First Things First - Genesis 1:4–5

Two weeks ago, we began making our way through Genesis. In this book, we not only learn about the origin of our universe, but we also learn much about the God of our universe. The great prophet and leader Moses began writing these things down sometime after he led the people of ancient Israel out of Egypt. Those people had lived for many generations in Egypt as slaves.

They were familiar with the false gods of that nation, but through His mighty works and through His written word given to them through Moses, they were introduced to the true God, the only God, our creator. His written introduction starts this way: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” At that time, the earth was a landless, dark, watery mass. “Primal world ocean,” as one scholar describes it. The Scripture says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.”

But the self-existent God, who had created the universe from nothing, was there. “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters,” like a mother eagle fluttering over her offspring. The earth was an empty, disordered abyss, and then God intervened. “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” God did not create the sun until Day 4. That first light which shone into our universe was the holy, transforming presence of God.God did not figuratively produce this light; by His powerful spoken word He literally illuminated the darkness with Himself.

Now, as we read Genesis 1, we must remember that as Moses proclaimed to the Israelites these things about God, they were learning: this was the God who performed the plagues against the Egyptians that led to their release; this was the God who parted the Red Sea to deliver them; this was the God who led them and provided for them and who saved them not because of works they had done. They were learning that God possesses absolute power and authority .

Later in Genesis we see the creation of man and woman and their roles in the created world. We see their sin against God, which was essentially an attempt to “be like God.” And each generation now faces the same temptation and commits the same sin: we naturally assume a sense of power and authority that belongs only to God.

Don’t get me wrong, I affirm the right to own property and the importance of personal responsibility. God has given humans a degree of dominion in the world. But we want more. More control, more freedom of choice, more authority in our lives. We quickly forget that all we possess comes from God; any control we exercise is from God; all we are able to earn or accomplish we do so only by God’s help. Every opportunity we have is only possible according to His plans. But we naturally think of ourselves as having more power and authority than we actually do, and this puts us in conflict with Him.

And yet God has not abandoned us. He is patient and He extends mercy and grace to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And as we look to Jesus, God changes His people into ones who love and honor His power and authority.

Therefore, we should look to Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 4 in the NT, the apostle Paul refers to Genesis 1 as he writes, “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.”

We should look to Jesus, but as we do, what will we see? These verses offer part of the answer to that question. You can find an outline on page 6 in the WG. As we look to Jesus, we see that God establishes boundaries in the world He made and God gives meaning to the world He made. Not only did God create our world, but He establishes the boundaries within it and defines the meaning of it. So let’s look at these together.

Notice verse [4], “God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.” He divided the light and the dark. This is the first of many divisions that God makes as He creates. Later on, He divides the waters, and the water from the land, and the day from the night. He creates male and female. Eventually he separates the people of Israel from the other peoples of the world. And he divides the promised land among them. Over and over in redemptive history, we see God establishing boundaries.

We all know about boundaries. Maybe you’ve heard of the mother who said, “My daughter thinks I don't respect her personal boundaries. Or at least that's what she wrote in her diary.” There are boundaries everywhere we go. I was speaking to someone recently who pointed out that mountain roads don’t have guardrails. Some do, many don’t. But even without the guardrail, you know where the boundary is. Beyond a certain point is danger. We observe boundaries everywhere we go. Property boundaries, relationship boundaries, family boundaries. Athletes who compete just stay in bounds. Parents set boundaries for their children, teaching them how to live within the limits.

The man named Job, who famously suffered and was humbled before God, acknowledged God as the one who made “the boundary between light and darkness,” and in Psalm 119 (also in the OT of the Scriptures), the psalmist uses that same Hebrew word for “boundary,” but in a different way. The psalmist declares, “Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes,” in keeping Your boundaries.

He was referring to the law of God. You see, not only has God established material boundaries in the world He made, but also, He has established moral boundaries. That is His exclusive right and His privilege as Creator. He does so by His own power and authority.

Notice that Moses says that “God saw that the light was good.” Why was it good? Because God saw it that way. God declares what is good and what is not good. He establishes the boundaries between good and evil, between right and wrong, between true and false. And continually, the boundaries that God creates are good. They are helpful for us. His boundaries exist for our protection, for our health, for our wholeness, for our joy and peace. This is why later in Psalm 119, the psalmist cries out, “Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.” In other words, teach me Your boundaries. Help me to live within the boundaries You have established.

Do you recognize God as the one who has set the boundaries for your life? You exist within the universe God made. Where have you attempted to exercise power and authority that is not yours? Where do you find yourself violating the boundaries of God? In 1 Corinthians 6 in the NT, the apostle Paul addresses sexual immorality among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.

