And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
God spoke, and light instantly came into existence out of darkness by creative, omnipotent power on the first literal day of creation. That week was seven literal days like every other week, with six days for God's work and the seventh blessed and sanctified as the Sabbath in commemoration of His rest. The light then called forth is a symbol of God's presence, and when spiritual darkness covered the earth God spoke again, Let there be light, by sending Jesus Christ the light of the world. That same creative energy is in every command of God's Word, and received into the soul it commands light to shine out of darkness to recreate the heart in God's image and give the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That first light is therefore the symbol of the gospel light Christ's disciples must proclaim in clear distinct rays to dispel superstition, error, and tradition until the knowledge of God's Word fills the earth.
Creation Words and Setting
And God said, Let there be light, and there was light, for when God commands light it comes into being at once by creative, omnipotent power speaking light out of darkness. No human power can keep that darkness unbroken, as proved when Charles V staked kingdom, treasures, and life on crushing the Reformation heresy in Germany and France yet battled omnipotent power until his armies were wasted by battle, his treasuries drained, his kingdoms threatened by revolt, his purposes failed even in the moment of apparent triumph, and worn out in premature old age he abdicated the throne and buried himself in a cloister while the faith he tried to suppress extended everywhere. That same voice alone can speak peace to the troubled world today with its corrupt rulers, confusion, perplexity, and restlessness like a troubled sea that cannot rest, where human theories and speculations bring only additional confusion and men leave God out of their councils. The same creating word spoken to the heart gives an abiding Christ who is the light of life, humbling the proud heart by a view of Christ Himself, His generosity and great love, uniting the believer to God for the saving of soul, body, and spirit, and causing beholding of His glory as of the only begotten full of grace and truth so that of His fulness all receive grace for grace.
The mighty wondrous work was wrought together by the Father and the Son by a means never revealed to mortals, and remains as incomprehensible as God's existence. It was spoken when the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, as the new work generated on the first literal day. Each day counts as a generation because something new was generated each day.
The earth that came forth from the Creator was exceedingly beautiful like a noble palace with pure and healthful air. Its surface was not one extensive plain but was diversified with hills and mountains and plains, with rivers and other bodies of water and waters regularly dispersed. The hills and mountains were not high and ragged as now but regular and beautiful in shape, with bare high rocks never seen upon them but lying beneath the surface answering as bones to the earth. Hills, mountains, and very beautiful plains were adorned with plants and flowers and tall majestic trees of every description many times larger and much more beautiful than trees now are. Angels beheld and rejoiced at the wonderful and beautiful works of God, and responsive to the rising light on the dawn of the first day when by infinite power heaven and earth came out of darkness, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
God's spoken word had power to bring the whole world into existence at once in one act or in one day, yet He took six days to make the world. In doing so He gave a pattern of measured work with regular hours for work and sleep, stopping when nature says stop to preserve health and strength instead of overworking day and night to exhaustion. What He spoke in creating remains a reservoir of means made ready for Him to employ instantly to do His pleasure, with the material world under His control yielding implicit obedience. Clouds, rain, dew, sunshine, showers, wind, storm, grass growing from blade to ear to full corn, and fruit developing from bud to pear, peach, or apple in proper season never resist His working nor oppose the order of His arrangements. Nothing He made was useless, for tares came afterward when the enemy sowed them under the curse, and rational beings made in His image with reason and speech should not alone cause confusion by disorder but live to God, honor Him, and reflect His character who has done all things well.
Literal Week and Sabbath
"Let there be light" stands at the beginning of God's six-day work of making heaven and earth and all the host of them, a work He finished with everything He had made very good, and on the seventh day He ended His work and rested from all His work which He created and made, blessing the seventh day and sanctifying it because in it He had rested. That creation week was only seven literal days, just like every other week, with six days employed in the work of creation and the seventh used for rest, and the world is now only about six thousand years old. The six days were six plain literal days, not six vast, indefinite periods, and God's rest day was a literal day, not another indefinite period. Light itself was generated or produced as a new portion of His work on the first literal day of that first week, with each day counting as a generation because something new was generated each day, and the whole weekly cycle of seven literal days originates in the great facts of those first seven days.
