Genesis 1:3
The Voice – Part i
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? (Deuteronomy 4:33)
And God said — AND GOD SAID — divine authority — the Creator speaks. He is speaking by the word of His power. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3) The divine voice is heard throughout the darkness. For those of you who have stood in a valley and yelled, and heard your echo vibrating though the valley, think of how it must have been when the divine voice declared to the darkness, Let there be light. The voice of God reverberated through the entire creation; He speaks and there is light at the commandment of His voice.
In Genesis 1:1 we have the God of creation introduced; in Genesis 1:2 we have the divine Spirit of God introduced; and in Genesis 1:3 we have the Son of God exercising the word of His power to bring forth divine light into the darkness of creation. In the silence, in the darkness, a voice cried out; He is the harbinger of light. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:5) I want you to remember as you travel through Genesis Chapter 1 that this is the first divine voice that speaks, and all creation is a witness to this voice. Everything is now illuminated by the eternal light and power of God. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20) The scientist listens closely to the sounds of space; when in reality they are listening to the voices in the cathedral of God. The stars sing out, and praise the Almighty. It is only man who cannot receive or hear this divine melody. Somewhere beyond man’s scientific thoughts, and beyond the sight of the greatest astronomers there is an amphitheater on the very edge of creation in which all the harmony and voices of eternity sing the eternal praises of God. It is only man who stands on his hind legs, like a stubborn raring mule, and declares that there is no God. It is quite evident that man in this condition can only be led to God by a nose ring; for man is without truth and void of all spiritual understanding. He lies in a valley of evil that is darker than the very darkness of creation.
(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. (Deuteronomy 4:31)
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? (Deuteronomy 4:32)
Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? (Deuteronomy 4:33)
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? (Deuteronomy 4:34)
Reading this section in Deuteronomy Chapter 4, one must seek a true understanding of what is taking place. In this section there is a lot of ‘first’s’ for God has taken a people out of one nation and created a new nation; this nation would bear the name of His servant Israel. They will ever be recognized by this name until the great revealing of their Messiah and King when He gathers them in at the final days. It will always be His beloved and most precious Israel. In Deuteronomy Chapter 4, God gives us a brief summation of what He is doing, and how He has done this for this infant nation. If we could stand at the base of Sinai and listen it would be the first time that man would hear from the holy mount, and they would hear God speak out of the fire. For this nation, it was the voice of God. They had been brought out of Egypt by His great power and now His voice reigned down upon them as a thunderous clap. So great was this voice that Moses feared and quaked, And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (Hebrews 12:21)
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: (Hebrews 12:25)
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. (Hebrews 12:26)
God the Holy Spirit gives us the magnitude of His voice, and a further description of the effect of God’s voice not only on the people of Israel, but in the very creation around the holy mount whose voice then shook the earth. The majesty and power of His Person would be witnessed by the nation of Israel, a people who God had called out for and to Himself. Let us now read from Hebrews Chapter 3.
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: (Hebrews 3:8)
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. (Hebrews 3:9)
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. (Hebrews 3:15)
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. (Hebrews 3:16)
A Written Revelation from God
Some would ask, Why would God want man to have a written revelation of the Person of God? When we read the brief summary of God the Holy Spirit in Deuteronomy 4, and then read the result of unbelief in Hebrews Chapter 3, we see that this is the result of man having a written revelation of God, just think where man would be without any revelation of God. Even man in his lost state would not have made it this far. He would have totally annihilated the children of his father Adam. It is only by divine intervention and through a written revelation that man even exists today. God has worked through the fabric of history inserting His will over man to prevent man from destroying man’s own very being. God is the chief architect of all government; He sets them up, and He removes them according to His will. Now, at mount Sinai, we see Israel receiving the very revelation of God in a written form to them. After studying the first five books of Moses, one understands the divine dealing with Israel through it’s early history. By their disobedience and their transgressions against the very written revelation that God gave to them in the five books of Moses God chose to lead them into captivity (Babylonian captivity).
The Seal of God
All Scripture is given of God, it has His seal upon it. The Holy Spirit hovers over the very words that He has breathed. The Bible is a continuous revelation from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. There is no word from beginning to end that does not have the very same presence of divine light as the verse given in Genesis 1:3. Many turn away from the Old Testament simply because they cannot accept the depravity of man revealed in the Old Testament. The darkness of depravity in the Old Testament was only a step in revealing the One who would be the light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every man before salvation has to see or come to the end of himself. There has to be nothing left but God. And I believe, with all my heart, no one approaches God without divine revelation. When we consider the darkness of the Old Testament, I speak concerning the heart of man, God has always been light, and we saw that same light given to us in the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verse 1-5.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2)
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.(John 1:5)
In the first Chapter of the Gospel of John we are introduced to the word of God in a living sense: that this was the Being of the Son of God. We not only see, but we hear God’s voice through this first chapter of John’s gospel. As He declared light in Genesis 1:3, He brings forth light, and this glorious light of His Person brought forth eternal life for those who would be born of God, born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but of God. God was manifested in the flesh before the eyes of man. Up to this point in time, if we consider the populace of the entire world, they had turned away from all previous revelation. Yes, there has always been a remnant for God, but the majority of the world has taken on the darkness of evil and the devil. It is quite evident that they have the heart of Cain; for after His glorious and irrefutable testimony they crucified the Son of God.
