“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good.”   Genesis 1:3

In 1993 physicists at UCLA created what came to be known as “a star in a jar.”  They sent SOUND waves through WATER at such a high frequency that something remarkable happened: they produced white, hot LIGHT.  Granted, it was a very small light in a very small water receptacle, but it was Sonoluminescence and it had never been done before.  

At least not by people.  Just listen to Psalm 29:1-4,

“Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.  The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty… The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.”

2 Peter 3:5 reminds us that the earth was formed out of water and through water BY the word of God.  His powerful, majestic voice thundered over the waters, “Let there be light!” And instantaneously where there was once darkness over the waters, now there was light.  Perhaps like Psalm 29:1-4 describes it was a fiery hot light His voice produced, as in Sonoluminescence.  We don’t know.  But we do know that it was good.

It’s remarkable isn’t it, that God declares the light good, but gives us not a single clue as to what the light actually was.  It’s tempting to think of the light as the sun, since there was evening and morning that first day, but the sun wasn’t created until the fourth day.  Others have speculated that the light was emanating from God Himself.  1 John 1:5 tells us “God is light,” but that aspect, like every aspect, of God’s character has always been.  This light came into existence at a very specific moment in time while God Himself is unchanging and has always been.  

Not only is the source of that light a mystery, the properties of light itself remain a puzzle to the scientific community.  A beam of light is made up of tiny particles called photons which travel as a wave.  These photons are not matter.  In fact we don’t really know what they are but we know what they do.  Light radiates from its source electromagnetically reaching us as heat, light, and radiation, and coloring our world.  Did you know that?  Without light there is no color! You may want to look up more about that but for now just think about this description of Jesus in Hebrews 1:3,

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature and he upholds the universe by the word of His power.”

Did you catch that?  Jesus is the radiance of, or God’s glory shining forth.  And it is through His word that the universe was formed and continues to hold together.  John 1:1-18 describes this brilliantly.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him… The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”

The very Word that spoke the universe into being, the very glory of God, came and dwelt among the creatures of His own making, and they were so darkened by their sin and rebellion they didn’t even recognize Him for the true light that He was.  In fact not only did people not recognize Jesus as God who made them, they hated Him so much they murdered Him.  

Let that sink in a moment.

They murdered the God who made them.

The God who holds every atom together by the word of His power.  

He could have spoken everything right back out of existence at that very moment.

But instead we have 2 Corinthians 4:6.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The same one who spoke light into a dark world, speaks light into our own darkened hearts.  Why?  So we can know “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  Did you know that’s what you were saved for?  So that you might see Him, and know Him, and worship Him like the Psalmist, 

“O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, to Him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, He sends out His voice, His mighty voice.       Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel,and whose power is in the skies.”   Psalm 68:32-34