God Himself measured off that first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. The first six days of each week are given to man for labor because He employed the same period of the first week in creation, and on the seventh day man is to refrain from labor in commemoration of the Creator's rest after performing the work of creation in six days. Thus the Lord proclaimed His will to all the earth, that the Sabbath is holy, a sign between Him and His people throughout their generations and a perpetual covenant forever, kept because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.
The days of creation are literal days, not vast indefinite periods covering thousands or even millions of years, and the claim that millions of years were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos is set against the literal interpretation of the Mosaic record. To reinterpret the days as long ages in order to accommodate the Bible to science undermines and destroys the force of the word of God. To turn the days into indefinite periods makes the fourth commandment senseless, destroys its force, and frees men from its claims. To make them indefinite and obscure strikes directly at the foundation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, because it charges God with commanding men to observe a week of seven literal days in commemoration of seven indefinite periods, which is unlike His dealings with mortals and is an impeachment of His wisdom, and to profess to believe the record of creation while holding that view is infidelity in disguise, the worst kind of infidelity.
The wonderful things found in the earth do not prove tens of thousands of years, because men, animals, and trees were larger before the flood and great changes took place in the earth at the flood. The creation record gives the only true time for relics found in the earth, such as bones of much larger men and animals, instruments of warfare, and petrified wood, which give evidence of a state of things differing in many respects from the present. Men, animals, and trees before the flood were much larger than those now living, and without Bible history geology can prove nothing.
Authority of Creation Record
The Mosaic record containing the command for light is the only authentic, pure account of the creation of the world, come fresh from the fountain of eternal truth with its purity preserved by a Divine hand through all ages. It is the most comprehensive and most instructive history possessed by men, beholding the power that laid the foundation of the earth and stretched out the heavens. Its bright rays shine into the far distant past where human research seeks vainly to penetrate, and it gives a history of the race unsullied by human prejudice or human pride.
It gives the plain, revealed facts that creation happened as Moses recorded and not as the result of natural causes. Just how God wrought in creation He has never revealed to mortals, and human science cannot search out the secrets of the God of Heaven, whose creative works are as incomprehensible as His existence. God has given sufficient evidence upon which to base faith, leaving men without excuse, yet in the last days the earth will be almost destitute of true faith. The creation record gives the only true time for relics found in the earth, such as bones of much larger men and animals, instruments of warfare, and petrified wood, which give evidence of a state of things differing in many respects from the present, for men, animals, and trees before the flood were much larger than those now living, and great changes took place in the earth at the flood, so that without Bible history geology can prove nothing and seeking to account for creation upon natural principles apart from the word of God leads to boundless uncertainty.
The great facts of creation it presents are pillars of the Christian faith, yet they are practically rejected, wholly or in part, by a large share of the professedly Christian world, who regard implicit confidence in the Bible as weakness and show superior wisdom by caviling at the Scriptures and spiritualizing and explaining away their most important truths. The supposed conflict between science and revelation comes only from erroneous inferences drawn from facts observed in nature, as when the claim that millions of years were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos is set against the literal interpretation of the record. In the last days the word of God will be considered unreliable upon the merest pretense, while human reasoning will be received though in opposition to plain Scripture, with men endeavoring to explain the work of creation from natural causes and by infidel fables, and receiving the suppositions of geologists which dispute the Mosaic record.
It is inconsistent to oppose the investigation of revealed prophecy, especially Daniel and Revelation, as too obscure to understand, while eagerly receiving mere suppositions about what God has not revealed. If revealed will is difficult to understand men certainly should not rest faith upon mere suppositions in regard to that which He has not revealed, for God's ways are not as man's ways nor His thoughts as man's thoughts. It may be innocent to conjecture beyond what the inspired record tells if suppositions do not contradict the facts found in the sacred Scriptures.
