AND I heard a voice say, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night' (Gen. 1:14), 'and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth' (verse 15). I looked, and in the midst of the heavens there was passing a vast body. This was instantly clothed with the glory of God, and began to pour its radiance upon the earth, while opposite it, and nearer, was a smaller body, from which there streamed a flood of soft, silvery light, which fell upon the darker side of the earth. The first light was the king of day, to rule over it; the second was the queen of the night.
“Besprinkled throughout the canopy above, a great
host of lesser lights appeared, like unto sparkling gems of beauty, to grace the presence of the queen of night. The heavens, declaring the glory of God, and revealing His handiwork in the earth (Ps. 19:1), stood before me. The fourth picture was finished, 'and the evening and the morning were the fourth day.' Gen. 1:19.
“The voice spake again; saying, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the living creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of the heaven' (verse 20). Immediately, in all the waters, appeared the finny tribes, in colors beautiful, in form diversified; while in the seas there swam the great whales and other denizens of the deep, leaving a trail of sparkling foam. High in the midst of heaven soared great birds, with leveled wings cleaving the air, and circling higher and still higher, while from tree to tree and from bush to bush upon the earth passed hither and thither birds of brilliant plumage, large and small, in happy flight, making the air resonant with their notes of joy. Another picture was complete, 'and the evening and the morning were the fifth day' (verse 23).
“When the voice spoke again, the cattle and the flocks upon a thousand hills appeared. The beasts of the forests were there, and the creeping things moved everywhere (verses 24-28; Ps. 50:10, 11).
“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let him have dominion over all these things (verse 26). At the command of Jehovah there stood forth man, formed of the dust of the ground, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 1:6-8), and placed at the head of God's earthly creation. 'And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.' Gen. 1:31. The six pictures in the creation panel were now complete.
“And on the seventh day God ended all His work, and rested, and was refreshed (chapter 2:2; Ex. 31:17; Heb. 4:4). As He viewed the works of His hands, He saw that they were good, and 'the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy' (Job 38:7), as they studied this new creation. The rest of Jehovah was entered into by all creatures, in all places of His dominion; and when the day was past, 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.' Gen. 2:3. The memorial panel was complete, and its blessing was to all, and its light rested upon all.
“I saw the earth in its Edenic beauty given to man for a possession. And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and in it He put the man to dress and to keep it (verses 8, 15). This garden was a pattern by which man was to work in beautifying the whole earth. And man was to obey God, and to serve Him.
“But an evil one entered (chapter 3:1-5), and man yielded to him, and became his servant (verse 6). Then God said, 'Cursed is the ground for thy sake' (verse 17). Instantly a shadow began to fall upon the pictures in the creation panel, and they lost their brilliancy, and the shadow grew darker and darker. Only the memorial panel seemed to remain to cast a feeble but steady light upon the six pictures. Soon the beautiful garden was entirely lost to view, while throughout the earth the leaves began to wither and fall. The flowers began to fade and die. The cattle and beasts began to groan and cry. The whole creation was travailing in pain together (Rom. 8:22).
“In my sadness I shifted my pillow (Faith) to the prophetic arm of my chair, and, leaning upon it, I gazed at the redemption panel in the door. A light was there, and in it I read the words, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Rev. 21:5. I gazed in wonder, while the six pictures appeared in order upon the redemption panel; and then, by expanding and increasing in glory, they filled the entire door. Then the first six pictures, with the shadow, passed away, and there stood before me the re-creation. And 'I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.' Rev. 21:1. The garden was there, and a city bright and fair, and the throne was in it, and the Lamb was the light of it, and the nations of the saved walked in the light of it (chapter 2:7; 21:2, 22-24). Peace and joy were also there, and 'the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,' at the new creation, as at the first.
'A city bright and fair.'
“The memorial was there, and the people kept it (Isa. 66:22, 23); and its light streamed over the earth, and called all to come up to the city and to the throne to worship before the Lord. And so, my friend, I love this room. I love that fourth door, for altho the pictures are dim, there is much of beauty in them yet. I love the memorial panel. Its steady light, week by week, shines into my soul, and while it points to the shadowed picture on the one side, no shade obscures its light on the other side. It stands as a pledge of the new creation, when the children of faith shall enter into the fulness of that rest which remains for the people of God (Heb. 4:9)—that rejoice in the new creation when redemption shall be complete, and when the shadow, with its sighing and crying, shall forever have fled away.”
(Concluded next week.)
