for Man with a purpose. We are not afterthoughts. It makes no sense to have an earth billions of years old and Man around only for the last few thousand years. Mankind was created to rule Creation. We are part of it not a Johnny-comelately. The emphasis of Scripture points to short days Man created at the same time as the rest of Creation he was meant to rule. Another variant is the so-called Framework Hypothesis where these days of Genesis 1 are not literal days, but figurative days, imaginary days if you will. This hypothesis is based in part upon the apparent inconsistency of light being created on Day 1 before the sun on Day 4. Since that obviously couldn t happen, the days obviously are meant not to be considered literally or sequentially. Each day is just a panel or frame for the author of Genesis to teach us some truth, sort of like six, randomly order creation pictures but God never intended for us to pick up the truth of six, literal, sequential 24-hour days, even though the text is written in the format of six literal, sequential days with evening and morning. Never mind that bit in the Fourth Commandment telling us why God creates in six days and rests one so that we as the image of God can repeat the pattern of God by working six days and resting one. They also make the argument from Genesis 2:5 that ordinary providence was in order during Creation, so this is another reason why light couldn t happen before the creation of the sun. Maybe I m missing something, but the whole Creation week is miraculous! What s harder to believe, light without the sun, or creation of everything out of nothing? Light without the sun is a piece of cake for God! After all, God is light and in Him is no variation or shadow of turning. In the new heavens and earth there is light without sun: Rev. 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. So, the best conclusion I can come to, is that six literal, consecutive, sequential, 24-hour days are meant. That is the position that I will be taking in this class. And just to let you know, that is the position of every Elder in this congregation. Unfortunately, this position appears to be a minority position in the Evangelical church, and even in the PCA, but not in Covenant PCA. The Structure of Creation Days Jordan C6D: There is a three panel literary structure in Genesis 1, but this structure is not the primary one. 1. Light 4. Luminaries 2. Firmament b/t waters 5. Fishes and birds 3a. Land 6a. Land animals 3b. Plants 6b. Humanity Jordan C6D: The fact that both the third and the sixth day have two parts, and that humanity is parallel to plants in Genesis 2, indicates a literary correlation we should not miss. At the same Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 30 DSB 9-Sep-05

7 time, the Framework Interpretation has made too much of these parallels. Some have tried to make these two sets of days into Days of Forming followed by Days of Filling. The problem with this approach is threefold. First, Genesis 1 is concerned with three matters, not two (i.e., darkness, shapelessness, and emptiness). Second, the world is filled with plants on the second half of the third day, which is in the first part of the week. Third, the birds do not fill the firmament, or even travel in it; they only travel across the face of it. Others have suggested three days of Realms and three days of Rulers. The problem here is that the creatures of the fifth day are not said to rule anything, nor are the land animals of day 6a. Jordan C6D: However, there is a relationship between the light of day 1 and the luminaries of day 4, though this relationship is established by the chiastic structure of the passage, which lines up days 1, 4, and 7. More importantly, there is a parallel, as noted, between days 3 and 6. Thus, a three panel literary arrangement of Genesis 1 is indeed present, but it is more subtle than the traditional forming and filling and realms and rulers approaches allow. Jordan C6D: Instead, the literary structure of Genesis 1 is pretty clearly chiastic: Day 1: Light Day 2: Firmament mediating between earth and God Day 3: Sea, Land, and Trees Day 4: Lightbearers in the Firmament (link to 1-2, 6-7) Day 5: Dwellers of Sea, Land, and Trees Day 6: The creatures who mediated between earth and God Day 7: Sabbath Jordan C6D: There are three problems to solve in Genesis 1:2, not two the earth was formless, empty, and dark and Genesis 1 solves them: Day 1: Darkness (light) Day 2: Formless (firmament) Day 3: Emptiness (grain and fruit plants) Day 4: Darkness (lightbearers) Day 5: Emptiness (fishes and birds) Day 6: Formless (man the ruler/former/organizer) Day 7: Darkness (God s judgment-light) The Days of Creation (1:3-25) Well, in the time remaining, let s look briefly at the days of creation. Day One (1:3-5) Jordan C6D: Verse 2 presents two things over the earth: darkness and the Spirit of God. The Spirit had been inserted into the earthly realm from the heavenly realm. The creation does not exist apart from the presence of the moving Spirit within her. Then God said, Let there be light. The only source for that light is the Spirit Himself. When the glory cloud of God appears in the Bible, it is always refulgent with light. The hovering Spirit, who is always associated with the manifestation of God s glory, is the Source of the light on days 1-3 of Genesis 1. This connection between God and light is demonstrated in the great Creation Psalm 104, verses:1-2: Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 31 DSB 9-Sep-05