The record is to be the chief study in schools to carry minds higher than now thought possible and to keep heart and mind pure by daily supplies from eternal truth. There patriarchs and prophets are met in converse, and there is learned what redemption cost Christ, who was equal with the Father from the beginning and sacrificed His life so that a people might stand before Him redeemed from every common, earthly thing and renewed in the image of God. It contains broad principles of divine revelation and eternal life that the understanding must grasp and the heart must accept through the gospel of Christ, training heart and mind to preserve purity. Neglecting it for common ideas and trivial matters dwarfs and enfeebles the mind and makes education a failure.
Its great work of creation is to be taught to children on the Sabbath, especially outdoors among the fields and groves. When the earth came from His hand it was holy and beautiful, with every flower, shrub, and tree answering the purpose of its Creator, everything lovely to the eye and filling the mind with thoughts of the love of God, and every sound music in harmony with the voice of God. Sin marred that perfect work, and thorns and thistles, sorrow and pain and death are the result of disobedience to God, yet the earth though marred with the curse still reveals God's goodness. The green fields, lofty trees, glad sunshine, clouds, dew, solemn stillness of night, glory of the starry heavens, and beauty of the moon all bear witness of the Creator, and not a drop of rain falls and not a ray of light is shed on the unthankful world without testifying to His forbearance and love.
Christ the Promised Light
The light called forth by the word is a symbol of God's presence, for God is light, and Christ's speaking at the beginning to cause light to shine out of darkness declares His oneness with God and His relation to the whole human family. He is the light of sun and moon and star, and the spiritual light that shone upon Israel in symbol and type and prophecy. That light was not given to the Jewish nation alone, but as sunbeams penetrate to earth's remotest corners, so the light of the Sun of Righteousness shines upon every soul.
When spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people, God spoke again, Let there be light. The darkness then appeared universal and complete like a funeral pall, so that God's image could not be discerned, and His truth had been silenced. Even Judea was shrouded in gloom where men asked in vain what truth is, because truth had been silenced by superstition and traditions and the people were divided by contention, jealousy, and prejudice. In that moral darkness and gloom God sent Jesus, the light of the world, as Teacher, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to bring truth and to present the pure rich truth of heaven, so that the light of the glory of God was revealed in His face. With divinity veiled by humanity in order to touch humanity, He came as one with us, our example and pattern and divine instructor descending to shine, to counteract the destroyer by restoring the moral image of God in all who would receive Him.
The same word goes forth again in the night of spiritual darkness in the darkest period of earth's history just before Christ's coming, when the earth is without form and void in figure. That shining will come out of a night of trial and weeping and persecution for truth's sake, with God's light shining upon His people, an event to take place at midnight like the bridegroom's coming. The command for spiritual light amid accumulated error and fables and moral darkness to reveal truth was spoken in the heavenly courts to heavenly intelligences. The light is Christ Himself, the Messenger of the covenant who has come and the Sun of Righteousness arising to shine on eager listeners. It shines through preaching with simplicity and power of His pre-existence, His second coming in glory and power, His personal dignity, and His uplifted holy law. In that light He declares that all things the Father has are His and that He and His Father are one, appointing a kingdom and laying His hand on God's eternal throne with the ease and assurance of One who rules and reigns, putting on His head Deity's crown and sitting at God's right hand receiving supreme honor as God with the glory He had before the world was, distributing His gifts to all who claim them by faith.
Light in Believers and Mission
The creative energy that called the world into existence is in the Word of God, and that Word still imparts power and begets life. Every command in it is a promise that, accepted by the will and received into the soul, brings with it the life of the Infinite One. That life transforms the nature and recreates the soul in the image of God, and the life thus imparted is sustained by every word proceeding from God.
That same divine power that brought light and order out of nature's darkness and confusion can subdue a rebellious human heart and bring a person's life into conformity with God's will. It still works the same way in human hearts, commanding light to shine out of darkness to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, producing conversion and change in the minds and hearts of all true followers. When Christ is received within, He abides as the light of life, and this light is received by faith through opening the door to Him and receiving the Holy Spirit, for He reveals Himself in the heart by the Holy Spirit as the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing. When God commands light, light comes into being at once, and the same creating word spoken to the heart gives the soul an abiding Christ who is the light of life.
