It Was Good

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. - Gen. 1:3-4


Had you ever thought of the creation story in Genesis chapter one as a moral story? There is a value of "good" reckoned on the works of God in this story. God first made light and separated it from darkness. The light God made was "good." The sky was good; the dry land was good; trees and grass, the fish, birds, sun, moon and stars, and all living things were good. Humanity created in God's image was also seen by God and called "good.". Indeed God looked upon all He had made and it was "very good (Gen. 1:31)."

What does good mean here? What is light and darkness? Notice that the light is made independent of the sun. The sun, moon and stars do not come until the fourth day. Vegetation that requires sunlight to grow comes into being before the sun is created. Might the light separated from darkness point to holiness separated from the profane or the common? Might the pure radiance of God be portrayed by light and the evil of chaos and death be represented by darkness, the absence of light?

God spoke and Abram came out of the land of the Chaldeans to be the father of a great nation, a holy people unto God (Gen. 12:2; Ex. 19:6). Abram separated from pagans.  Jesus taught that the Jews were light to the world (Mat. 5:14). And the apostle Paul wrote:

You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness (1 Thes. 5:5).

The Hebrew word translated to "good" can mean "excellence; the best; pleasing to the eye."  The same word is used to describe moral excellence, being a pleasure to God.

In 3 days God forms the earth by separating light from dark, waters from sky, and dry earth from seas. The next three days God fills the earth with life. And on the seventh day God rested making the day holy.  The Lord is doing the same thing through Israel.  He forms a holy people by separating them from deeds of darkness through the light of the Law.  Jesus Christ, God's Son is the Light of the World.  Christ is the fulfillment, the completion of God's work through Israel. And God fills His church with the Holy Spirit.  He fills His church with life and beckons them to remain faithful so they might enter into His rest, His eternal sabbath (Heb. 4:1-2, 8-11).

God invites us to share in His sense of time. We are to separate ourselves from the things of darkness which lead to barren wastes and death.  We are to be fruitful through good works for God's glory and fill the earth with His praise as we march ever forward for the completion of all things and the promised rest for all who love God.

Indeed, it is very good!