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Subject 24 : Sermons for Those Who Have Become Our COWORKERS
[24-26] The Lord Who Turned The Darkness into Light (Genesis 1:1-5)
(Genesis 1:1-5)
“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.”
From what perspective should we be reading the Word of God from? We must look into the Word and follow it by believing in the God of righteousness. Then, on what basis should we follow God? We can follow God by faith by believing in God’s Word of righteousness. Our God has promised us with His Word to give us the remission of our sins and He also has fulfilled this promise with His Word. Seeing those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the Word, God approves them as the righteous people. And He gives spiritual blessings of Heaven to us who have become the righteous saints. God is the God of covenant who fulfills the promises that He has spoken to us. We have to meet God and follow Him. However, God is invisible to our naked eyes. Then, how can we meet Him? How can we follow this God only? God has given His Word to us and He meets those of us who believe in this Word, and makes such believers follow Him in this Word.
Here, the Lord God said, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Bible continues, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1:3-4). We come to meet the Word in today’s Scripture passage in Genesis 1:3 which states, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’” through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we also come to know and meet God who created the heavens and the earth in the beginning through His recorded Word which states the same truth. In other words, we meet God and the true salvation which God gave to us through His Word. We meet God by believing in the Word of promise which God has spoken to us. Then, we come to experience this God who has spoken to us.
God promised Abraham that He would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. God then made a covenant with Abraham, saying, “Circumcise your people. Then, I will become God of your descendants. If your descendants are circumcised, then that will be the sign as My people. This is the shadow of the spiritual circumcision that I make you with My Word of promise.” And God also said, “Although I have chosen you and your descendants as My people, all the uncircumcised will be cut off from the Israelites and the descendants of Abraham.” God was saying that any person who has not been circumcised spiritually before the presence of God will not be considered as a child of God.
When we see how God works, we come to know that He works by His Word. God becomes the Lord God to those who believe in His Word of promise and follow it by faith. God promised us by His Word concerning how He will establish a relationship of love with humans and also became the God of salvation to the people who believe in this Word of promise. And God bestows the blessing of salvation upon the true believers in this Word. Like this, God establishes a relationship of love with His people only within His Word.
It is written in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The entire universe and everything in it are the creation of God. Humans are also creatures of God. What has God then planned for humans who are His creatures? In order to establish a relationship with these human creatures, He has planned to save them all. God had decided to deliver us from all our sins according to His plan. God always manifests Himself to us humans by His Word. What we must absolutely remember here is that God made His people to be accepted and to be able to believe in His Word of promise. This is the main point of His Word which He has spoken to us from the Book of Genesis.
It is written, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Chapter one of Genesis is often called the blueprint of God’s plan for humans. In this chapter, God shows His creation, the temptation of Satan, the fall of man, salvation in Jesus Christ, and humans becoming the children of God, including the blessing of His grace. Therefore it states, “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” (Genesis 1:2). The Lord God said here that He created the heavens and the earth and that the earth was without form and was void. The word earth in the Bible often denotes us humans or our hearts. This implies therefore that humans have gone into chaos by falling into sins.
God Has Given Every Creature Its Reason of Being
God originally had a plan to make us humans as His children even before He created man. Within God’s plan, God wanted to raise the status of humans who were the creatures of God as His children. God created us humans under such an amazing plan. We can know God’s plan and intention through the Word of God. God created us humans and wants to fulfill His will through us. And He has allowed even the paths of hardships in order to fulfill this. Also, God has planned to blot out all our sins through Jesus Christ. In other words, He decided to make us the born-again who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as His children.
