In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. 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 1:1-5)

Everything Begins With Light

The morning awakens with the beams of early light gliding over the horizon to bathe the new day in sunshine. As the sun rises in the sky, light leaves the sun, arriving eight minutes and twenty seconds later, having traveled a distance of 92.96 million miles. The sun is a massive, hot ball of plasma with temperatures ranging from around 27 million degrees Fahrenheit at the core to only about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface. If the sun gave off only half of its present radiation, the world would freeze; if it gave off half as much more, the earth would burn. The sun is not the source of light.

When God created the world, He established a perfect organism of life. The universe and all that is in it was created in six days. Each day was a progressive increase in the necessities of life built upon one another. The sun, moon, and stars were not created until the fourth day. These planetary orbs would be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night. Seasons were established by the position of the sun and moon for days and years. The sun would give light to the earth, and at night, the moon would reflect the light of the sun.

On the second day of creation, the Lord divided the waters from the waters with a firmament. The firmament was called Heaven. The third day, the waters under the heavens were gathered together into one place, and dry land appeared. God called the dry land Earth and the waters He called Seas. After dividing the seas from the earth, God created the grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit. At the end of the third day, the world was divided into seas (without any animals) and dry land filled with vegetation and trees (without any animals).

What a strange world it was at the end of the third day. The earth was a globe filled with beautiful blue waters absent of any animal. On the dry land, there were green, lush, beautiful gardens of grass, bushes, and trees filling the landscape – without an animal in sight: no birds and no land animals. Most importantly, no sun, moon, or stars were in the heavens above. Yet, in the absence of the sun, the world was filled with light.

Creating light first was necessary to sustain life on the third day. The vegetation of the earth lives through a process of Photosynthesis. Britannica says, “Photosynthesis is the process in which green plants use sunlight to make their own food. Photosynthesis is necessary for life on Earth. Without it, there would be no green plants, and without green plants, there would be no animals.” God created light first to sustain the vegetation before He created the sun and animals. The light had to be created first to sustain life.

The new creation of man begins the same way God created the world. Before God created light, the world was without form, void, and full of darkness. Creating light changed the world. The state of man changes when he is accountable to his Creator. Because of sin, man’s heart is in darkness, without form, and void. The first thing a man needs in his life is light. Jesus said He had come into the world as a light, that whoever believes in Him would not abide in darkness. He is the light of the world. To follow Him will remove the darkness.

Everything must begin with Jesus as the light. God created the world in perfection and divine order. Coming to God requires coming to Jesus, believing He is God’s Son, and obeying Christ’s word. If a man tries to save himself in any other form, he will die. There is a spiritual photosynthesis that must take place. It begins with water dividing the sins of man from the redemption in Christ. When a man obeys the gospel, he becomes a body of light to shine to all in the world. His life will bless all those to whom he shows the glory of God. Salvation – like creation – begins with light. That Light is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.