Passage: 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.
Questions:
3) Genesis 1:3-5: By creating it and separating it from the darkness for us, giving us morning and evening so we could see since our eyes do not see without light
Psalm 18:28: He keeps my lamp burning and turns my darkness into light–both literally and figuratively by keeping the devil at bay through His strength
Psalm 36:9: God is the fountain of life and in His light we see light, meaning in His light (under his loving influence) we see and understand His love in all that surrounds us.
Psalm 119:105,130: God’s word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (so we can see where we are going. Hopefully it’s His way and His path).
His word gives light and understanding to the simple. We understand better when we read God’s word.
John 1:4-8: God gave life, which is the light of men. This light shines in the darkness and the darkness (devil) does not understand it. John (the Baptist) was sent from God as a witness to the light so that all men might believe.
Here, they are speaking of Jesus as the light of the world. Through Jesus God gives us light.
John 3:19-21: Light is here but men still chose darkness. These people hate the light because the light exposes those evil deeds. Whoever lives by the truth (God’s word and laws) comes into the light and shows all the evil doers that what you have done is through God.
Light exposes evil. Light overshadows the evil when we do good.
John 8:12: Jesus says he is the light of the world and whoever follows him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6: God has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of Jesus. God made His light (Jesus) shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
We know God through Jesus, the light.
1 Peter 2:9: God’s chosen people were called out of darkness into His light (knowledge of Him). Light serving as a beacon.
1 John 1:7-10: Please start reading at verse 5: Verse 5 declares outright God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light (in Jesus and with Jesus and God) we have fellowship with one another, with Jesus, and we are purified of our sins.
4a) Having Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the faith, the belief of Jesus in your heart gives you light; whereas, non-believers do not have this light. We shine this light wherever we go. It should be evident in our actions that we have Jesus. If we do evil and walk in darkness, we are not living by the truth (and probably don’t have Jesus). 1 John 1:5-7.
Matthew 6:22-23: The eye (where we see light) is our lamp. If we are good, we will be full of light. If your eyes are bad (if you are evil or you shine evil or you do evil), you will be full of darkness.
2 Corinthians 6:14-17: Light cannot exist with darkness (remember in God there is no darkness). Thus, do not be yoked together with unbelievers. Today this would read “don’t hang out with unbelievers”. For their beliefs will influence yours. Choose your friends wisely.
Unbelievers are in the dark. Believers are in the light. They cannot co-mingle.
[If you did the study of Acts last year, this discussion will be familiar. It’s not to say not to talk or shun unbelievers or share the light with them. It is to say don’t spend all your free time with unbelievers who could unduly influence you.]
Ephesians 5:8, 11-12: Reflects 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 exactly. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5 speaks to avoiding darkness and do what pleases the Lord. Do not be partners with those who are disobedient for God’s wrath will be upon them.
Be imitators of God; be careful how you live; speak words of psalms and praise to each other and not obscene language. Speak of gratitude and thanksgiving from your tongue. Always give thanks to the Lord.
Philippians 2:15: We (believers) shine like the stars in the universe when we embrace the word of life (Jesus and God) and obey His commands. God will work in you to do His good purpose (Philippians 2:13).
Revelation 21:23-27: In the final days, there will be no darkness for darkness does not exist with God. The moon and the sun will no longer be needed for the glory of God will light the entire city/world as Jesus is the lamp. The nations will follow God’s laws (His light). Only those saved will exist there for no evil will enter.
Isaiah 60:19: “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.”
b) Personal Question. My answer: My potty mouth, my bitterness, my anger. I need to hold my tongue more. Not release my wrath to others and give it to God.
Conclusions: Wow! Exactly what I needed this morning. A study on how I am good even though I never think so. A review of some of my favorite passages from last year’s study of Acts. I am reminded of how I am supposed to reflect God’s light everywhere I go and how I am supposed to be an imitator of God, giving Him praise and thanksgiving as much as possible every day all day long. How I must speak words of love to all around me.
Gives me something to work on. I admit I had become complacent this summer in terms of my growth. I have had so much going on (trying to buy a house, dog dying, moving, school getting started again, finishing my novel) that I have neglected God’s word. BSF reminds me every fall how I need to stay in it. Even if only for 5 minutes a day.
Explanation of light: All light is white light. The sun is actually shining white light, but the white light is actually all the colors of the rainbow put together except for black. We only see color because each light beam is a different wavelength and when these individual beams bounce off of things, we see what is left. The rest of the lights are absorbed by the object. You see the color that has bounced.