The Pure Light Revealed to Man
He was manifested to bring them life, to open their eyes, to lead them out of captivity; and that captivity was the captivity of sin. The Lord Jesus cried out before man that He and He alone was the light of the world. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12) In this declaration He was revealing to man the total aspect of His divine light and glory. The light of the Lord Jesus Christ is above the light of the sun, the light of the moon, and the light of all creation. His light permeates the darkness from His throne. He is the God of glory, and the God of light. His glory manifests His light as His light manifest His glory. They are inseparable. On the mount of transfiguration we are allowed, once again, by the written revelation of God to man to see this wonderful glory which was brighter than the sun. The mount of transfiguration, as Peter said in his epistle, was to show forth the glory and majesty of the Son of God. This one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has been manifested to man is the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of His Person. (Hebrews 1:3)
Christ — the Power of Creation
In Genesis 1:3 we have the Son of God with all the power of creation, for all things were made by Him, and for Him, and He is before all things.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14)
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:(Colossians 1:15)
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:(Colossians 1:16)
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)
This is truly a wonderful revelation given to us of God. In verse 17 of Colossians Chapter 1, we want to pay special attention to the words, He (speaking of the Lord Jesus) is before all things. This not only takes in His divine Person, but takes in His divine life in glory; that He existed before the world was: before all things. The Son of God existed with, and in the glory of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:5) The glory that the Son of God possesses is the very divine glory of the Godhead. We are told by the Holy Spirit that Christ is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)
The Importance of Genesis 1:3
In Genesis 1:3 we have the revelation of this divine glory. This light that was brought to earth was the divine glory of the Person of God. Why is this distant revelation all the way back in Genesis 1:3 so important to us today?
The first question, Did the creation itself have the power to create it’s own light? The next question, Do we have the power to remove the darkness from our own soul? In both cases the answer has to be the divine light and glory of God is the only power to bring forth light and life to any of Adam’s fallen race. We could not be partakers of the divine light and life if it were not for the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus: His shed blood, and His glorious resurrection. We are partakers of this divine light which has given us divine life in Christ Jesus. We are partakers of His glorious and His eternal light as in Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:. As He is in the light so we are in the light. The same light that divided the darkness in Genesis 1:3 is the same light that has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The Light Witnessed
Turn with me to Acts 26:13, At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. The apostle Paul is reflecting on his conversion on the Damascus road. It was the manifestation of God’s glorious light above the intensity of the midday sun. This was the Person of Christ revealing Himself to the apostle Paul through the same glory and light that was revealed on the mount of transfiguration, and that transformed the darkness to light in Genesis 1:3. This was the light from heaven in the Person of God’s dear Son. He, the Lord of glory, opened heaven to reveal Himself to Saul (Paul). Paul stated that this light was all around him. Paul declared to king Agrippa that he was engulfed in the light of God. Paul was a man that was in total darkness. In his position, He was a persecutor of the Church, only this divine intercession could change the darkness of his heart to light. And only God’s dear Son could transform this lifeless dark mass of stone by His glorious light. The Lord Jesus said, Let there be light: and there was light. His glorious light completely engulfed Saul of Tarsus. The most ferocious persecutor now became the most persuasive advocate of divine life in Jesus Christ. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
If there is any doubt now that the Lord Jesus is this divine light that is revealed in Genesis 1:3, let us continue in Acts 26:15, And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. The God of heaven addressed Himself as, I AM JESUS. The great I AM takes on the name of Jesus Christ, and tells Saul that in all his persecution of His Church, he was in fact, persecuting the Person of Jesus Christ. Beloved, this is the closeness that our Savior in heaven has with us each and every day. If one could use the word transcend, He transcended Himself from heaven’s glory into each and every one of His children’s hearts. The light and effulgence of His glory is part of us. The Lord Jesus on the Damascus road declared Himself as the possessor of all divine light. Once again, when He spoke to Saul, it was that very same voice that gave light to darkness in Genesis 1:3.
The Voice of Divine Revelation
In the voice of God we also see the voice of divine revelation. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,. (Hebrews 1:1) This voice is revealed to us in the very first mention of his voice as divine light. In John’s gospel, Chapter 1, we are brought to the living word of God. In the beginning was the word, Genesis 1:3. In the beginning was the voice, in both Scriptures with the word and the voice the result is divine light. Without this divine light there would be no divine life which He has given to His children. In regard to Genesis 1:3, the sun and the moon does not come into existence until the fourth day. It was this divine light that brought forth ALL of the abundance that sprang forth out of the earth. God was the ruler of all His creation, and He and His glorious light would bring forth life out of the earth.
John Chapter 8, Genesis 1:3, and Deuteronomy 4:33 encompasses the marvelous revelation of both God’s voice and His light. This was revealed to the nation of Israel through Moses, God’ servant. On Sinai God spoke with His divine voice and power. He spoke from the mist of the burning fire of God. The voice came from a seat of judgment in the fire, but instead of judgment on His people, the Lord spoke to them in grace. These fires of judgment were held back by the voice of God.
In the New Testament, it is the very voice of God’s dear Son that holds back the fires of judgment for us. When all is settled in the divine plan, and the books are opened, and they who are in the Lamb’s book of life are separated from the goats then those who are without Christ will stand before the great white throne of judgment, and the fires and brimstone will not be quenched; and they will hear the voice of God. Consider your position today; hear the voice of God’s dear Son from His throne and give your heart and soul to Him and you will avoid hearing His voice at the great white throne judgment.
— Part 2 to follow. —
© Copyright 2016, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)