Day 1: Light Shines (Gen. 1:3-5)

Outline: Day 1: Light Shines (Gen. 1:3-5):

           

God's word is powerful: "and there was light"(v.3)

• God's delight in the light (v.4a)
• God's desire to distinguish light from Darkness (v.4b-5a)
• God's will for light to overcome darkness (v.5b)

Summary: We have seen that the condition of God's initial creation was characterized by barrenness and darkness, an intentional foreshadowing of the condition of the human heart after the Fall.  But the reader's hope was already kindled when we heard that the Spirit of the eternal God was hovering over the problem.  With the stage set in vv.1-2, we see the remedy introduced in vv.3-5: Light shines in the darkness! 

Main Point:  God wants us to see how he delights in the light and desires that light to be clearly distinguished from the darkness.

Discussion Questions:

• How does vv. 3-5 serve as the remedy to vv.1-2? 
• How do John 1:1-5 and Hebrews 1:3 help us understand the light, God's delight in the light, and the relationship between light and darkness in Gen. 1:1-5? 
• What does this mighty act of God in bringing light teach us about how God converts sinners? (see 2 Cor. 3:12-4-6, esp. 4:6)
• Discuss this statement: "God desires light and darkness to be distinguished from one another."  What does this tell us about the character of God?
• God called the light Day and the darkness Night.  The implication seems to be that God "labeled" light and darkness for us, that we might pay close attention to the labels.  What are some of the implications for us as we live as followers of Jesus (see. John 8:12; 1 John 1:5; Matt. 5:14-16; Rom. 13:12; Eph. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:13)

Application Questions:

• How should a proper understanding of Gen. 1:3-5 shape the way I understand what in means to be converted? 
• Are there areas in my life where I am compromising with darkness, failing to follow the labels God has made to distinguish between what pleases him and what does not?

Prayer Points:

• Praise God for his holiness, the fact that he is light and in him there is no darkness at all
• Praise God for working shining the light of his Son into the darkness of our hearts by the veil-removing work of the Holy Spirit
• Confess ways in which you have failed to follow God's labels that are meant to set us apart from darkness and lead us in the way of light.  
• Ask God to help us be holy as he is holy so that he might be glorified and unbelievers might come to see the glory of his Son and so be saved