The sky is blue because of our atmosphere. Our atmosphere absorbs a huge amount of light and what you see is the blue light waves that have bounced off of it.
Our eyes are designed to see with light. Without our eyes to see the color and our brains to interpret it, we wouldn’t see anything. Even at night, there is some light somewhere in the house or from the moon so we can see. Otherwise, it would be pitch black. Objects are black because they absorb all the colors of light.
God designed us this way. Some animals can see in the dark. Their eyes are designed and shaped differently than ours. But there is still light. These animals just need much less than we do.
Hence, you could say by itself light is invisible. Everything is invisible until light strikes it and bends around it. Then we see color.
Black is not a color for no light bounces off of black. It absorbs all of the light. The color of the devil and what we are most afraid of is nothing. Fascinating, isn’t it?
Explanation summarized from my kids’ Astronomy textbook entitled Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright P.20-23.
Side Note on the passage John 1:4-8: I am deeply surprised that BSF did not make us read the John 1:1-8. Here is the crux of the matter, where we are told Jesus was there from the beginning, that Jesus is the Word, Jesus was with God, Jesus is God, and Jesus was there from the beginning.
Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Notice God “created”. He didn’t “speak”. I had always pictured God as speaking the heavens and the earth but now I see Him as merely doing it.
This brings into the discussion of did God know man was to Fall and Jesus was planned from the beginning? Or did Jesus just always exist (yes, He did) but God was hoping He wouldn’t have to send him? It’s the question of Free Will and how much does man control his own destiny and does God know it all. See previous post HERE
I believe God knows what we are going to do before we do it, that He does know all. So He knew we’d Fall. He’d sacrifice His only Son. Yet He did it ANYWAYS!!! That’s the depth of His love for us.
So the question becomes: Would you?
Advice to all: When given all these different passages to look up, take the time to read before and after it. Especially this time there was a ton more listed before that was relevant to the subject of light. You have to understand the context of these passages in order to divine its meaning. Otherwise a verse here and there can seem completely irrelevant.
I know it’s time-consuming. But anything worth doing takes time. You just have to prioritize. The study of God’s word is not the place to cut corners. Watching less TV, reading one less chapter in your engrossing book, or giving up sleep (this is how I do this) are some places to cut.
Here’s a great verse by verse explanation on John 1: http://www.fridaystudy.org/html/john/john1.htm
I am so thankful that you are able to do this again this year. your blog was a great help and comfort to me last year when I would get stuck. I do the questions myself as far as I can go and if I get stuck I go to you. After I am finished with my questions I go to you again. I don’t feel quite as much a fool in my small discussion group after reviewing with you first. And a word that sticks with me from my wonderful lecture leader, “We don’t do the questions to GET DONE, We do them to let God change us”. That puts a entirely different slant on the whole process. Thank you again
for your support and encouragement and your help when we are STUCK.
I needed the encouragement of doing more from AtoZ Mom this week and then, you shared your lecture leader’s quote to not just do it to get done but allow God to change us. I like that and needed to hear that, too. Then, to see the comments below from a sister who lives on the other side of the world…and all of us studying God’s word together…what a blessing! Thank you!
Many thanks for your dedicated study of BSF.
You have been an inspiration to me and my study of Genesis .
Thanks for sharing with all of us .
I live in Hong and Kong and my sisters stay in China , we love your blog.
God bless you!
wonderful sharing! thanks
I needed to read your words at the end. Today, this time, I’m feeling like it’s indeed time-consuming and more “work” than pleasure. I wish I enjoyed the homework like others do. But thanks for your insight. God bless…
Cheryle,
This lesson was indeed hard and most days for me it’s work. The reward is the end when because of the work you have grown–even if you don’t see it or know it! Keep on truckin’!!
We are just in week 2 so guess I am little behind the rest of you. Knowing Jesus is the light of the world always brings such joy. And that He left the Holy Spirt to teach, comfort and guide us until his return. So the physical and spiritul teaching here is pretty phenomenal. I am so thankful for His love and Mercy. On the cross, I think the despair and pain he felt was not the physical but that He was separated from God (the void) as He took on the sins of the world. He would be the only one ever to experience that – until the final judgement to do so. I can not imagine the pain and agony to be separated from that light and love and He did it for us. A black hole if you will. Even Satan enters into and exists in God’s light and love (we know this since he spoke to God personally about Job, and also spoke personally to Jesus to tempt Him). I cannot imagine anything more horrifying, that eternity without His light….returning to the void before His light. Now that is truly Hell. God gives us glimpes of all this in Genesis 1.