Meaning (Genesis 1:3)

[3] And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

To my thinking, this is a key verse for the Biblical creation story. So much effort has been put into discussing and arguing the “day” issue (Which will be discussed later, no fear!) that this verse and its parallels in later creative action is overlooked.

God commands and creation obeys. This is the essence of the creation story. God is in control. God is sovereign. There is not struggle. There is no obstacle. There is no opposing power in the universe. God’s method, as much as it is revealed here, is simply to desire something to exist and it does.

You can’t over-emphasize this. It is the main point of this whole passage. Genesis 1 was not really written to provide us with all the answers we have regarding the creation event. There is no great interest here in the exact “how” God created. This is not a scientific text. There is no indication here of the “why” of creation. This passage is about God the Creator, not so much about the creation.

It is revealing that most people look to Genesis 1 with a million questions about us. “How did God make us?” “Why did God make us?” “How long did it take?” “When did it happen?” Etc. Etc.

If we want to see what is written here we need to simply ask, “Who is God?” or “What is God like?” That is the purpose of Genesis 1. Answer: God is more powerful than we can imagine. God is in control. God is creator, and He is the answer to all of our searches for meaning.