The First Day

Intro: Dark vs Light as a Universal Theme

There are a few themes that are pervasive, maybe even universal, in literature, music, and movies

They create an emotional subtext by which the author or musician or director is able to convey their message

Good vs evil

Hope vs despair

Freedom and oppression

Life and death

I could keep going, but let me name just one more

Light and dark

And if you were to switch those subtexts and still try to convey the same message, much would be lost

Phantom of the Opera would not be such a powerful musical if the key song was “Music of the Day”

“The Bright Knight” and “The Bright Knight Rises” would not be very intriguing versions of the Batman story

It goes the other way as well

“You are my sunshine” is a very different song than if it were “You are my moonshine”

And a Tinkerbell movie in the shadows and dark colors of a movie like Twilight would be really disturbing!

Or if you want a direct comparison of how this works, consider the stylistic differences between “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and the much darker “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

And I’ve met a lot of kids afraid of the dark, but afraid of the light?

It is that theme of light and dark which adds so much of the emotional weight of those stories

I want to suggest that part of what makes light and dark such a powerful and universal theme is that it is rooted in the Scriptures and the way the Bible talks about light and dark not just in the world around us, but inside of us

Light in the Dark

This Advent, the next 4 Sundays, we are going to look at the theme of light and dark in the Bible

In our last series, Encounters with Jesus, we saw several references to light and dark in the gospel of John

It is a theme that is pervasive in John’s writings, but we didn’t get much opportunity to look at and explore the idea

So in this series, Light in the Dark, we want to look not just at how John uses the theme of light and dark, but its place in the broader Bible

How does the whole of the Bible employ this universal theme that will help us understand the significance of some of the statements we referenced, but didn’t get to explore, such as when Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world”

Over the next few weeks, we are going to walk through the Bible and see some specific places where light and dark figure prominently into the text and understanding of light and dark helps us understand the overall teaching of the passage

But before we do that, a quick aside

Aside: On Biblical Theology

This is my not-so-secret hidden agenda as part of this series

As a pastor, I believe part of my task is not just to explain to you the Bible, but to share with you some of the tools I use and approach I take in reading the Bible to help equip you in your own reading and study of the Bible

For example, you may hear me reference the a repeating word in a passage

That repeating word can be a clue to the author’s intent meaning

That is a micro scale within a single passage

But there is a frame of reference that seeks to follow the progression of a concept throughout the whole of the Bible

It’s like pulling a thread on a sweater and seeing where it goes

The term we use to describe this process is “biblical theology”

And yeah, I know - I hope all our theology is biblical

But that is the term to describe this approach to studying a topic or concept and seeing how it progresses throughout the Bible

We could do this with any topic: love, water, etc.

We are going to use the themes of light and dark

Without going too far, here is a simple question you can ask especially of a passage from the Old Testament (of course there is way more that could be said)

How does this theme or idea shift, grow, get expanded, or even changed by the coming of Jesus at the first Christmas?

I think you will see this over the next couple of weeks as we explore the idea of light and dark in the Bible

But wanted to say up front one of my desired outcomes for each of you

To set the stage, let’s look first at John 1:1-9

Scripture Reading: John 1:1-9

John 1:1–9 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Pray

Transition

While certainly there is much in this passage we could look at, in line with this idea of biblical theology, I would suggest we can’t understand the way this gospel opens in general, and the motif of light and dark in particular, without seeing how John is intentionally paralleling the opening of Genesis

So let’s read the first five verses of Genesis 1

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

Genesis 1:1–5 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Parallels between Genesis and John

Gen 1:1 - In the beginning God | John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word

Gen 1:1 - God created the heavens and the earth | John 1:2 - All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made

Gen 1:3 - And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light | John 1:9 - The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world

John clearly, intentionally, structured his book as a way to point people back to Genesis 1

So if you we are going to understand the themes of light and dark, that is where we need to start - in Genesis

Main Point

I want to BLUF this for you (bottom line up front)

The same God who spoke light into the dark at Creation, stepped into the darkness of the world as its light

Darkness

The first thing the Bible tells us is that God created the heavens and the earth

And then, in verse 2, Genesis gives us 3 realties of that creation

Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Earth was without form and void (shapeless and empty)

Darkness was over the face of the deep

Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters

Now, certainly, there is so much that could be explored on each of those 3

But for our purposes, we want to focus on that second one, the idea that darkness was over the face of the deep

Even that language is fascinating

Think about places that are described as deep

Deep space

Deep caverns

Deep sea

And what do all of them have in common? Darkness!

Deep already infers darkness

This is darkness over darkness!

So what are the symbolic meanings of darkness?