And he makes a short statement that applies not only to that issue, but to the broader issue of power, authority, and boundaries. He says to the church, “You are not your own.” That would be stating the fact in the negative. But earlier in that letter, Paul states it positively. He simply says, “You are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”

Do you belong to God? Often we hear that all people are God’s children, everyone born on this earth. But the gospel of John describes the children of God differently. John says there is a boundary between those who belong to God and those who do not. He says that many people did not receive Jesus, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” There is a boundary between God’s children and His enemies. Where do you stand?

Now look again with me at verse [5], “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Not only did God create Day and Night, but also, He named them. To the Israelites, the naming of things and people reflected authority over those things.

Later in Genesis, we will follow the family tree of Abraham to Isaac and then to Jacob, as the covenant work of God progresses. And God does something fascinating, first with Abraham, and later with Jacob. He changes their names. In fact, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, hence, the “Israelites.” As Moses told the Israelites about the creation of the world, they saw that the same God who named Day and Night had given them their name as well, a name that had significance.

Their name was loaded with meaning. Actually their name defined them as a people in relation to God. John Currid, an OT scholar and archeologist whom I study, points out that in the ancient world, the name of something and the identity of that thing were closely bound, so close in fact, that an object took its identity from its name. He says, “In the creation account, the naming of created objects certified their essence and existence. Without names, they had no real being.” God gave existence to the world He made, and He gives meaning to this world.

It’s common in our world today for people to struggle with a sense of meaninglessness. How frustrating is it to spend your time, energy, and money on something, only to later on come to the conclusion that there was no purpose to it? Conversely, a sense of wholeness and satisfaction comes when we are able to accomplish something or contribute to something that is meaningful. There is an epidemic of meaninglessness in our time. Perhaps more than ever, people are asking, “What is the point of it all?”

As a kid, one of my favorite movies was The Karate Kid. We recorded it on VHS from TV, and I would watch it over and over. Perhaps you’re familiar with it. In the story, a wise old man teaches a young boy karate so the boy can defend himself. And the boy wants to learn karate moves, but instead the old man has him paint a fence, sand a deck, and wash cars.

The boy eventually gets frustrated. He sees no point in these chores he has to do. But then the old man reveals that as the boy did the seemingly meaningless chores, he was learning the fundamentals of self-defense. He was learning fighting techniques.

Regardless of how you may feel about life, based on what you’ve endured or what you observe in this world, your existence is meaningful. By His own power and authority, God made this universe and He put you in it. You exist for a reason, and that reason is for the glory of God. Human life is a God-centered existence. It must be a God-centered endeavor. As I said earlier, we naturally assume a sense of power and authority that belongs only to God, and part of that is that we attempt to redefine the meaning of things.

Take, for instance, the sun in the sky. A man-centered way of thinking would be that the sun exists to give heat and light to the earth. But the God-centered person recognizes that the sun exists to glorify the living God, and it does so by giving heat and light to the earth. The sun finds its ultimate meaning in the God who created it. And so do we, so must we.

If we are to stop trying to take from God the power and authority that is His alone, we must see that God gives meaning to the world He made. We must embrace His ways. We must surrender our plans and trust His plans. We must see that God defines our purpose. God gives meaning to our lives. The prophet Isaiah wrote about the God’s salvation that was coming to the world, and He says with that salvation, “You shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.”

Without a doubt, we have all transgressed the boundaries of God. In fact, we often refer to sin as “transgression,” which means “to go beyond the bounds.” And we have all attempted to redefine the meaning of so many things in our lives. The meaning of love, money, marriage, parenthood, work, recreation, sexuality, material things, technology, and the list goes on. We naturally make them self-centered things.

But there was One man who lived his earthly life within the boundaries set by God for man, and He fully understood and lived in light of the meaning God gave to the creation He made. That man was the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are to be changed, we must look continually to Him. The temptation is to look mostly at yourself or to the “best version” of yourself. But you see, if you do that, then you are the focus. You put yourself at the center. We must look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. If we look mostly at ourselves, we will either become discouraged over our failures or delusional about our successes.

19th century Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne understood the gospel of Christ and the command of God when he wrote, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.” Have you looked to Jesus Christ in saving faith? Have you confessed that you are a sinner and have you trusted in Him and His righteousness alone? And do you look now to Him each day and throughout your day?

On the first day, God began to establish boundaries and provide meaning for our world. Like the Israelites, who heard these words of Genesis through Moses, first things first, we must surrender everything to the power and authority of God our Rescuer. As we begin this new season with the Lord at this place, first things first, we must acknowledge His rule over us and this place. First things first, we must embrace the new name that He gives. And do all these things, we must continually look to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let’s bow together in prayer.