Genesis 1:1-3, John 1:1-5

“The darkest place is the jungle at night,” I thought. Attending a jungle warfare course, I shuddered under the thick canopy of vegetation over us that nearly shut out all moonlight. Yet, with no moon, stars, and sun yet formed, the black scene in Genesis 1 overpowered my dark jungle experience: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep” (KJV).

There was deep darkness over deep water until “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (1:2b-3).

No “fade to black” here; no, all became bright. Suddenly, the face of the deep smiled in light as God’s voice spoke into existence color over all we take for granted. This is the beautiful story of our creation.

Everything remained beautiful until Genesis 3. Adam and Eve sinned, and a different darkness came in the evil of the human heart. Though physical light and darkness existed, spiritual darkness plunged humans into utterly impenetrable, personal darkness. Humans, once full of light and life in God’s blessings, now walked blindly about in the midnight of the soul.

And yet God sends the Light. Immediately, God sent a prophecy of a Savior from all their darkness in the same chapter that humans fell, and all of Scripture thereafter pointed to this Messiah. Though the prophets proclaimed His coming, the people in darkness around them arose as a dark monster to kill the prophets who pointed to the light. After Malachi, the prophecies went silent as human evil intensified.

God did not speak again for 400 years.

Four hundred years of silence in spiritual night…until the Light arrived, not as the sun but as the Son of God, Jesus. God, who keeps His promises, spoke again, coming down Himself to save His people from their sins. As John 1 records: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not…That was the true Light , which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (vv. 1, 4-5, 9).

Jesus is that Light to rescue men from their darkness of the human heart. In love beyond our human understanding, the Light of the world (John 8:12) gives us an undeserved right to become the children of God, if we ask by faith: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). When we, the spiritually dead, believe in Him as our risen Savior from our sins, He forgives and says to our hearts, “Let there be light.” My friend, let there be light in you today through Jesus.

Have questions? This link by the Billy Graham Association explains how to be at peace with God and know you are going to heaven: https://peacewithgod.net/steps/?ri=s

Pastor Russ Fisk writes to encourage others to trust Jesus, who loves us so much. All are welcome at 154 Church St., Westfield, Sundays at 10 a.m. E-mail: rightdirections4u@gmail.com