Illumination

Then God said, "Let there be light";

and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good,

and God divided the light from the darkness.

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.

So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:3-5, NKJV

 

There are no degrees of darkness, for darkness is merely the absence of light.  But strike a spark, and suddenly darkness is diminished by light.  Sight may be dimmed, vision impaired, but a little bit of light begins to bring everything into visibility.  Light pushes back against darkness, decreasing it into shades and shadows.  Increased to full luminosity, light banishes darkness altogether.

 

God had plans for the earth.  Though corrupted by the fall of Lucifer, cleansed and covered in water, and concealed in darkness, this third rock from the sun had a most important part to play in the universal plan of God.  Here God would create a race of beings in His own image and after His own likeness--made to reflect His image and person, to look like Him and to be like Him.  Here God would watch His creation fall, tempted and led astray by the lies of the devil.  Here God would unfold the matchless mystery of grace.  Here God would come Himself in the form of His own creation to purchase salvation for those who fell.  Here God would center and seat His eternal will, plan, and purpose.

 

But first, illumination.

 

The earth was in chaos, empty and ruined, shrouded in darkness, a heap of rock enveloped in a mass of water hurtling through the vastness of timeless space within the confines of God.  The deluge was complete, the corruption of an angelic rebellion washed away, the vestiges of whatever had been buried in the depths.  And the Spirit of God was moving.

 

Then God said...

 

I love the power of God expressed repeatedly in the creation account by those simple words, Then God Said.  All God had to do was speak.  The Gospel of John reveals that the Word of God was the active agent of creation, not just the words that proceeded from the mouth of God, but the second person in the trinity who was the Word.

 

Then God said, "Let there be light."  And there was light.  With no sun to shine by day, nor moon and stars to shine by night, God filled the inky blackness with His radiant glory.  The Word of God, who was with God and was God, became the Light of the World, and darkness fled.  Darkness did not comprehend it, and could not overcome it.

 

The beginning of all things--at least from the perspective of earth and the creation of man--was the illumination of God upon His creation.  It was vision; it was revelation.  The Spirit moved, the Word spoke, the Light broke forth over the waves, and the work began.

Earth Interrupted

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.

Genesis 1:2, NKJV

 



The earth was empty.  Whatever had been was no more, corrupted beyond use and covered in a primordial deluge.  Where there had been perfection and beauty, now there was only chaos.  A formless globule of water within the wide expanse of the God, shrouded in  the absolute absence of light, it waited.

 

In darkness, nothing would be seen.  But perhaps there was the lolling, lapping sound of wave upon endless wave, calm now after the storm that filled the whole sphere.  But nothing else.  Except for the wind, the gentle inspiration and exhalation of the breath of God as the Spirit moved across the face of the deep.

 

Creation was about to commence.

 

I am reminded this morning that even in the vast darkness where nothing yet exists, the Spirit hovers still.

 

In chaos, the Spirit is preparing to bring order.

 

From formlessness, the Spirit is planning to summon structure.

 

Out of the depths, the Spirit will oversee the rise of land and life and love.

 

Let us never despair.  Even in our darkest hours, even in the depths of destruction and pain, in the lowest valley, in the fiercest fight, in the hour of isolation and abandonment, even when all seems lost and we fear we are sinking beyond hope, the Spirit of God is there.  Moving.  Working.  Hovering.  Waiting.

 

Waiting for the Word to bring illumination and give understanding to our wondering.

 

Let us not give up.  Something is happening, though we see it not.  This is the time for our belief.  Now is the time for hope.