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.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:-3 KJV)

The story of creation! What a great story to reveal the wonder of an all powerful, ever present, all knowing God!  We have been looking at the stories we heard as children and developing them into deeper truth God wants to show us as adults.  This week I began reading a book by Bill Cloud, Esau Rising.  Go to billcloud.org for more about the author.  The book is about end time prophecies but I am not going to try to expound on that topic.  (My husband says “1000 words, that’s all people want, 1000 words!) 

Back to the creation story.  In the second chapter, the author begins with a scripture from Isaiah 46:8-10.  “Remember this, and show yourselves men; recall to mind, O you transgressors.  Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure.’” Isaiah 46:8-10

The author sets the stage for his thesis which is that we can’t study the end without understanding the beginning.  So again, we find ourselves going “back to Genesis”.  As I read this chapter, I began to explore and consider as the Christians in Acts 17: 11 who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scripture daily, whether those things were so.”  It is my strong belief that we not take anyone’s word until we have sifted it through God’s Word.  (By the way, I am not perfect in doing this but it is my first rule when reading human authors.)

The idea that God declares the end from the beginning intrigued me. We have been looking at and studying the hidden treasures from God’s Word so I wanted to check out the creation story.

As children, we began the story simply by a day by day look at the first six days of creation.  But there is more to the beginning than what happened on Day 1.  From the book, I would like to give an excerpt from Chapter 2.

“Darkness (choshekh, in Hebrew) was already present when God said, “Let there be light,” and lest we should think that the darkness merely indicated the absence of light, we should note that darkness was created too: ‘I form the light,’ God said in Isaiah 45:7, “and created darkness,….I, the Lord, do all these things” (emphasis added.)   

So I want you to see that in the beginning darkness was present, and out of the midst of that darkness, the Creator called forth the light.   I also want you to see that this initial light is not to be confused with the light of the sun or the stars; those heavenly bodies didn’t appear until day four. But if not the light of the sun and the other luminaries, what is the light on day one?” Esau Rising: Ancient Adversaries and the War For America’s Soul  (Bill Cloud:2016)

In John 8:12a, we read, “I am the light of the world.”  In Matthew we find, “You are the light of the world.”  Then John 8:12b, “Let your light shine so before men, that they may see your good works and glorify you Father in heaven.”

As we look at nature, we find that the sun which gives us the necessary ingredients to live on this planet can be a picture of Jesus who is the light of the world.  Then we see God also made the moon and the stars to illuminate the night.  Scientists tell us the moon is not the light it only reflects the light!  

Are you getting the picture?  Jesus is the light of the world; we are to be the reflection of His light.  The moon in Genesis 1:16 was to “rule the night”.  The moon was to rule the “darkness”.

Are you ruling the darkness in your world? You can only rule by reflecting the true light of the world.  

Be a reflection of Jesus today!

By Freda Reynolds
P.S.  There’s more to come. Is God declaring the end from the beginning???

Until the whole world hears
Casting Crowns