Before The Sun

This year at church we’re focusing on the sermon on the mount and I recently preached a message about being the light of the world. I thought I’d move it here so I can unpack it a bit more. I’ve always got way more notes than what I end up sharing.

Here’s the light passage from Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus was a master teacher, the words he chose were very deliberate. Which means whilst he could have easily stated what he meant straight out, the fact that he chose to use metaphors sometimes gives us reason to pause. Metaphors are nuanced, the more you consider them, the deeper they go.

For example, instead of saying you are the salt of the earth Jesus could have just said you preserve and amplify the good so stay connected to me. But he doesn’t, he chose to use a metaphor.

So what does it mean to be light? What’s held in the metaphor that our 21st century non-Jewish ears might be missing?

Let’s take a look at light in a few significant places it’s referenced across the Bible.

Right at the beginning we see the creation story - I know you may know it but don’t zone out! - let’s start there right back in Genesis.

Why Light? A Different Kind of Story

Every ancient culture around Israel had a creation story. Babylon, Egypt, Canaan, they were the cultures surrounding Israel in the early part of the Bible. They all had their own stories of creation alongside the little g gods they had created and started to worship.

And in almost every one of those creation stories, there’s the same pattern: there are multiple gods who are in conflict, and creation emerges as a consequence of that struggle. Usually the sun, the moon, and the sea are gods, forces to fear and appease. 

But then there’s Israel’s story, the account we find in Genesis. And this is completely different. 

And we notice this as we go through Genesis. God doesn’t struggle or compete, He loves and creates. He speaks and what he says happens, with no conflict or resistance. 

Just one of the reasons why I find the Bible so compelling, is that it goes against what humans naturally think. The gods in every other ancient story around Israel are powerful but not particularly loving. They’re self-interested, unpredictable, and in competition. A God who is both completely sovereign and completely self-giving in love is not a God or story humans would naturally write. We tend to imagine power and love as opposites but Genesis says they’re not.

And it begins with…light.

Let There Be Light

Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

It’s hard to imagine the beginning isn’t it? Before anything was actually there. This is what the writer is trying to convey. It was formless, empty, darkness and the chaotic waters are this pre-created or non-created state. There’s no order, no life, no creation, life isn’t possible.

Darkness and chaos are two of our biggest fears as humans. The Spirit of God is present there though, hovering above this non-created place, unthreatened by it. 

All he needs to do is speak and creation and order exist.

Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Have you ever wondered why that’s what God said first? Like is it God’s version of turning on the big light and saying alright let’s shed a bit of light on this place so I can see what I’m doing?

Maybe, I’m sure it couldn’t have hurt anything.

But light was the condition that made the rest of creation possible. Order and life and flourishing all require light. It’s the first act needed in creation.

I think that’s significant.

And then, have you noticed that the sun doesn’t exist yet?

How mind-boggling is that?

The sun isn’t created until day 4, so where is this light coming from? God. He emanates light because he is light. John writes in 1 John 1:5 — God is light. In him there is no darkness at all.

Here’s what I want you to notice: the non-created world of chaos and non-life, the darkness, the lack of creation and life, could not put up a struggle against God’s light. Those other stories involved a battle but for God it was simply let there be light and there was.

There was no battle. The darkness has no answer to light. Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying, I’m not saying that spiritual warfare doesn’t exist, but that warfare is between us and the enemy, not God. Jesus and the enemy are not equals, Jesus is victorious and He has all authority.

So that’s where light and life enters the story, where else do we see light? I want to zoom in on one old testament account in particular.

The Pillar of Fire

After the book of Genesis comes the book of Exodus. In this book we meet Moses, we see that the people of Israel are enslaved in Egypt, and then God performs lots of miracles and they escape into the wilderness where God promises to bring them into the promised land. 

But before they get to the promised land, they wander around the wilderness for 40 years, unlearning all of the things they’d picked up whilst enslaved by Egypt and allowing the next generation to learn how to walk with God and trust in him. 

And while they wander around the wilderness, God accompanies them. He doesn’t send another source of light, his presence is the light.

Exodus 13:21 (NIV)

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

So here we see light again. This time guiding and protecting them. 

Isaiah’s Prophetic Words

So remember that story. We’re now moving onto the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was a prophet about 700 years after Israel wandered around the wilderness, and about 700 years before Jesus walked the earth. So he’s pretty much slap bang in the middle.

And he prophesied about Jesus, predicting the coming of the Messiah and events throughout his life, 700 years before Jesus walked the earth.

One of those prophesies was this. 

Isaiah 60 which opens with

Isaiah 60:1 (NIV)

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

But I want to focus on verse 19…

Isaiah 60:19 (NIV)

The sun will no more be your light by day,

    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

    and your God will be your glory.

Does this sound familiar? 

No need for the sun or the moon because the light emanates from God alone?

It sounds like Genesis 1 right?

But Genesis has already happened, so how is this prophetic?

Because it’s prophesying what we read about in the book of Revelation right at the end of the Bible.

The Light at the End

So let’s go right to the end, we’re in a chapter of Revelation that’s telling us what it will be like at the end, when Jesus returns, and heaven comes down to earth, earth is made new, and we live eternally in the perfection God originally intended us to live in.

Here’s how it’s described:

Revelation 21:23 (NIV)

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

It sounds like Genesis and Isaiah right?

The Lamb is its lamp, that’s referencing Jesus, one of the ways he’s referred to is the lamb.

So hopefully you can see what I’m doing here, showing you the significance of light throughout the whole story of the Bible. 

It starts with light - it's needed for the rest of creation to take place. God is the source of that light because He is light. That’s what 1 John 1 tells us:

1 John 1:5 (NIV)

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

It starts with light.

God shows himself as light again when Israel need guidance and protection in the wilderness.

Isaiah predicts that in the future God will be our everlasting light.

And in Revelation we see how that will come to pass - as when Jesus returns, heaven comes down onto Earth, we live in perfection with no more tears or death or crying or pain and once again there’s no need for the sun because Jesus is our light.

So, would you agree, that light is pretty significant right!?

When we hear we’re the light of the world, it can sound a bit fuzzy to our ears. Like oh yeah that’s nice, so what? Hopefully after that little journey your ears are slightly more aligned with those listening to the Sermon on the Mount 2000 years ago. This light is significant, it’s the light of God himself. 

Next episode we’ll see that the light arrives in person, which is pretty cool. For now, as always, let’s end with a question.

Question

Where in your life right now feels most formless and empty — most like the pre-creation darkness of Genesis 1? 

Sit with that question for a moment. The Spirit of God was hovering over that kind of chaos, unthreatened by it, and ready to speak light, life and order. What might it mean that he is present in that place in your life too?

Prayer

And let’s pray. 

God, you are light and in you there is no darkness at all. Thank you that from the very beginning, darkness has never had an answer to your presence. You don't struggle with the chaos in our lives any more than you struggled with the chaos at creation. You just speak. Help us to trust that, to believe that your light is already present in the formless and empty places we're carrying right now, and to hear your words of life. In your precious name Jesus, amen.