God has thus planned all things within His providence without any relation to our wills, and His plan was to save us and make us His children and give us the beautiful Kingdom of God. It means that God fulfills everything according to His original plan, and not according to our plans. What we have to do is to just enter into God’s plan by faith and follow His will by faith the things that have already been approved of in His will. Hence, Jesus referred to Himself by saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Through the Word, God has made us grasp His plans and His goals towards us. God has a plan for us. And God has manifested this plan to us by and through His Word. God has shown His plan to us in written languages and fulfilled this promise to only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, when we believe in the righteousness of God, we must place the basis of our faith on God’s Word of covenant. We can meet God when we go before Him with the knowledge and faith in what the Word God has promised. And we then only come to know God’s will. Even after believing in God, we must be careful not to be thinking whatever we want to think or decide according to our hearts’ desires lest our thoughts fall into chaos of again. In order to really meet the righteousness of God and follow Him consistently, we must believe and follow His Word of promise steadfastly. Therefore, the God of righteousness has given us His written Scriptures. We cannot meet God if we do not have these written Scriptures, that is, the Holy Bible.
What is this Word? It is the Word of God. It is the written Word of God. It is the Word of promises to be fulfilled. God tells us His plan by His Word, comes to us by His Word in order to fulfill His Word to and in us, and also meets us by this very Word. Our God is the God of the Word. God’s Word precisely is God to us. God precisely is the Word, and God manifests Himself through the Word of promise whenever He wants to speak to humans. We must now remember that God manifests Himself and His will by His Word and meets us within His Word.
Therefore, we must not read the Word like we are reading a novel or reading a history book. We must first know and believe that the Word of God is itself God. The Bible is the Word with which God has manifested Himself to us, and it also manifests His promises. This Bible also manifests that it is His own Word. God meets us in His Word. Therefore, we must know that this Word is the Word of God when we first encounter the Bible.
God’s Word Is the Light of Salvation
It is written, “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 1:2-5).
This Scripture passage shows us God’s determined plan that He would deliver those from all the sins who were held in bondage to sins. It also means that it is the Word of God that drives out the sins of humans and their chaos, void, and darkness. Then, who is the light of the truth here? Who is the light that is recorded in the Word of God referring to here? It is referring precisely to Jesus Christ, the Savior of all humanity, the Savior of sinners. Then, who are those in the midst of the deep chaos, void, and darkness? It is speaking precisely of us humans who have fallen into sin.
Humans were created by God. But in this passage “The earth was without form,” God is telling us that humans had fallen into the deception of Satan. God mentions from the beginning that humans had fallen into sin. God then is saying, “I will save you when you fall into chaos. And those who accept the light of My Word will escape from their sins and become My children of light. But those who have not accepted My Word of light will remain in utter darkness.” What kind of plan did God have for us as humans when He first created man? The ultimate purpose of His plan was to raise the status of us humans to the status of a deity, the children of God. God intended that He will recover our status as the children of God, and not His mere creatures.
God Has Given Man the Free Will to Choose
There is no one who makes something without a purpose. Everything is made with a purpose. God also created us humans with His special purpose. The first passage of this Holy Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God created us humans, His creatures, like a mechanical robot. Then God gave us a free will. God then said to us, “Each one of you can accept or reject with your free wills the blessing and grace of salvation that I will give to you.” This means that God has given us humans the free will and allowed us to choose whether or not we accept the blessing of salvation that God had fulfilled. Therefore, the Gospel of John Chapter 1 states that the one who loves the light comes to the light. It also says that such a person comes to the light because he wants to reveal his deeds in the light. But a person who loves darkness does not come to the light. Between the light and the darkness, we must be able to distinguish what is the light from what is the darkness. However, even though we who are His creatures, have this privilege to decide which one we will accept.
God would not be the Holy and Just God if He did not give us the privilege to choose, that is, a free will. However, God created the heavens and earth in the beginning and manifested His name and His justice to us by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God says to us, “I am the God who created you, but I have given you a free will. If you really desire the righteous things, then, receive all the blessing and live in Me by accepting the way of righteousness that I give you, but if you desire filthy things and darkness, go ahead and live like that.” God thus approves those who choose and enter into the light. For such people of faith who believe in the righteousness of God, God makes them enjoy eternal life in His infinite and glorious blessing.
However, the people of darkness do not accept this grace and rather cherish their own righteousness. Therefore, it is appropriate for such people to go into chaos that they have chosen and receive much suffering. This is the just truth of God. This shows us that God is the just God. This shows us also that He is the perfect One. God did not coerce us to choose the light. Instead, God manifested Himself to us within His Word of covenant. Therefore, it is appropriate for God to be praised by us humans justly and be worshipped by us.
