“And 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.” (Genesis 1:3-4)
The word Genesis is derived from the Greek and means beginning or origin. Thus, as we are to expect, it speaks of the beginning of earth, of all life. This first chapter speaks of Almighty God and His work of creation. His first act was to create light to separate it from darkness. The darkness has always represented fear and evil to human beings. We fear for it conceals untold dangers and terrors that may be lurking around us. God comforts us with light.
Yet emotional and spiritual darkness are even greater terrors, so fearful that we all try to hide them from the light. We all try to hide our sins, hatred, and malice in the darkness of our hearts. We hide them from our fellow human beings because we want to be liked and respected. We hide them from God because we fear His wrath.
But God tells us in this opening act of creation that light is a blessing. Light holds no fear. His light reveals all that we hide. His light can lead us to faith and repentance for, although God created all things for His own glory, He created man to be the focus of His glory. Genesis speaks of the beginning of the human race as well as the origin of sin. And most importantly Genesis speaks of the beginning of God’s work of redemption in which He called one race of people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bring salvation to all mankind. This He would do this through the God-man, Jesus Christ who is the Light of the World.