The Power of God's Word
“And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.” – Genesis 1:3
Dear Friends,
For the first time in recorded history, God speaks. And when He does, the very power of His verbal command is great enough to bring forth light. Previously, all was in darkness, but God sets the stage for His work by lighting up the universe.
The word light carries great meaning throughout the Bible, but I want to start by considering this verse for what the writer was saying to his audience. And before I do that, let me touch on who I believe the original author was and who the original audience was.
As for the author, the common belief is that Moses recorded the first five books of the Hebrew Bible from which we get the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Of course this was done under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I agree with this. However, before Genesis was put on paper (papyrus), I believe that the stories within it were handed down from generation to generation beginning with Adam passing it on to Seth (the son who carried on the line after Abel was murdered) and building upon each successive generation continuing all the way until the days of Moses.
But why was this done? Was this story meant only to be an ancient people’s explanation of how the world came to be and an account of the birth of the Hebrew people? I strongly suggest that it is not, and I believe it is much, much more.
I’m confident that I won’t ruin the ending for you when I say that Adam and Eve sin and are expelled from the Garden of Eden. But during that expulsion, God makes the promise of redemption through the seed (offspring) of Eve. Adam knew he was in a fallen state, separated from God, but he held to the promise of God for redemption and he looked forward to it. He passed this on to Seth, who passed it on to his son, Enosh and down the line.
And this I believe is the message of this verse, that God’s word is powerful, powerful enough to bring light into the world, powerful enough to redeem fallen mankind, powerful enough to fulfill the promise. Without light, there is no life, neither physically nor spiritually. And the spoken word of God is light and it is the Gospel, the Good News of redemption; at the time of Adam, a promise; in our day, the revelation in Jesus Christ. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
In Christ,
David
