Forming the Light

Reading:

Isaiah 45:6-7 “that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

Introduction:

We are beginning a new series focused on the days of creation. In our modern day people are told that God is a liar and that His word can’t be trusted, so they turn to man’s word which is in direct contradiction to God’s word. As believers we know the words about creation; but when it comes to our faith in science or God, our logical mind can be swayed away from what God tells us in scripture.

I am hoping that this series will help us better understand that God Formed creation then He Filled it, and instituted authorities, positions, and jobs.

We have the opportunity each day to recognize His fingerprints in creation and when we do, we can praise Him for it.

All things, everything came into existence because of:

I. God! (:1-:2)

Our last series on The Trinity we learned that God has always existed because He is outside of time. He is the past, present, and future. At the beginning of Genesis He revealed to us this reality! It reads:

Genesis 1:1-2 “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.”

Transition:

We can understand in the very first passages of scripture:

A. His Plurality.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

The Hebrew and Greek languages, when translated into English doesn’t always have an exact word that is equivalent.

?How do translators translate what is being stated in those moments?

They must express that one word with a phrase or many words to explain the meaning.

There is a word in Hebrew right here at the beginning which explains something very important about God. It is more than just a word, it is a title and a name!

That word is Elohim.

It is:

The Plural form for deity.

In the creation account the plurality of God is revealed to us; which later in the New Testament is understood as the Holy Trinity!

God provided evidence for the plurality of God!

One dictionary says this:

The general name Elohim is appropriate for the creation account’s universal framework and in effect repudiates the cosmogonies of the pagan world, where the origins and biography of their “gods” are paramount. From the inception of Moses’ “Five Books,” polytheism and idolatry have no ideological or practical place among Israel (cf. Exod 20:1–6; Deut 4:12–24).

Point:

The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit are all active in Creation! So all of the world’s idols don’t belong in the lives of believers or those who have a relationship with the almighty creator.

Transition:

The Trinity created as one all of creation, all that we see and can comprehend. As we dig into different words about creation God reveals to us that it was Him during:

B. His Creating.

God here is telling us, writing a letter to us that describes the creation to us, because we aren’t there we are obligated to study things about it and as we do have the opportunity to believe His writing or to oblige the theory of evolution.

As we learn more about Elohim, we can gain understanding about His creating through the help of looking at one word:

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

According to commentators:

“Created” (bārāʾ)[bawraw]: it is used in the Old Testament consistently as a reference to a new activity.

It occurs in the creation account six times (1:1, 21, 27 [3x]; 2:3; cf. also 2:4a).

The striking feature of the word is that its subject is always God.

It therefore conveys the idea of a special activity accomplished only by deity that results in newness or a renewing.

God is the active ingredient for creation. Without Him nothing could exist and cannot be self-existent.

Illustration:

An active ingredient is part of a substance or compound that produces its chemical or biological effect.

Katie and I were with the youth at camp at Word of Life in Florida, I have a headache that won’t quit…continue explaining.

finally I found someone with Ibuprofen at 3am.

Medicine is great when we need it and when it works.

Without Ibuprofen I would’ve been miserable.

Ibuprofen is the active ingredient in most painkillers.

Point:

Here in the record account of creation; God is the creating and sustaining power. He is the active ingredient that makes all of creation possible.

Transition:

God is amazing and wise, He reveals the beginning to us and all of creation is exactly what reveals and testifies of:

C. His Existence.

Knowledge is power, that’s a phrase we use and understand to mean that we don’t have to be ignorant of hidden truths; but sometimes when we possess that knowledge we become accountable to it.

Don’t be fooled, that wasn’t coined by wise humans, it is actually a Biblical principal provided from God to man.

Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

The passages are telling us that anyone who can acknowledge through creation that there is a deity, is now accountable to Him since He has revealed Himself to them.

and when He reveals Himself to them they no longer have an excuse for their ignorance of His Deity and ultimately their relationship to Him.

When you recognize there is an almighty perfect God who is in control you begin to think about:

what does He think of me?

Then begin to realize your “bad deeds” are not what a perfect God would do.

Shame enters your mind and regret fills your heart.

