And God saw the light. Genesis 1:1-4.

[caption id="attachment_5280" align="alignright" width="300"] Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Photo property of Google travel contributor Ivan Friedman[/caption]

 In my previous post, I had hoped to establish that all things were created perfectly from the moment Jesus first spoke all things into existence. I believe that the primary creation happened in verse one.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 NKJV

But writing and thinking through the events of the first few verses of Genesis, I am reminded that Jesus, in time, will voluntarily set aside His divinity, which includes His knowledge, insight, and power, so that He could become a human being, untainted by sin, and thereby bring redemption and salvation to all who would receive this great salvation.

The sacrifice or price that would be paid to become a human was to quite literally be born a blank slate, and it may well mean that Jesus had to be told about the scriptural narrative that describes actions that He performed in creation by Joseph and, in time, the Holy Spirit. Put yourself in Jesus's shoes for a moment and then try to imagine what you are supposed to do with information like this.

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV

I feel strongly about this perspective. If such a revelation caused you to go into a tailspin, as it did me at first, my suggestion is that you relax and reestablish yourself in the words of Jesus that we find in Genesis and the Hebrew that makes those words work; and remember that Jesus is God.

The idea that Jesus lost His knowledge of who created all things was never a question that we see the Apostle John fretting over. John's opening statement about Jesus demonstrates that he has become convinced, without question, that Jesus was, is, and ever shall be God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
John 1:1-3 NKJV

I pointed out in the previous post that Jesus told us that He beheld Satan's fall in a rather dramatic way.

“And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 NKJV

The problem with that is that we have few details that define what Satan's fall looked like aside from that. Just because we do not see those details does not mean it did not happen.

So, let's assume that the lights entirely went out.

Did God/Jesus merely quake in fear that Satan's fall included a horrendous destruction?

No, the recovery process began with a peculiar act.

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 NKJV

There is a peculiar usage of the word hovering. It is the Hebrew râchaph. One of the defining words means to brood. The Word Study Dictionary refers to this hovering as an eagle hovering over its eggs. Honestly, it works the same for chickens or foul. All of this is part of the process of growth, which is an aspect of brooding. The Strong's concordance adds that it is, by implication, to be relaxed.

Does a hen seem stressed as it broods over the chicks?

Only if a threat arises and then she will fight. If the mother hen flutters or moves, it is only to maintain a satisfactory temperature necessary for the embryo to progress in their growth.

So I can assume that God, in His brooding, was actively in the process of restoring and rebuilding the creation. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were actively involved in the recreation of the creation.

“Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:3 NKJV

When God said, Let there be light, who was speaking?

It's a rhetorical question, and I am not demanding an answer, but the simple answer is that Jesus spoke those words into existence. Watch what happens next.

“And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.”
Genesis 1:4 DRB

When I read narratives like this, I picture God standing there watching as Jesus precisely spoke creation into existence a second time (as though Jesus/God was troubled by the severity of the damage;) only moments pass when I realize how foolish such a thought process is, as God is not impacted by time and space as we know it. I remind myself that God knew that Satan would, in turn, destroy, deceive, and attempt to capture the hearts of God's creation, and all of this was a part of God's eventual plan of redemption that ends with the eternal removal of Satan once and for all.

Light is the Hebrew word 'ôr. It means illumination or (concretely) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, …) Strong's concordance/dictionary.

To assume that this is only the sun is erroneous as it also applies to stars, which are suns, just like ours; the difference is that other suns tend to be much larger than ours, and they are scattered across the universe at incomprehensible distances away from the earth; and then there are the reflective bodies, such as moons and planets. Seeing as there is no reference to heat, as we will soon see, then, while I cannot exclude the sun, it clearly speaks to the variety of things that emit or reflect light.

Question, can you typically see the effects of a flashlight on a bright day?

No, so it is obvious that the lights had gone out and the light that Jesus is now speaking into existence, once again, was not a blinding light. This tells me that the illumination was like some nights when the sky was clear.

When we were teens dad took the family to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Besides the spectacular

formations, it is known for the nightly flights of bats that emerge from the cave (there are thousands of them.) 

On the tour, the Park Ranger takes us to a deep place in the cavern, warns the audience not to move, and then turns out the lights for about a minute. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face, as there is NO illumination at all. It is a darkness that feels like it permeates you. Moments later, they turn the lights back on, and you are instantly reminded of how spectacular the ancient formations and reflective lighting truly are.

Divided is the Hebrew word badal. It is a primary root and means to be divided or separated: It also means to come over, dismiss, make a separation, make a distinction, partition, separate, or set apart.

In Genesis chapter 1, verse 4, we see this: “and God divided the light from the darkness.”

Darkness is the Hebrew word chôshek. The Strong's # is H2822. It is from H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - (darkness), night, obscurity.

When I think about the effects that Satan had on the earth, these words stand out.

• misery,

• destruction,

• death,

• ignorance,

• sorrow,

• wickedness,

• obscurity.

The Strong's # associated with chôshek - is H2821- châshak, enunciation khaw-shak'. It is a primitive root meaning to be dark (as withholding light); transitively to darken: - be black, be (make) dark, darken, cause darkness, be dim, hide.

Now ask yourself, when did Jesus begin to address Satan's actions?

So Jesus did not only address the lights going out, but He immediately began attacking the damage that Satan brought about.

If you want a definition of who Satan is and what he does, you got it.

Jumping forward in time to the Garden. Eve, having bought into the deception, hands the fruit, with her teeth marks on it, to her “husband.” We have no indication that he was deceived, so Adam sets aside what God had told him and chooses to die with his “wife.”

It doesn't matter what you call it; the treasonous act was to hand over the dominion – rule and control over the earth. Sounds bad, and lacking a relationship with Christ is a hopeless situation. But God had a plan all along.

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 BSB

We get bruised all the time. Some foolishly believe that this bruising is God's wrath (tribulation;) it is NOT. It is just life, so get over it. Note, however, that God tells the serpent that the seed of the woman will crush your head. You don't typically get over a crushing; you die. Our hope is, to some degree, based on the reality that through Jesus, Satan's head will be crushed – or at least put away forever.