Creation: The Fourth Day - Lights in Heaven (The Trinity)

To This Point…

• On the first day the light came into the darkness. The allegories impart that Adam and Eve realized the situation they were in as a result of the rebellion –that a life had to be taken. And it’s about Jesus –the light of men– who appeared, showing the way to salvation for the lost –those still in darkness.
• The second day brought the separation between the waters below and above. It tells about the distance that God put between mankind and Himself –forming an existence without Him (death) and one with Him (eternal life). It also characterizes what took place between the Father and the Son when the Holy Spirit was taken up –leaving Jesus all alone on the cross.
• On the third day something new appeared –the dry ground rose out of the sea. It depicts Jesus’ resurrection –foreshadowed by Jonah’s being vomited up out of the belly of the great fish after three days.

Three Sources of Light

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)

The fourth day, was when the physical sources of light –the sun, the moon and the stars– were created.

The Sun – God the Father

The sun’s gravity keeps the earth positioned so that the right amount of light and heat are received to sustain life. It’s a picture of the Father as the source of eternal life and His bathing us in loving-kindness.

Just as the brightness of the sun’s light can’t be viewed directly, physical man can’t look directly at the glory of the Father. Moses was only able to see a bit of the back of God’s glory as He was passing by. Even that was enough to leave a radiance on his face that the rebellious Israelites were unable to look at it.

John wrote in Revelation that the Father will be the light for the new earth; here won’t be a need the sun anymore. Of course we’ll be there in our new resurrected body as the Bride of the Lamb.

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. (Revelation 21:22-24)

The Moon – Jesus

The moon has no light of its own: Moonlight is only a reflection of sunlight. We saw this in the Revelation 21 passage above. It explains that Jesus is the lamp for the Father’s light. Now here is more in 1 John.

The life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:2, 6-7)

Here’s a couple of more passages that refer to Jesus as “the image of God.” An image is what light makes when it shines on a body –in this case, the Father’s light shines on His Son.

The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-16)

And Jesus said in John 14:7-10 “If you’ve seen me, then you’ve also seen my Father.”

The Stars – The Holy Spirit

The stars depict the Holy Spirit shining in the darkness. Why multiple stars instead of a star? It’s because He shines through those He indwells! Each of us who have the Spirit within us is a little light to others in the world.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. (Philippians 2:14-16)

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. (Hebrews 11:11-12)

Let’s not get pious about it though. It’s the Spirit that produces light, we are only the lamps that carry the light –eternal life.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

We have been entrusted with the gospel. That’s a most important task –and a privilege. We are the Father’s ambassadors for Christ!

Three Time Tables

The sun has a daily routine as well as a yearly (solar) calendar it follows –and the stars also follow that same yearly cycle. Each day, as determined by the sun, is basically the same: evening and morning; sleeping and waking; resting and working. The stars, in concert with the moon, mark the seasons: times for preparing the soil; planting crops; harvesting; and letting the land rest. The moon is on a 28-day (lunar) cycle.

Solar and lunar calendars don’t exactly coincide. It’s as though the moon (Jesus) doesn’t have knowledge of the sun’s (His Father’s) timetable. I say it this way to relate what Jesus said to His disciples:

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (Matthew 24:34-36)

The sun pulls the earth toward itself in annual, seasonal cycles to show us that life is short –and that we need to be born-again like a seed that is dropped to the ground and sprouts up into new life.

The moon provides an additional pull approximately every six hours. That creates tidal affects on the seas –producing a lift of about three feet twice a day. It also causes tides on the dry land –that lift is about three inches. Likewise, Jesus pulls people to draw them up. The lunar cycle displays a coming into –and going out of– view revealing that Jesus came into this world and left it and He will return once more. These are all hints about Jesus’ efforts to save the lost (in the seas) –and His continual efforts to edify the saved (in the heavens).

The stars only provide supplementary light; they don’t particularly pull the earth toward them. In a similar fashion, we are lamps to hold the light which directs men to the Father’s salvation.