God speaks spiritual light into being in the sinner the moment he feels need of the Son of Righteousness and comes confessing sinful, unworthy, hopeless and helpless and pleading to be saved from perishing, and he is accepted and God commands light to exist and light exists. The heart once darkened by sin is then irradiated by the presence of Him who is the light of life, distress and woe are changed to praise and thanksgiving, and the sinner learns what it means to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That divine light humbles the proud heart by giving a view of Christ Himself, His generosity and His great love. It unites the believer to God for the saving of soul, body, and spirit, and causes the soul to behold His glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, so that of His fulness all receive grace for grace.
The command lifts the deep angry darkness of sin and guilt enshrouding man, rolls back the cloud of vengeance, transfigures the pall of death-like darkness hanging about the soul from threatening to glory, and reveals the character of God as beautiful, merciful and attractive in Christ, drawing repenting and believing sinners to live by the found ransom. That same voice of creative power alone can speak peace to the troubled world today with its corrupt rulers, confusion, perplexity, and restlessness like a troubled sea that cannot rest, where human theories and speculations bring only additional confusion, but men leave God out of their councils. As God's word called forth light at creation, it brings light into spiritual darkness for His people, and no human power can keep that darkness unbroken. This was proved by the extension of Protestant doctrines and faith which Charles V vainly endeavored to suppress in Germany and France, for he staked his kingdom, treasures, and life on crushing the heresy and in doing so battled omnipotent power, so his purposes failed, his armies were wasted by battle, his treasuries drained, his kingdoms threatened by revolt, and the faith he tried to suppress extended everywhere until, worn out in premature old age in the moment of apparent triumph, he abdicated the throne and buried himself in a cloister.
The first light at the dawn of the first day, when by the call of infinite power the heavens and the earth came out of darkness and light rose while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, is the symbol of the gospel light to be proclaimed in the earth by Christ's disciples. By its bright beams they are to dispel superstition, error, and tradition and usher in truth and righteousness, bringing back to allegiance those disobedient to the law of God, and they are to carry that light of truth to the world. In the last days that same Voice declares that knowledge of God's Word will not be confined to a few places but will fill the earth, shining forth from centers such as Nashville through the ministry of the Word and the publication of books large and small and through laborers with the missionary spirit going forth as heralds of the morning to the Southern field, with Christ heaven's Conqueror in their midst, so truth and righteousness live and continue to shine amid the darkness of this degenerate age.
When God looks upon darkness He commands light to enter it, and fields as dark as heathen lands, specifically the towns on the way to Brisbane — Newcastle, Maitland, Singleton, and Toowoomba — linked to Cooranbong and on to Sydney and Brisbane and the field from Newcastle to Sydney, must have the light of truth pass through them like a burning lamp. That light is Christ, the light of the world, to be uplifted before precious souls there to save them, with the Holy Spirit giving the eye of the soul power of sight to see the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from perishing. The verse means light must shine forth in clear, distinct rays with no question, no limiting, no setting of boundaries, and no withdrawing. That light is present truth displayed and circulated everywhere, with the Echo as a small paper given a large circulation, with every advantage of the new branch publishing house used to meet its obligations without jealousy, with works on present truth displayed and sent to another locality without delay when needed, with workers in season and out of season confessing the truth in every place, with the branch office made a light bearer to the world, and with God's blessing attending the work when His workers are sanctified.
It gives the call for light in dwellings, fulfilled when Daniel and Revelation are studied together with the other prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, sought through prayer for the Holy Spirit to shine upon the sacred page and open understanding to know what is truth. It shows God's plan in the beginning for equal use of the mental and physical powers. True education therefore embraces more than the study of books and includes useful employment, especially cultivation of the land, combining exercise of the muscles and reason in physical labor with exercise of the mental powers in study, as man was made to till the ground and to dress and keep the garden of Eden.
