The First Day - Separating Light from Darkness
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
Good and Evil is often referred to as a battle between Light and Darkness. However, I prefer to look at Light and Darkness as the difference between knowledge and ignorance.
There is a strange belief among certain Christians that science is the enemy of faith. For instance, when I tell people that I have no problems with evolution they will often look shocked. They will then ask me…”but don’t you believe the Bible?” I calmly assure them that I do believe the Bible, but it is my belief that Genesis tells us the “why” of creation while evolution can tell us the “how” of creation. Often, I still get even more quizzical looks. It seems set in the mind of these Christians that science is the enemy of faith and that evolution is Satan’s way of destroying Christianity.
This gets me back to the difference between living in knowledge and living in ignorance. Genesis never was intended to be a historical (at least not the way we think of history) or scientific book. The purpose of Genesis was to tell us the “Why” of the world.
For instance, in the first five verses we learn that creation started in chaos (”a formless void”) and the breath of God (the wind) started to create order. On the first day (Evening and morning was the standard way Hebraic thought of a new day beginning. Thus sunset, to the Hebrew mind, was the start of a new day.) light and darkness were separated from each other and this was God’s way of ordering our world.
Today, Christians are called again to separate light from darkness, knowledge from ignorance. Real Christianity has no fear of science. Christian’s who fear science are in danger of living their lives in ignorance.
Genesis chapter one is a beautiful story of Creation, from these few verses I learn that there is but one Creator or Force in the Universe (God), and it is God’s Spirit that keeps everything in order and saves us from falling into chaos. I know in my own life, it is God’s spirit that helps me “hang together” when it looks like all is falling part.
Isn’t it much more important to learn these spiritual lessons from Genesis then to live in ignorance and fear of science by engaging in foolish debates about the “how” of creation?
Peace,
Pastor John