Light

Light

2/11/17

Light comes in many different forms including color, brightness, and intensity to name a few, but as most of us know light is essential for us to function properly and to accomplish the goals set out for our lives.  Without light, many of these jobs would be completed but not at an adequate speed to fulfill our daily steps.  There is a reason God’s Word states that God created light and just as any other created object, God had an order that was followed.  Light must come first before anything can be accomplished and God would not be in His holy state if He had created all other life at a disadvantage from the beginning.  Darkness is a death trap for all life and it is this truth that we need to understand just how important light is and what it means to our eternity.

Most of us in western societies take for granted the availability of electricity and what it means to our daily lives.  I cannot tell you how many times I have entered into a room or building and the first thing I do is locate the light switch and turn on the lights.  I do not believe that there are many of us who would rather operate in the dark instead of a lighted room for our vision is so limited when we do not have adequate light around us.  Having light is an essential part of our lives for if we did not have it our usefulness would be limited to just a certain amount of hours per day, a dreadful thought that would hinder our lives and hinder progress tremendously for bumping into furniture when our eyes have not adjusted correctly or enough to the darkness really sheds a new light on a dark pain.

With light, each society that has been present has advanced their ability to create because their efforts do not go unnoticed.  When fire was established a new source of energy was realized that when the eyes saw the potential the mind and heart began to wonder, with the candle one could work longer and while it continued to strain the eyes better productivity once again improved.  When the light bulb was invented longer productivity days were illuminated and the dark working times were further detached from our workspace.  In every setting, light has brought the human’s capability of making their lives better to a pinnacle, a feat that matches no other.  As I write these words that God has given me I am using a lamp and the main light of my office to complete what He has for His children, it may be daytime outside but it is a gloomy and damp day that would hinder this process.  God knew exactly what His intentions were when He created light on that first day and we shall see just how important light is and the reason why it is necessary for us to have.

One of the more popular verses in Scripture that many people can recite by heart deals with how God supplies our needs, and if anyone has doubts about that truth just take a closer look at the bird because God provides the needs of that bird every day. Matthew 6:26 states that God feeds the birds without fail and supplies their needs accordingly and here we have an order that goes back to the first day of creation because if God provided the bird with food but the bird could not find it because of the darkness around it, what kind of true provisions would God have given? 

In Genesis 1:2-4 states: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And 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 through His perfect and holy state creates the one item that all life needs in order to have a complete setting and without this order, life would struggle to meet the ordinances of God that He placed over our dominion.  Light had to be the first thing to be created for if it was not then the verse in Matthew would be out of order and thus considered a lie from God and about God.  The order of light provides us with another specificity concerning God that adds to His holy, complete and permanent status which cannot be changed.

I must state from the beginning of this article that the topic will cause you to be stretched a bit and will challenge you to know God and His characteristics a tinge better as well, but rest assured it is a truth about God and our enemy that we must understand in order to combat the tricks that Satan throws our way.  It is of the utmost that one remembers that God is a complete God in everything He says and does and when He speaks something into motion it has to be completed and completed in His manner. Another important detail to remember is that there is a spiritual realm that is somewhere about our existence and while our finite minds struggle with this truth we must understand that the spiritual realm is just as much alive as the physical realm we walk in each day, and that we must know that while we may not see the activity going on in the spiritual realm it is there and it has been there way before our presence was established by God.  It is this aspect of Scripture that brings into light the truth about this passage and why it is so important to our lives.

It is difficult for us to believe that God created something that has no meaning, shape or does not represent any type of sound foundation but according to Genesis 1:2 it seems like He has done such an act.  The question as to why this state was established begins with the answer that was derived a long time before mankind was created and this condition of the earth was made and set into place as a proving ground.  While we do not know much about heaven and what the specific conditions of the entire surrounding God’s dwelling place it is well known that God’s presence is so illuminating that there are no shadows present there. This means that an atmosphere of light is always constant and never dulls or dims in any manner and every single angel and person who now resides there know this light as a truth.  For if there was no light in heaven how could we know that there are streets of Gold?

