Study for the Month January 2010
Spiritual Lessons from Number Two
Part III
By Nathaniel Fajardo
Dedicated to Promoting the Pioneer View of the Pillars of Adventism of the Everlasting Gospel
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“Let there be light.” – Light here is the Hebrew owr, meaning, “illumination or luminary, in every sense.” This is in contrast to the “greater light,” the sun, and the “lesser light,” the moon (Gen. 1:16) which is ma’owr, meaning, a luminous body; light as and element, specifically a chandelier. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary.
In last month’s issue of this series we considered what that light was that was created or made on the first day of Creation week when God said “Let there be light, and there was light.” I will here quote from E.J. Waggoner in his work “The Gospel in Creation” that was part of his messages along with A.T. Jones in the special light they brought to the denomination on the topic of righteousness by faith in what is often referred to as “The 1888 Message” (emphasis and commentary mine):
“Gen. 1: 3, 4 quoted. Hitherto there had been darkness upon the face of the abyss. It was not such darkness as we are accustomed to; for in the thickest darkness man has ever known since that time (with the possible exception of the plague of darkness in Egypt) there has been some mixture of light. Some light tempers the darkness, even in the black night when no moon nor stars appear; but here there was darkness such as man cannot conceive of, for light had not yet been created.
Out of this thick darkness God commanded the light to shine. The apostle tells us that God ‘commanded the light to shine out of darkness.’ Here again we are brought to see the wonder of creative power. God does not work as man does. Man has to have the material all ready to his hand when he makes a thing. God is not limited in that way. Utter nothingness is as suitable for His purpose as anything can be. [1 Cor. 1: 27-29, KJV quoted]. This is done for our sakes, that we may learn to put our trust in Him.
So when God would make the light, He caused it to shine out of darkness. Shall we say that He made light out of darkness? It would not be improper, for that is in God’s power. ‘If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and light are both alike to Thee.’ Ps. 139: 11, 12. And in speaking for the comfort of His people in time of trouble, God says, ‘I will bring the blind by the way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make the darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.’ Isa. 42:16.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord. [Gen. 18:14]. He Himself is the source of all things. The wise source sees God in all His works. He has impressed Himself in all creation. It is stamped with His own personality. The gross darkness of the heathen came from perverting this truth. Instead of seeing the power of God in everything, they said that everything is God [as in Pantheism]. Thus they turned the truth of God into a lie. But it is a fact that from God Himself everything springs. So God could make light shine out of darkness, because He Himself is light. ‘This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’ 1 John 2:5.
Let us not forget as we study creation, that Christ is the Creator. He is the wisdom of God and the power of God. He it was that created light. He made it for Himself, for in Him are all things created. It was not alone in the spiritual sense that Christ is the light of (click “Next Post” to continue)