You are now aware of your sin nature before a perfect God and have no excuse for choosing the bad over the good. Your Conscience testifies of your trespasses!

?What should one do at this “revelation”?

Ask forgiveness then avoid doing it anymore (repent).

Transition:

God’s actions at creation are everywhere to be noticed. We as logically thinking beings are easily curious, because we generally will begin to ask ourselves: How? How did He create all this? We can read the answer: He created with:

II. His Command! (:3)

That isn’t helping, I want more for understanding, what did God use to create from?

He didn’t order from the local build your own everything store, He created:

A. “Ex-Nihilo” (Out of nothing)

In the beginning Nothing existed.

- Some may tell you that millions of years ago there was a big bang.

To them I recommend that you ask them where the stuff that exploded came from?

They don’t know; but will say that I t must have been there.

(At least we portray our point of view as a faith, they deceive and teach it as empirical truth).

We know where stuff began. God created it, they just surmise since they don’t know that it must have been there all along.

Illustration:

There are laws we can know about all of creation that God made and one of them is:

The law of the conservation of matter it states that matter can neither be created or destroyed.

God can create because He is all powerful!

What does evolution say about where all matter came from?

They may say it always existed and is ever changing and evolving, getting better.

I disagree!

There is another law:

The first law of motion or inertia it says that: “A body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion unless it is acted upon by an external force.”

So when nothing spun together really fast then exploded into many directions. We should be able to see that all of the parts should be traveling the same speed and spinning in the same direction; that is not what we observe in the universe. Many galaxies and planets spin different directions and are moving at different speeds, etc…

Point:

Faith is required for either stance; but only one can be truthful, I will to default to believing that God is true and man’s word wrong.

Transition:

So how did God create the universe? We can turn to scripture for the answer and read that the Universe was:

B. Spoken.

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

Spoken words have power!

Words can destroy and they can build up.

Here are some examples of this truth:

James 3:5-6 “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”

Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

God Said: Let there be Light!

He commanded it!

Transition:

When God gave this command it was immediately:

C. Obeyed.

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

A Light appeared.

I heard a person that brought something interesting about creation. He said that:

Illustration: The word universe is a combination of 2 words:

“Uni” meaning single.

“Verse” meaning spoken.

So by his wisdom the word universe is a term to express how it was a single spoken creation.

Verse 1 has consistently been regarded as the universe being created.

God created light and He decided to give:

III. The Distinction! (:4-:5)

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.”

He is providing us with:

A. The Proclamation.

God acknowledged and proclaimed that Light was good!

When God says something is good, it must be good, as He can’t lie.

He then gives a separation of the darkness from the light.

How?

What if this light that God said was good dispelled the darkness automatically creating a distinction between the two?

Transition:

Here in the account of creation we have:

B. The Light.

The light in scripture is typically synonymous with the illumination of God or with good. - No surprise there!

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

The light brings salvation.

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The very thing that illuminates truth to mankind.

Many passages speak of the Light; but remember that Jesus has placed that light inside of you when you have faith and trust Him.

He will be:

the thing to have authority over the darkness and illuminate the truth!

Transition:

The light is given the authority and distinction for day and will also allow for:

C. The Darkness.

We must be careful to not ascribe evil with darkness here as sin, seeing how sin had not entered the world, and angels weren’t created yet. Lucifer couldn’t have received banishment yet.

I believe it is just the Lord making a distinction between Day and Night.

He assigned values to light and darkness.

point:

There is a lot that we don’t understand or grasp about creation; but that shouldn’t stop us from studying and seeking God’s revealing to us. He formed all of the cosmos and we can read how He filled it.

Conclusion:

We can know and believe who created:

God!

We understand and acknowledge it was by His Command!

By His voice He spoke into existence: all from nothing!

In His wisdom and authority He made distinctions between the day and night!

God first Forms then Fills that form!

We should remember that for this series

Connection:

You are accountable to God, and God alone!

We have knowledge about creation and the God who revealed it to us.

Have faith in Gods word that all He told us is true and sometimes “smart people” will try and explain Him away; but understand that they have faith in man and we have faith in God!

Dismissal:

Be emboldened by the truth and stand firm!