God spoke, and light instantly came into existence out of darkness by creative, omnipotent power on the first literal day of creation. That week was seven literal days like every other week, with six days for God's work and the seventh blessed and sanctified as the Sabbath in commemoration of His rest. The light then called forth is a symbol of God's presence, and when spiritual darkness covered the earth God spoke again, Let there be light, by sending Jesus Christ the light of the world. That same creative energy is in every command of God's Word, and received into the soul it commands light to shine out of darkness to recreate the heart in God's image and give the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That first light is therefore the symbol of the gospel light Christ's disciples must proclaim in clear distinct rays to dispel superstition, error, and tradition until the knowledge of God's Word fills the earth.
Creation Words and Setting
And God said, Let there be light, and there was light, for when God commands light it comes into being at once by creative, omnipotent power speaking light out of darkness. No human power can keep that darkness unbroken, as proved when Charles V staked kingdom, treasures, and life on crushing the Reformation heresy in Germany and France yet battled omnipotent power until his armies were wasted by battle, his treasuries drained, his kingdoms threatened by revolt, his purposes failed even in the moment of apparent triumph, and worn out in premature old age he abdicated the throne and buried himself in a cloister while the faith he tried to suppress extended everywhere. That same voice alone can speak peace to the troubled world today with its corrupt rulers, confusion, perplexity, and restlessness like a troubled sea that cannot rest, where human theories and speculations bring only additional confusion and men leave God out of their councils. The same creating word spoken to the heart gives an abiding Christ who is the light of life, humbling the proud heart by a view of Christ Himself, His generosity and great love, uniting the believer to God for the saving of soul, body, and spirit, and causing beholding of His glory as of the only begotten full of grace and truth so that of His fulness all receive grace for grace.
The mighty wondrous work was wrought together by the Father and the Son by a means never revealed to mortals, and remains as incomprehensible as God's existence. It was spoken when the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, as the new work generated on the first literal day. Each day counts as a generation because something new was generated each day.
The earth that came forth from the Creator was exceedingly beautiful like a noble palace with pure and healthful air. Its surface was not one extensive plain but was diversified with hills and mountains and plains, with rivers and other bodies of water and waters regularly dispersed. The hills and mountains were not high and ragged as now but regular and beautiful in shape, with bare high rocks never seen upon them but lying beneath the surface answering as bones to the earth. Hills, mountains, and very beautiful plains were adorned with plants and flowers and tall majestic trees of every description many times larger and much more beautiful than trees now are. Angels beheld and rejoiced at the wonderful and beautiful works of God, and responsive to the rising light on the dawn of the first day when by infinite power heaven and earth came out of darkness, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
God's spoken word had power to bring the whole world into existence at once in one act or in one day, yet He took six days to make the world. In doing so He gave a pattern of measured work with regular hours for work and sleep, stopping when nature says stop to preserve health and strength instead of overworking day and night to exhaustion. What He spoke in creating remains a reservoir of means made ready for Him to employ instantly to do His pleasure, with the material world under His control yielding implicit obedience. Clouds, rain, dew, sunshine, showers, wind, storm, grass growing from blade to ear to full corn, and fruit developing from bud to pear, peach, or apple in proper season never resist His working nor oppose the order of His arrangements. Nothing He made was useless, for tares came afterward when the enemy sowed them under the curse, and rational beings made in His image with reason and speech should not alone cause confusion by disorder but live to God, honor Him, and reflect His character who has done all things well.
Literal Week and Sabbath
"Let there be light" stands at the beginning of God's six-day work of making heaven and earth and all the host of them, a work He finished with everything He had made very good, and on the seventh day He ended His work and rested from all His work which He created and made, blessing the seventh day and sanctifying it because in it He had rested. That creation week was only seven literal days, just like every other week, with six days employed in the work of creation and the seventh used for rest, and the world is now only about six thousand years old. The six days were six plain literal days, not six vast, indefinite periods, and God's rest day was a literal day, not another indefinite period. Light itself was generated or produced as a new portion of His work on the first literal day of that first week, with each day counting as a generation because something new was generated each day, and the whole weekly cycle of seven literal days originates in the great facts of those first seven days.
