Day 4: Lights: Sun, Moon, Stars (Gen. 1:14-19)

Day 3: Lights: Sun, Moon, Stars (Gen. 1:14-19)

           

Three Reasons God created the lights:

1. To give us powerful reminders of his holiness
2. To give us natural rhythms to reflect his holiness
3. To light up the stage for God to personally display his holiness

Summary: God created the sun, moon, and stars with great purposes in mind.  God set them in the sky and ordered them to rule over day and night and thus serve as very physical reminders and tangible signs that witness to the fact that God is holy.  God used these same lights to help organize time and seasons thus providing natural rhythms to our lives as we seek to reflect his holiness.  But of course our lives are out of rhythm and we have not reflected his holiness; therefore, God came to the very stage that he lit up with these lights in order to personally display his Light in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. 

Main Point:  God wants us to know that he purposely created the lights by His powerful Word.

Discussion Questions:

• What do the sun and the moon serve as tangible reminders of? (cf. 1 John 1:5)
• How did the sun and the moon provide natural rhythms for the life of worship among the people of Israel?  What are some of the patterns of worship in the life of a new covenant believer?  
• How did God personally display his holiness on the world's stage? (cf. 1 John 1:5; John 8:12; 12:36; cf. Psalm 8 and how it is quoted in Hebrews 2:5-11).
• Why is it so hope-giving that there is a Light that will outlast and outshine the lights? (Isa. 60:19-20; 30:26; Rev. 21:23; 22:5)
• Read & Discuss how the following texts both instruct us and give us hope: Matt: 5:14; Eph. 5:8; Phil. 2:15; Prov. 4:18; Matt. 13:43.

Application Questions:

• What rhythms of worship am I utilizing and which ones am I neglecting?  How is this effecting my relationship with God and what changes should be made?

Prayer Points:

• Praise God for personally displaying his holiness by sending the Light into the world
• Praise that we will shine like the sun in his kingdom soon and very soon
• Ask God to help us consistently implement rhythms  that will help us reflect his holiness in our lives in a way that will cause us to shine the light of Christ brighter and brighter