“Let There Be Light”

"Let There Be Light"

Seung-Chan Park

Lead Pastor, ICMC

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

The ancient Near Eastern way of thinking suggests that creation was closely associated with receiving a role or a function. V. 2 says “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Here, “the deep” in Hebrew is “tehom”, and it has to do with the primeval sea that was covering everything before creation. “Formless” and “empty” indicate the lack of valuable roles, which are critically important, as the reality of their roles is related to their existence in the creation under God’s Lordship.

The Christian faith and the Scripture itself testify that God not only gave functions to beings, but also created all the materials of the universe. That is why God is called God the Creator and “the Lord of heaven and earth (Acts 17:24).” Isaiah 45:18 declares:

“For this is what the LORD says – he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited – he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

Before this verse, in verse 16, God proclaims through Isaiah that He refuses to give glory to idols, and declares that He is the Only One God. The verse says: “All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together.” The powerlessness of idols and their shameful and disgraceful doctrines will be exposed, and their makers will also be exposed together with their “created” idols. Shame and disgrace will be the fate of those who shamelessly serve the idols as if they are their “salvation.” God not only refuses to share glory with idols, but also puts them to shame and condemnation.

Today’s verse is placed in the beginning section of the Book of Genesis. It intently shows that God is the sole Creator and Lord over all creation. Every existing being exists as a result of God’s will for it “to be” rather than “not to be”. God’s will for it “to be” is the cause of its existence. Then, every existing being, for its very existence, depends on the Creator. And as it was called into being by God, it received a certain role from the Creator. The creatures’ roles are not randomly given, as if a certain careless deity arbitrarily gives away roles and functions, and later on regrets the decisions. The creatures’ roles were given in the Kingdom of God – for the glory of God. It means, every creature is not only relying on God, but also directed towards God’s glory.

God willed “light” to exist, and unlike powerless idols, His will brought forth “light.” The ancients did not use the knowledge of modern physics to comprehend “light.” For them, “light” meant the introduction of “time”, as verse 5 says “God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day. The order of time came into existence, and it was a result of God’s will. This is why Christians say that “time” itself is God’s creation, and within space and time, every living being began to exist in order. God created “time,” and He is “above” time.

Now, we can think about some aspects of the nature of God’s work at this point. Before God willed and said “let there be light” and “separated the light from the darkness”(v. 4), there was mere formlessness and emptiness, which signify valuelessness, meaninglessness, and functionless-ness. “Formlessness” and “emptiness” were all there to see before God acted upon it. “Formlessness” could not raise itself up to become “meaningful”. It could only plummet into everlasting meaninglessness. But God willed for creation “to be”, and His will was not “empty”, but brought forth His Kingdom.

Every living being, including human beings, as long as they are estranged from God, is like “formlessness” and “emptiness.” It does not matter if someone is religious or even uses the name “Christian.” If that person is estranged from God, he or she is estranged from His Kingdom. The sheer reality of this estrangement, then, comes with the sense of meaninglessness and emptiness – without a firm sense of purpose, function or value that are not perishing, but lasting. This sense of emptiness or meaninglessness is not a strange, but rather a natural result of the estrangement from God. Any religious facade or philosophical jargons cannot undo this reality, simply because they lack capacity and power to cancel this emptiness.

But when God comes with speech, as “the Spirit of God” acts upon His will, “light” happens. Our life, even if it has been without God, even though it has been like formlessness and emptiness, even if our life has been like a falling glass, once God’s speech is spoken to it, begins to “exist” – “starting to have a true meaning.” Then, our life is directed towards God and seeks His glory that is shining before us. Then, we begin to understand why the apostle said in Acts 17:24-25 that “God does not live in temples built by hands” and “he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” Yes. God is God, and He is the Creator and the Lord of all universe. He does not give away His glory to idols and other powerless beings that falsely claim to “be something” that they actually are not. Only in God we see meaning. Only in His Kingdom we “see” our existence. Only in Him we see true power that actually executes His divine will. God said “let there be light” and “there was light.”

Before God, our lost-ness is not too big a problem to overcome. Before Jesus Christ, the dead body of Lazarus was not too big a problem to solve. Scripture proclaims the Almighty God who is not to be manipulated, who is not to be compared to powerless idols, and who is not to be made equal to creatures. Today’s verse declares the Almighty One who is the Lord of all creation, and our life today is breathing before His presence, as Acts 17:28 says: “For in him we live and move and have our being.”

“For in him we live and move and have our being.” – Acts 17:28 –