God Himself measured off that first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. The first six days of each week are given to man for labor because He employed the same period of the first week in creation, and on the seventh day man is to refrain from labor in commemoration of the Creator's rest after performing the work of creation in six days. Thus the Lord proclaimed His will to all the earth, that the Sabbath is holy, a sign between Him and His people throughout their generations and a perpetual covenant forever, kept because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.
The days of creation are literal days, not vast indefinite periods covering thousands or even millions of years, and the claim that millions of years were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos is set against the literal interpretation of the Mosaic record. To reinterpret the days as long ages in order to accommodate the Bible to science undermines and destroys the force of the word of God. To turn the days into indefinite periods makes the fourth commandment senseless, destroys its force, and frees men from its claims. To make them indefinite and obscure strikes directly at the foundation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, because it charges God with commanding men to observe a week of seven literal days in commemoration of seven indefinite periods, which is unlike His dealings with mortals and is an impeachment of His wisdom, and to profess to believe the record of creation while holding that view is infidelity in disguise, the worst kind of infidelity.
The wonderful things found in the earth do not prove tens of thousands of years, because men, animals, and trees were larger before the flood and great changes took place in the earth at the flood. The creation record gives the only true time for relics found in the earth, such as bones of much larger men and animals, instruments of warfare, and petrified wood, which give evidence of a state of things differing in many respects from the present. Men, animals, and trees before the flood were much larger than those now living, and without Bible history geology can prove nothing.
Authority of Creation Record
The Mosaic record containing the command for light is the only authentic, pure account of the creation of the world, come fresh from the fountain of eternal truth with its purity preserved by a Divine hand through all ages. It is the most comprehensive and most instructive history possessed by men, beholding the power that laid the foundation of the earth and stretched out the heavens. Its bright rays shine into the far distant past where human research seeks vainly to penetrate, and it gives a history of the race unsullied by human prejudice or human pride.
It gives the plain, revealed facts that creation happened as Moses recorded and not as the result of natural causes. Just how God wrought in creation He has never revealed to mortals, and human science cannot search out the secrets of the God of Heaven, whose creative works are as incomprehensible as His existence. God has given sufficient evidence upon which to base faith, leaving men without excuse, yet in the last days the earth will be almost destitute of true faith. The creation record gives the only true time for relics found in the earth, such as bones of much larger men and animals, instruments of warfare, and petrified wood, which give evidence of a state of things differing in many respects from the present, for men, animals, and trees before the flood were much larger than those now living, and great changes took place in the earth at the flood, so that without Bible history geology can prove nothing and seeking to account for creation upon natural principles apart from the word of God leads to boundless uncertainty.
The great facts of creation it presents are pillars of the Christian faith, yet they are practically rejected, wholly or in part, by a large share of the professedly Christian world, who regard implicit confidence in the Bible as weakness and show superior wisdom by caviling at the Scriptures and spiritualizing and explaining away their most important truths. The supposed conflict between science and revelation comes only from erroneous inferences drawn from facts observed in nature, as when the claim that millions of years were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos is set against the literal interpretation of the record. In the last days the word of God will be considered unreliable upon the merest pretense, while human reasoning will be received though in opposition to plain Scripture, with men endeavoring to explain the work of creation from natural causes and by infidel fables, and receiving the suppositions of geologists which dispute the Mosaic record.
It is inconsistent to oppose the investigation of revealed prophecy, especially Daniel and Revelation, as too obscure to understand, while eagerly receiving mere suppositions about what God has not revealed. If revealed will is difficult to understand men certainly should not rest faith upon mere suppositions in regard to that which He has not revealed, for God's ways are not as man's ways nor His thoughts as man's thoughts. It may be innocent to conjecture beyond what the inspired record tells if suppositions do not contradict the facts found in the sacred Scriptures.