What occurs when a person, group, or nation has a philosophy that they want to be proven yet at the same time knows that their designs are flawed and subsequently less than what is already in place?  What occurs when that person or group is given the opportunity to show their product to others and it fails miserably?  These people or corporations do their best to market a product that is better than already established but many times fall short of the original setting that is already in place.  It is this force that fueled Lucifer and his drive to be better than God’s perfect state which he had to have been around and noticed continuously. Being better and having better living standards is a human goal that all parents want for their children but when it comes to trying to perfect something that is already perfect, it is an impossible task.  It is this task that led to Lucifer’s greed, selfishness, and hate for someone over him that created his incitement against God and then initiated his entitlement afterward, resulting of course in his eternal downfall.

However, we must remember a detail about God, one that we tend to forget about and that is His completeness.  If God does something one way He must do it that way on a continual basis without any variations to said pattern.  There is no question that God allows humans to live in a certain manner or complete certain things in their own way and God is consistent in this pattern when it comes to living for Him as well.  God shall never force anyone to accept His ways; however, God will allow us time to try and prove that our selfish ways are better than His holy ways and it is through this action that He allows in our physical that He also allows in the spiritual realm. 

When Lucifer decided to make his choice to be God, God did not just automatically cast him and his followers out of heaven. Being a consistent God, God allowed Lucifer to try to prove he could be God and thus gave Lucifer the opportunity to do as such.  God had a sense of humor in this – kind of – because God could have made Lucifer begin his quest by creating everything but God handed him a bone and gave Lucifer a foundation to work with, a world that was without form and was dark.  To the artist’s eye, this would be the perfect setting to begin a project.  Lucifer’s stage was set and God said in some sort of fashion: ok, there you go, have at it, prove your worth and desire.  And the next thing God did was to sit back and wait for this creative process to begin.  In truth, I do not know how long God waited but I know He gave Lucifer enough time to complete the issues that he had with God for you see being a complete God He had to allow Lucifer to try to win.

Patience and the process of waiting do not represent any of my strong suits and right off the top of my head, I can think of several friends of mine that share this imperfect trait of mine.  When we are waiting for a meeting or to present a paper in front of a crowd, the suspense is a killer and our nerves take over and when this occurs doubt becomes an invasion force far greater than all our preparation time installed.  But God waited patiently for Lucifer to complete his creative status but nothing came about of this feat.  Lucifer was beaten and his plan to overthrow God was over not by God just throwing him overboard but by a created being trying to out-master his Creator.  Does this setting sound familiar to anyone?  It should because humans are notoriously famous for trying to do the same thing with God.

It is here that God begins to up the ante if you will, for at some point in eternity He reaches the point that He has given Lucifer enough time to create something, and it is also at this point where Lucifer has to admit his defeat and to receive another name from the holy one that God gave him when he was created.  Ironically and supernaturally, if that is possible, we find Lucifer’s name being used here when God decides time is up and he has not proven his worth as a creator for Lucifer’s name means light, a shining bright light yet when God gave Lucifer the opportunity to create and be better than Him, Lucifer could not even create the meaning of his name.  A simple gesture of eternal power that Lucifer lived in he could not properly create so it was time for God to move and to prove once and for all that He has no rival and that Lucifer is a mere created being with a pride and ego that grew so great that it turned his most powerful status into a banned rebellious artifact that chose to lose his position because of self-lust.

So, naturally God chose to ensure His authority by accomplishing Genesis 1:2 on His timetable and thus stated to us that even though He sat and waited for Lucifer to create and “be like Him”, he could not and that the dark and void place that God gave as a foundation had not changed one bit.  When God created Lucifer He did so in such a manner in which Lucifer could have the resources to live eternally with all of his needs provided, but Lucifer wanted more but eventually could not deliver the same “package” as God could, not even close or in the same universe.  So when God created light on that dark place it must have infuriated Satan for God in one quick thoughtful command established an eternal source that would resemble the eternal life-giving light that God Himself provides in heaven.  When one dives into this passage a bit deeper we can find that a certain amount of time has passed, a certain amount of time has occurred while God created light for the earth and through God’s Word in the next verse shows us that a clock is now ticking for God calls the light “day” and the darkness “night”.  These two entities have a timeframe, a specific amount of time to expose themselves to a world that is about to come alive with God’s creative heart.