In this way, God blesses those who really choose the light and the righteous thing before His presence. But He judges those who choose evil for their wickedness. Today’s Scripture reading shows us that He is really the just God who judges fairly and perfectly. No one can say before this Word that God is not just or that He is not fair. God has made it so whoever wants to receive all the blessings from God who created the heavens and earth can receive all His blessings by faith. God has given humans the privilege to choose. God has made it so if anyone does not like the blessings from God and rather cherishes curses, then, he can receive whatever he wants from that menu. On the contrary, God has given all His promised blessings to the one who cherishes and accepts God’s Word of light. Our God who created heavens and earth is saying this to us.
God is perfect. God alone is righteous and perfect, and He is the only God to all creatures. God is the Creator. He is the Sovereign God. There is no one who can challenge His authority. We have seen that He is the God of covenant. We were able to see through the Word of God that He has promised His salvation to us by His Word and also that He has been fulfilling this Word of promise to us.
God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. God really created the universe and everything in it as well as the light. Do you acknowledge this? God has given us the privilege to choose between the light and the darkness, and His grace or curses falls upon us according to the choice we make. There is no such a thing as “No” in the Kingdom of God, there is only a “Yes” in His Kingdom. It’s because there is nothing that is irrational in God’s world.
All Things Have Been Done within the Plan of God
Today’s Scripture passage says, “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.” The Bible mentions first, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and it continues, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” You can see here in this Word that the temptation of Satan is presumed in the plan of God.
If the Book of Genesis chapter 1 and 2 denotes the plan of God, then the Word starting from Genesis chapter 3 shows us how He intended to fulfill this plan. About a decade ago, a huge department building in Korea collapsed suddenly because of frequent remodeling of the building. Many people became victims in that man-made disaster. In this manner, we humans are prone to change our plans as we desire. But God has never changed His blueprint after drawing it up once. God did not just leave us His creation as mere creatures, but He had planned to recreate us and make us born again as a new creation. What was needed to make us humans born again was the light of salvation that was made of His justice and love. The Word of God was the ingredient of the salvation that made us His creation born again from all our sins.
God allowed us humans to fall into sin first in order to make us His children. If we had not fallen into chaos, void, or darkness, that is, if we had not been deceived by Satan, we could on no account be born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. However, owing to the fall of man, we humans have come to receive the grace of becoming the children of God by believing in Jesus Christ who is the righteousness of God as the Savior. All these intentions were included in the plan of God.
Adam and Eve who were the very first ancestors of humanity were tempted by Satan. But even this was in God’s plan of salvation from the very beginning. We live as sinners and then become the righteous by meeting and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit just like the way maggots dwell under the ground for years and then become cicadas. Like the way maggots have to stay in the dark ground in order to become cicadas, it was in the will of God for humans to be tempted and ruled by Satan in the first place. Humanity had to become sinners in order to become the children of God by believing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is why God allowed the temptations and attacks from Satan on humans.
The Promise of Salvation from All Sins
Humans fall into the depths of these three things, namely, chaos, void, and darkness when they refuse to believe in the Word of God. Such chaos comes to a person when he departs from the Word of covenant of God who created him. It is written, “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.” Now, among the descendants of Adam, those who have not met the gospel of the water and the Spirit which Jesus Christ gave have all fallen into such chaos.
Why have humans fallen into this chaos? It’s because they have not known the Word of promise which God had spoken; it’s because they have not known the gospel of the water and the Spirit by which God has saved them perfectly. Then, what must sinners do in order to come out from this chaos? Of course, they can most certainly meet the Lord who is the Master of all truth if they return to the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All humans have fallen into void. They gain no satisfaction. God originally created us humans in the likeness of Himself. Therefore, we attain satisfaction when we return to God.
The Bible mentions that God created humans as imperfect beings at first. Why did God create us humans imperfect from the beginning? God’s plan really allowed our imperfection in order to fulfill His profound purpose. Thus, humans are to fall into void without gaining satisfaction. Therefore, we humans must have the righteousness of Jesus in our hearts by faith, and we must have the Word of the righteousness of God. The Word of the truth which is God Himself must be found in our hearts. God the Creator must be in our hearts.