8 Ps. 104:1-2 1 O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, 2 who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. The same connection is made with our conversions when we are re-created by the Spirit: Eph. 5:8-9 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth). Just as the Spirit of God brings forth light at the Creation of the world, so He makes us light out of darkness when He re-creates us. Day Two (1:6-8) Jordan C6D: On the second day God created the firmament and separated waters above and below it, and He called it heaven. As the first day took care of the darkness problem, so the second day begins to take care of the unstructuredness problem. God does not call the work good, however, until the mid-point of the third day, when the separation of land and sea completes the structuring work. The fact that this firmament is called heaven means that it is an image of the original heaven. The word firmament is used for a beaten-out, flat surface, like a shell or a curtain over the earth. Jordan C6D: Stars are in the firmament, while birds fly in front of it (1:14, 20). In this sense, the firmament is outer space, the matrix in which luminaries are positioned. Cosmologically, the firmament is the place where stars will be put in two days. The waters above the firmament are in heaven itself, on the far side of the firmament. They are not clouds, nor are they a water-vapor canopy over the earth. The waters below the firmament include the clouds. God reached down into the earth and took some of the water up into heaven. The sea of glass, crystal, and ice that is seen in visions of heaven in Ezekiel and Revelation is the water taken into heaven on the second day. Jordan C6D: The firmament separates heaven and earth for the first time. There is now a barrier between them, and this points to eschatology, for it is implied that when the earth has fully matured the barrier will be removed. This barrier is replicated in the two veils of the Tabernacle and Temple, which put a barrier between the symbolic heavens and earth. These are removed at the crucifixion of Jesus pointing to the complete removal of this barrier at the end of history. Day Three (1:9-13) Jordan C6D: The third day completes the initial structuring work and the initial filling work. First, God separates land and sea, putting the sea below the land. Only at this point, in the middle of the third day, is the structuring work good, because now the earth has been made after the image of heaven. At the end of the third day, God has finished taking care of the three problems facing Him in the beginning. The world is no longer dark, unstructured, or empty. Jordan C6D: Genesis 1:11-12 tells us that two kinds of plants were made on the third day: The first was grains seeding seed and the second was trees fruitbearing fruit. They are the kinds of plant food man encounters first, in the Garden-sanctuary at the center of the world, on the Sabbath day. They already existed for man to eat with God on the first Sabbath. Man s first sanctuary food was fruit, not grain. Genesis 2:5 tells us that certain other kinds of plants were not made on the third day, such as shrubs. Shrubs probably includes all plants that do not produce food in the form of grain or fruit. Some are indeed edible, but they are not the staple form of diet, and they are not included as sanctuary food (bead and oil, and later, wine). These Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 32 DSB 9-Sep-05

