Turning on the Lights

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and season and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.  Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.  He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and  to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.  Genesis 1:14-19

It is mind blowing to think that God created light before creating the light makers.  I remember being haunted as a child by the atheist eschatology. Sitting in class and being told that our star would one day burn down and die, long before that taking all life off of the planet earth without so much as a sound.  I found the very thought appalling that some future generation of people would be slowly burned, or frozen to death while all human existence fizzled off no more meaningless than a candle that had run our of wick.  Upon noticing that I was trouble the teacher asked me what was wrong.  I replied that I was sad that everyone would die.  She tried to assure me with the words, "You'll already be long dead by then.  So don't worry about it!"  So that is what it is to live in spiritual darkness.  The world understands their dependence upon the "light givers" but would rather resign themselves to absolute meaninglessness and loss than risk seeing the light Creator! It is amazing for us to look up at the stars.  The beautiful pictures of the stars that are so far beyond our ability to see with the natural eye is beyond breathtaking.  The Hubble Telescope shows some of the amazing and beautiful formations that have been tucked away since God created the world.  When He formed those beautiful structures and formations was He thinking of us?  Did He think how amazed and mystified we would be as we saw the distant star formations that are invisible to the naked eye?  Or were we not even apart of the thought, did He just make them because they reflect something of the beauty, creativity and order that flow forth from His being?  I don't know, but what I do know is this: all of that beauty and wonder merited a single statement in Scripture: "He made the stars also."  God then proceeded to reveal pages and pages about Himself and His love for mankind.  It is amazing to think that the angels of heaven could see those "star structures" up close, but they marvel at what God is doing in every person who has trusted Jesus Christ.

The First Lie...

And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said..." Genesis 3:1

Genesis records the first lie to touch our race. The very bearer of this first lie was himself a lie and a liar. He took the form of a serpent, which was not his created form. Satan came in a form that would not alarm Adam and Eve, nor surprise them, but deceived them even though he did not belong in Eden by a long shot. This liar's first lie started off by challenging the truth, "Did God REALLY say..." This immediately tempted man to take the wrong place as the judge of God. This challenge was meant to draw Eve to a place of believing that she had the right to question God and His command and His character.

In response to this challenge Eve adds something to the original command of God, or it could be that Adam added it in repeating the commandment of God to her. She added the phrase, "nor shall you touch it". This was not in God's original command to Adam and shows that legalism soon followed the original command of love. The fact that Eve didn't know exactly what God said may have been an encouragement to Satan that he could bend these frail humans to his will.

Finally, the denial of God's word and his character. Satan convinces Eve of two things. Firstly, that God isn't capable of carrying out the consequences that were laid out. Secondly, that God is not looking out for her best interests, but rather for His own. And this lie has never left the face of our sin torn planet. Lies have proliferated and continued destroying relationship after relationship, keeping person after person from knowing their loving Savior Jesus Christ. May each of us, this day, live in and behold The Truth and trust in HIM always.

Jesus said to them, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6