The record is to be the chief study in schools to carry minds higher than now thought possible and to keep heart and mind pure by daily supplies from eternal truth. There patriarchs and prophets are met in converse, and there is learned what redemption cost Christ, who was equal with the Father from the beginning and sacrificed His life so that a people might stand before Him redeemed from every common, earthly thing and renewed in the image of God. It contains broad principles of divine revelation and eternal life that the understanding must grasp and the heart must accept through the gospel of Christ, training heart and mind to preserve purity. Neglecting it for common ideas and trivial matters dwarfs and enfeebles the mind and makes education a failure.
Its great work of creation is to be taught to children on the Sabbath, especially outdoors among the fields and groves. When the earth came from His hand it was holy and beautiful, with every flower, shrub, and tree answering the purpose of its Creator, everything lovely to the eye and filling the mind with thoughts of the love of God, and every sound music in harmony with the voice of God. Sin marred that perfect work, and thorns and thistles, sorrow and pain and death are the result of disobedience to God, yet the earth though marred with the curse still reveals God's goodness. The green fields, lofty trees, glad sunshine, clouds, dew, solemn stillness of night, glory of the starry heavens, and beauty of the moon all bear witness of the Creator, and not a drop of rain falls and not a ray of light is shed on the unthankful world without testifying to His forbearance and love.
Christ the Promised Light
The light called forth by the word is a symbol of God's presence, for God is light, and Christ's speaking at the beginning to cause light to shine out of darkness declares His oneness with God and His relation to the whole human family. He is the light of sun and moon and star, and the spiritual light that shone upon Israel in symbol and type and prophecy. That light was not given to the Jewish nation alone, but as sunbeams penetrate to earth's remotest corners, so the light of the Sun of Righteousness shines upon every soul.
When spiritual darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people, God spoke again, Let there be light. The darkness then appeared universal and complete like a funeral pall, so that God's image could not be discerned, and His truth had been silenced. Even Judea was shrouded in gloom where men asked in vain what truth is, because truth had been silenced by superstition and traditions and the people were divided by contention, jealousy, and prejudice. In that moral darkness and gloom God sent Jesus, the light of the world, as Teacher, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to bring truth and to present the pure rich truth of heaven, so that the light of the glory of God was revealed in His face. With divinity veiled by humanity in order to touch humanity, He came as one with us, our example and pattern and divine instructor descending to shine, to counteract the destroyer by restoring the moral image of God in all who would receive Him.
The same word goes forth again in the night of spiritual darkness in the darkest period of earth's history just before Christ's coming, when the earth is without form and void in figure. That shining will come out of a night of trial and weeping and persecution for truth's sake, with God's light shining upon His people, an event to take place at midnight like the bridegroom's coming. The command for spiritual light amid accumulated error and fables and moral darkness to reveal truth was spoken in the heavenly courts to heavenly intelligences. The light is Christ Himself, the Messenger of the covenant who has come and the Sun of Righteousness arising to shine on eager listeners. It shines through preaching with simplicity and power of His pre-existence, His second coming in glory and power, His personal dignity, and His uplifted holy law. In that light He declares that all things the Father has are His and that He and His Father are one, appointing a kingdom and laying His hand on God's eternal throne with the ease and assurance of One who rules and reigns, putting on His head Deity's crown and sitting at God's right hand receiving supreme honor as God with the glory He had before the world was, distributing His gifts to all who claim them by faith.
Light in Believers and Mission
The creative energy that called the world into existence is in the Word of God, and that Word still imparts power and begets life. Every command in it is a promise that, accepted by the will and received into the soul, brings with it the life of the Infinite One. That life transforms the nature and recreates the soul in the image of God, and the life thus imparted is sustained by every word proceeding from God.
That same divine power that brought light and order out of nature's darkness and confusion can subdue a rebellious human heart and bring a person's life into conformity with God's will. It still works the same way in human hearts, commanding light to shine out of darkness to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, producing conversion and change in the minds and hearts of all true followers. When Christ is received within, He abides as the light of life, and this light is received by faith through opening the door to Him and receiving the Holy Spirit, for He reveals Himself in the heart by the Holy Spirit as the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing. When God commands light, light comes into being at once, and the same creating word spoken to the heart gives the soul an abiding Christ who is the light of life.