Now, if you had wanted to create a setting so perfect and real but did not live up to your wishes, then someone came along and almost immediately upscaled your dreams in a short moment wouldn’t you be a little mad at that person?  Well, in this case, this act by Satan was driven through pride and jealousy which fueled his disobedience to God’s eternal laws and therefore cost him his post in heaven.  Anger extraordinaire would be my thought here, one extreme reason to hate God enough to want to employ others to help take down God if possible. 

It bugs me that I fall for some of the tricks that this loser of an enemy plays in my life, for I should know better than to allow them to even approach my life.  But how many of us go into each daily battle not understanding what is at stake due to the hatred our enemy has for our existence.  God spoke something into existence and wham it occurred and was completed perfectly.  Even the first creative thing God did for the earth has a powerful origin and one that is in constant motion as a living testament of God’s love for life.  Light was only the beginning of what God was going to do as a testament to His life and as the Eternal Source of life.  God is light and it is His visible representation of His presence and is the foundation of all knowledge for one cannot anything to help if one cannot first see what needs to be molded into place. 

Just as God divided the night and day, we too have a certain amount of time in our lives to spread the light that God provides. The world continues to thrive in darkness and serve as a stumbling block to every child of God, but if we take God’s Word – which is Himself – to this darkened place He shall bring forth light and life to that dark place and whoever wishes to see, can see what needs to occur.  Church, you are this light and it is your responsibility to understand what God represents to our existence and then use this light as the source of eternal life.  When we understand this truth about God being a light it places the passage of Scripture that says the He is the light unto our path because it brings into truth exactly what authority we have over our enemy and it puts into motion the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

God’s light burns Satan like no other source can because God’s light is eternal and cannot help but expose Satan’s lies of darkness.  Darkness is what Lucifer was given to prove himself as a founder and creator of life and it was darkness that he could not overcome on any level.  It is through this same practical dark conditions that he can only operate which means that s long as he can keep God’s prized creations in the dark he has won the day for when God is not allowed to shine His eternal life giving light into our lives, darkness rules our existence.  It is no secret that once a light shines on a dark place the mice scatter as the old saying goes and once the nasty enemy is gone we shall know the truth about our surroundings and can allow God to change our lives in truth.

God’s light is a part of our existence for we are made in His image and if we allow His light to shine through our lives we cannot help but be a true witness of light everywhere we go.  It is the job of our enemy to turn out this light in our lives and hide it so the truth is withheld from those who need eternal direction.  The old song we used to sing about how I am going to let my light shine and not hide it under a bushel rings loud and true and gives us a biblical truth that has eternal meaning.  Our nation suffers from continual darkness and since this nation was established to be a beacon to the world, guess what we are portraying and providing.  Instead of a beacon of light, we are producing a factory and line product of hammers that enable us to spiritually smash the life-giving light that all are seeking.  Self-governance and self-rule are overtaking our societies at breakneck speed and eventually, God is going to say “enough”.

The first day of creation serves as a testimony of a living God who wants His creations to understand what is going on around them.  His workers have become lazy and would rather stay indoors and light their own cabinets instead of being outside and providing light to the dying world.  God is beckoning His Church to once again come back to Him and to provide the eternal light to the ones that do not know Him.  Repent, Church and allow God to work through your lives so that many others shall know that God is alive, that He loves us and that He wants us to be separate from the world and not joined with its death trap.  God is light and He is the Eternal Light and if we allow Him to infiltrate our lives again He will repair the light within us and we can fulfill His mission that He established in our lives from day six of creation.

DLB