In the Bible, the dark is used as a picture of:

Chaos and disorder

Sin and evil

Ignorance

Affliction and despair

Judgment

Not all of those are present in Genesis 1 obviously, but we will see them as we continue in this series

For example, we will see next week darkness as a picture of judgment

But when we read about darkness, these are the images that come to mind

And what we have here is darkness over the face of the deep - darkness over darkness

Light

And it into that dark world - a world of chaos and disorder - that we come to verse 3

Genesis 1:3 “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

It is into the chaos, into the disorder of the darkness that God speaks the light

The strength of God that even the breathing out of his voice brings light

You’ve probably heard it said that there is no such thing as darkness, just the absence of light

Where light shines, there can be no darkness

By his word, God speaks light and banishes darkness

And brings order into the chaos

How can I support the idea of order from chaos?

Look at what comes next

Genesis 1:4–5 “And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

Separating is an organizing, ordering

And then he gives a name to the light (day) and a name to the darkness (night)

And we have evening and morning, the first day

In just the first day of Creation, God has shown light into the darkness, and has begun bringing order to the chaos

And where God speaks light, darkness, chaos, disorder is banished

Transition back to John

And now we can come back to John

Knowing that he purposely frames the opening of his gospel parallel to the opening of Genesis, and seeing the first thing God does is bring order to chaos by bringing light into the darkness, how does that help us understand what he says about Jesus?

Let’s look back now at John 1

6 times there the word “light” appears to describe Jesus

4 things we learn about the light here

The light wins

John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Darkness does not and cannot beat light

The light brings life

John 1:4 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Our life can only find order, purpose, hope when the light of Christ shines into us

The light has come into the world

John 1:9 “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

As God spoke the light into the darkness at Creation, Jesus is light into the dark chaos of the world

The light calls us to believe

John 1:7 “He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.”

This light is a call to believe and find the life that cannot exist in the darkness, but only in light

And what does this light do?

Banishes darkness and chaos and disorder

And what is the light that was to come into the world?

Jesus himself

The same God who spoke light into the darkness at Creation, stepped into the darkness of this world as its light

As he says about himself in both John 8 and John 9, “I am the light of the world”

It is Jesus, the true light, that overcomes the darkness

It is Jesus, the true light, that brings life

It is Jesus, the true light, that light has come into the world

And it is Jesus, the true light, who brings order to chaos by bringing light to the darkness

Application

So this message this morning has been marked by some heavy theology and a framing of light in the dark

What do we do with it?

I want to briefly apply the message to life outside of you, and life inside of you

Outside of you

First, let’s consider the idea of darkness around you

The world may have a sun that shines its light, but darkness, chaos, and disorder are all around

Let me ask: Where do you see the darkness of the world?

There is deep injustice

Times when evil seems to win the day

Heartache and sorrow and brokenness at every turn

From big, global matters of corruption and deceit to personal matters like the betrayal of someone you thought was a dear friend, we all experience the darkness every day

How is God calling you to pray for the light of Jesus to shine into the dark world around you?

Inside of you

Inside of you, the first thing the light of Jesus does is call you to repent and believe

You were in darkness until he shone the light of his grace to you

And when the light of Christ shines in you, it should reveal just how dark your own heart has been

I would even go so far as to say at the darkness over the face of the deep of the earth at Creation is a helpful picture of our own hearts: darkness over darkness

On the first day of Creation, God spoke light into the darkness

And on the day you came to believe in Jesus, that same God who spoke light into the darkness of Creation, shone the light of his life into you

That was your first day in the light… the first day of an eternity in the light of the Son

But I want to suggest that for each of us, there are still places of darkness

Places that the light of Christ has not yet shone…

Places where chaos still seems to reign

Places where old sin patterns still lead to chaos

Or maybe places of chaos where you don’t want the light to shine because you are scared of what is hiding in those dark closets

So let me ask two questions for you to reflect on:

Where is the darkness in your own heart into which the light has not yet shone?

Where is the darkness in your own heart into which you don’t want the light to shine?

Conclusion

Let me conclude my message with a summary

Light and dark are prevalent motifs not just in literature, music, and movies… but also in the Bible

Darkness is a sign of chaos and disorder

And when darkness reigned over the whole earth, God spoke light

With that simple sentence, “Let there be light”, God started to bring order to the chaos as he brought light to shine into the darkness

And that picture of God speaking light into the darkness at Creation that serves as a picture to help us understand the coming of Jesus

The world around us is dark, evil, chaotic

But Jesus, the true light, shines into that darkness and, even better, overcomes that darkness

The same God who spoke light into the dark at Creation, stepped into the darkness of the world as its light

And that light will shine forevermore!

Pray