God speaks spiritual light into being in the sinner the moment he feels need of the Son of Righteousness and comes confessing sinful, unworthy, hopeless and helpless and pleading to be saved from perishing, and he is accepted and God commands light to exist and light exists. The heart once darkened by sin is then irradiated by the presence of Him who is the light of life, distress and woe are changed to praise and thanksgiving, and the sinner learns what it means to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That divine light humbles the proud heart by giving a view of Christ Himself, His generosity and His great love. It unites the believer to God for the saving of soul, body, and spirit, and causes the soul to behold His glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, so that of His fulness all receive grace for grace.
The command lifts the deep angry darkness of sin and guilt enshrouding man, rolls back the cloud of vengeance, transfigures the pall of death-like darkness hanging about the soul from threatening to glory, and reveals the character of God as beautiful, merciful and attractive in Christ, drawing repenting and believing sinners to live by the found ransom. That same voice of creative power alone can speak peace to the troubled world today with its corrupt rulers, confusion, perplexity, and restlessness like a troubled sea that cannot rest, where human theories and speculations bring only additional confusion, but men leave God out of their councils. As God's word called forth light at creation, it brings light into spiritual darkness for His people, and no human power can keep that darkness unbroken. This was proved by the extension of Protestant doctrines and faith which Charles V vainly endeavored to suppress in Germany and France, for he staked his kingdom, treasures, and life on crushing the heresy and in doing so battled omnipotent power, so his purposes failed, his armies were wasted by battle, his treasuries drained, his kingdoms threatened by revolt, and the faith he tried to suppress extended everywhere until, worn out in premature old age in the moment of apparent triumph, he abdicated the throne and buried himself in a cloister.
The first light at the dawn of the first day, when by the call of infinite power the heavens and the earth came out of darkness and light rose while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, is the symbol of the gospel light to be proclaimed in the earth by Christ's disciples. By its bright beams they are to dispel superstition, error, and tradition and usher in truth and righteousness, bringing back to allegiance those disobedient to the law of God, and they are to carry that light of truth to the world. In the last days that same Voice declares that knowledge of God's Word will not be confined to a few places but will fill the earth, shining forth from centers such as Nashville through the ministry of the Word and the publication of books large and small and through laborers with the missionary spirit going forth as heralds of the morning to the Southern field, with Christ heaven's Conqueror in their midst, so truth and righteousness live and continue to shine amid the darkness of this degenerate age.
When God looks upon darkness He commands light to enter it, and fields as dark as heathen lands, specifically the towns on the way to Brisbane — Newcastle, Maitland, Singleton, and Toowoomba — linked to Cooranbong and on to Sydney and Brisbane and the field from Newcastle to Sydney, must have the light of truth pass through them like a burning lamp. That light is Christ, the light of the world, to be uplifted before precious souls there to save them, with the Holy Spirit giving the eye of the soul power of sight to see the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from perishing. The verse means light must shine forth in clear, distinct rays with no question, no limiting, no setting of boundaries, and no withdrawing. That light is present truth displayed and circulated everywhere, with the Echo as a small paper given a large circulation, with every advantage of the new branch publishing house used to meet its obligations without jealousy, with works on present truth displayed and sent to another locality without delay when needed, with workers in season and out of season confessing the truth in every place, with the branch office made a light bearer to the world, and with God's blessing attending the work when His workers are sanctified.
It gives the call for light in dwellings, fulfilled when Daniel and Revelation are studied together with the other prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, sought through prayer for the Holy Spirit to shine upon the sacred page and open understanding to know what is truth. It shows God's plan in the beginning for equal use of the mental and physical powers. True education therefore embraces more than the study of books and includes useful employment, especially cultivation of the land, combining exercise of the muscles and reason in physical labor with exercise of the mental powers in study, as man was made to till the ground and to dress and keep the garden of Eden.