We humans can become whole only when the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is inside our hearts through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We humans feel emptiness unless we meet the righteousness of God. But satisfaction comes to us when we at last meet the gospel of the water and the Spirit through Jesus Christ. Therefore, today’s Scripture passage is admonishing us to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God is telling us in this Word, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” We who were dwelling in the world of earth, not of Heaven, have been trapped by the schemes of Satan and had fallen into chaos and sin. God spoke about this even before we were born sinners. And God then said that He would save us from all our sins through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, His Son. God promised that He would save us from chaos and sins. God had already promised that He would save us from the depths of the sins of the world and the void and the dissatisfaction of heart. This is the implication lying in this passage, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). And God has already fulfilled this Word of promise perfectly within the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus Christ Who Is the Creator and the Savior
Jesus Christ is the Protagonist of this Bible. It is written here, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’” and the light here is referring exactly to Jesus Christ who saved you and me. Jesus is God who created the universe and everything in it, everything we now see is what He created? Jesus is the Creator who created the heavens and the earth that we can now see and experience. Jesus Christ will make the second heavens to come about also. It is written, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Jesus is the Creator who created this earth and the heavens. And God the Father sent His Son who created this universe to this world and blotted out all our sins at once by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is written, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.” And the Bible goes on to say, “God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.”
Jesus Christ appears only as God here in the Book of Genesis, but later on appears as our High Priest. Jesus Christ manifests Himself as our Savior. And He also manifests Himself as the Prophet who teaches everything to us. Then who is the Lord here who manifested Himself as God? Who made the light in this world, in this universe? He is none other than Jesus Christ. The Scriptures state that Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, is God to you and me. Therefore, the Apostle John states in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Truly, Jesus is God who created this universe. God the Father created the Kingdom of Heaven through His Son, and Jesus Christ also made the heavens and the earth that we can see with our naked eyes. Therefore, we must know this Jesus Christ properly. We must know and believe that Jesus Christ is God Himself.
Where Has the Providence of God Manifested?
God manifested the light here in His Word. In other words, God had already promised to us through today’s Scripture passage that He will save us from all the sins in our hearts through His Son who is sinless. In this manner, God promised His salvation from the beginning. This is the reason why we call God the God of covenant.
We can also meet with the Triune God through today’s Scripture passage. When the Son created this world, God the Father saw that it was good. It is written, “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.” Who then is this God hovering over the face of the waters here? He is the Holy Spirit. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all appeared in this scene of creation. God the Father and the Son created this universe, and God the Father promised to save humans who had fallen into this chaos and void through His Son. And it means that God pours God the Holy Spirit upon those of us who have received salvation from all our sins by believing in the Son of God. This Holy Spirit cannot come into us if we still have sin in our hearts. Therefore, God the Father made a covenant to send His Son to this world to save us completely. God made the covenant with us His creation. The Holy Spirit goes inside and works in the people who believe according to the Word of salvation that God has promised. This is the plan of God. Hence, the God of Trinity manifests Himself here in this Word of the Book of Genesis.
Therefore, we must know the meaning of this Word that God saw it was good when He created the world of the heavens and the earth. It means that God the Father saw it was good when His Son created this universe and all things in it. It means that God was pleased to make us humans as His children in the likeness of Jesus Christ through His Son. Therefore, the Scriptures state that God the Father saw that it was good. The Apostle Paul also looked deeply in this grandeur plan of God and said,
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
‘For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?’
‘Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?’
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:33-36).
All things have come from God and return back to Him. How can a created one disobey the Creator who made it? Thus, the Scriptures state that anyone refusing the righteousness of God commits sin. At any rate, God has promised these things to us with His Word. God also divides His people from the people of the Devil with His Word. And therefore, you also can become the light when you accept by faith this Word God has spoken. Dear fellow believers, come into God by believing in Jesus Christ and the gospel of the water and the Spirit which He gave to us. Then you can also become the light of this world eternally.
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