A Walk In The Garden (Week 3)

Divine Light Drives Away Darkness

Genesis 1:3–5 ESV

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.

For many years, i had to work either 2nd or 3rd shift. If you have never worked one of these off shifts, you’ll have to use your imagination for a few minutes this morning. When i was on 2nd shift, the hours were 3:30 til midnight. During the week, robin was in bed asleep by the time i got home between 12:30 and 1:00. I would be as quiet as possible when i came in the house so as not to wake her. My typical thing to do was go in the bedroom to empty my pockets and kiss her on the forehead. She usually slept through that, usually is the key word. i Remember one night i came in like always, went to the bedroom, empties my pockets, kissed her on the forehead, everything was fine. But then i deviated from my normal routine. i went to my side of the bed to get something from the nightstand. With my attention on being quiet and my focus on whatever i needed on the nightstand, i didn’t notice her stirring. I wish i had. In her semi-conscious state, she could see that someone was in the bedroom with her. She sat straight up in the bed and let out a scream that made the blood in my veins stop. That wasn’t enough, she began to fight for what she thought was her life. I wasn’t close enough for her to hit me when she began lashing out in terror because the scream had scared me so bad that i jumped backwards, and almost fell out the open second story window in our bedroom. So here i am, my backside hanging out the window and my wife coming at me like a ninja from one of those kung-fu movies from the 80’s. Keep in my mind that the scream that landed me in such a precarious predicament was only the first because she kept screaming and yelling. The only thing i could do was pray and try to convince her, loudly, that it was her husband hanging out of the window. Sure, it may seem hilarious now but not so much in that moment.

God’s first creative act in our narrative was to bring forth divine light and limit the darkness. The first of three separations would diminish the darkness that enveloped everything but God left a remnant of Earth’s primal blackness in the form of evening as a daily reminder of the state we would be in had He not shined through the darkness. I would like to share 3 thoughts with you this morning.

First, God diminishes the darkness: This divine light is indicative of the presence of God at creation, with the children of Isreal and with Christ followers today. Physical darkness is very limiting to us. In the absence of light, we are blind. We took a youth group on a day trip to Bristol Caverns several years ago. They talked to the group about the difference between a cavern and a cave, how Native Americans used the caverns for shelter and so on and then they turned off the lights. It was absolute dark, as in no light whatsoever. There was no way i could have found my was out of there. With the physical limitation of not being able to see, comes the feelings of fear and despair and helplessness. These feelings do nothing but add to our limitations. Imagine for just a moment how glorious that first dawn must have been.

Secondly, God has dominion over the darkness: God called or “named” the light and the dark morning and night. To the Hebrews, the act of naming was of significance. It indicated the existence of the element created and the authority of the creator over his creation. This will be repeated through the remainder of the creation account. Remember that the history of the Hebrews was passed down by oral tradition giving the repetition even more meaning. We also see the first proclamation “it is good”. The emphasis here is that it is up to God to decide what is good and what isn’t. This is of particular importance, God is establishing that He alone is the moral judge before giving Moses the ten commandments.

Lastly, God delivered us from the darkness: By separating light and dark, God was preparing the Earth to receive life. If you’re a gardener of any kind, you know that it takes plenty of sunshine for things to grow. It was so in the garden and it is the same today. We need to understand that the heart is like a garden. We have to allow Him to prepare us to receive life. He has diminished the darkness spiritually. You do not have to live in spiritual darkness. This doesn’t apply only to those who haven’t followed Christ yet, but to Christians as well. When we hold back with God, we choose to allow darkness into our lives even if in a small amount. The more, or more often, we do this; the more darkness creeps in until finally you are left wondering what happened. Stop wondering what happened and let the Son shine completely into your life and remove the darkness.