9 plants did not exist until after the six days of creation week were over. Their creation was suspended until after man was made. God waited until He saw whether man would sin or not. If man did not sin, the shrubs would have been one kind of plant; since man sinned, they grew up as thorns and thistles. Day Four (1:14-19) Jordan C6D: The traditional understanding is that on the fourth day the sun, moon, and stars simply replaced the primordial light of day 1, which was the light of the Spirit and glory of God. Eventually, the sun, moon, and stars will be gone, because the firmament-boundary between heaven and earth will be gone and the light of the Spirit of Christ will return as the light of the cosmos (Rev. 21:23). Notice that unlike other days, where God is said to make things, we don t read that God made the light: Let there be light. And there was light. In answer to the incompatible notion of having light created on day 1 before the sun on day 4, we note that we are clearly told that the Spirit of God was hovering over the earth on the first day, and then that light came forth. Rather obviously, the light came from the Spirit, who frequently appears in a Shekinah glory of light in the Bible. The sun replaced the glory-light on the fourth day. The cycle of night and day was in place before the sun was made. Kelly: These newly created luminaries were assigned three functions: first, to separate the day from the night; second, to be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and third, to be luminaries in the heavens, giving light upon the earth. The first function does not mean that the sun is the cause of daytime, for the latter is to be found without the former. Rather, the sun and moon are called into being to distinguish the two periods of day and night. The second function was to serve as signs for the division of time. The text then states that these light bearers rule over the day and night. Day Five (1:20-23) Jordan C6D: The fifth day sees the creation of land and sea creatures. The fifth day is often mistakenly put parallel to the second. Birds fly across the face of the firmament in front of it, not within it (1:20). They are not part of the firmament, like the sun and moon, but dwell below it. Birds are said to multiply on the earth (1:22). Indeed, birds generally nest in trees. Also, the fishes are in the sea, which is the name given to the gathered waters of day 3, not to the original deep waters of days 1 and 2. Thus, the fifth day is chiastically parallel to the third: land and sea creatures of land and sea. Jordan C6D: This is the first of three days of blessing. The blessing here is to multiply and fill. This is the blessing of the Spirit. The verb be fruitful contains the word fruit both in Hebrew and English, linking the animals conceptually with the fruit trees of the third day. The phrase and it was established is not found regarding the work of the fifth day. Rather, it is delayed until verse 24, after the creation of the land animals. The text thereby groups the animals of the fifth and sixth days. Day Six A (1:24-25) Kelly: The work of the first five days of creation was preparatory for the crowning action of the sixth day: the creation of mankind. There is one final act of preparation, however, and that is the creation of the land animals. God creates last those higher animals whose bodies most resemble men, and whose presence is necessary to enable man to fulfill the tasks he will be given. These land animals are divided into three basic sorts: cattle, or domesticated/tamed animals; creeping Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 33 DSB 9-Sep-05

10 things, small creatures and crawling animals; and beasts of the earth, the wild or nondomesticated animals. Jordan C6D: The sixth day provides the creation of land animals and of humanity. The second day spills over to the first half of the third; similarly, it seems that the fifth day spills over onto the first half of the sixth. No particular blessing is given to the land animals; we may assume that the Spirit s blessing upon the fishes and birds applies to them as well. Conclusion I ve made this point several times this morning, but let me conclude by repeating it again. The account of creation not only teaches us about God s power, goodness, and glory, but it gives us a picture of our conversion, if we are in Christ Jesus. Over and over again in the New Testament, Genesis 1 language is used to describe regeneration. 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. Col. 3: Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Eph. 5:8-9 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth). 2 Cor. 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In particular, this picture of conversion is given in terms of the difference between darkness and light. Just as the creation was once dark and was bathed in light at the command of God, so we too are brought into the light by the power and work of God. God said, Let there be light. And there was light. John chapter 1 tells us that Jesus is the Light. This is a constant theme for the apostle John: Jn. 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the word; He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Jn. 12:46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believers in Me should not abide in darkness. 1 Jn. 1:5-7 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Jesus came as the Light of the world to call us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pe. 2:9). We are all little lights here this morning. We are all lightbearers. We are all new creations. Genesis 1 describes what God has done for us. And it follows that five-fold pattern of Creation. First, God has spoken by the Word of His power. He has taken our sinful, dark lives and filled them with light. Next, He has restructured us according to His Word. We now march to the Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 34 DSB 9-Sep-05

11 beat of a different drummer. Our lives have been separated from the world and we have been grafted into the godly line. Next, Christ has put His name on us. We are now called Christian. We have Christ s name on us. We are His own possession. We are under His authority, and we submit willingly, because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And we see that it is good again. We are not good in ourselves, but we now wear the righteousness of Christ about us like a mantle. When God looks at us, He sees the blood and righteousness of Christ. Our sins are forgiven. We have grace and mercy. Certainly, it is very good. Finally, we await the consummation of all things, the final Day of the Lord, when He comes in judgment to usher in His final Kingdom and we live with Him forever in worship and praise. As you read Genesis 1, reflect on the new creation that is you, and praise God for what He has done in your life. Amen. Close in Prayer. Next week: Lesson 4 Man and Rest (Gen. 1:26-2:3) Schaeffer pp , Genesis I Notes. Doc p. 35 DSB 9-Sep-05