1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,600 Hey, welcome to the Methodist Voice. 2 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:15,720 The purpose of our time together is to grow in the knowledge of God revealed in the pages 3 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:16,720 of scripture. 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:23,160 2 Corinthians chapter 3 tells us that when we contemplate the God revealed in scripture, 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,400 it transforms us into His image. 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:33,080 That transformation beautifies our minds and hearts and we then beautify the world together. 7 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,560 We think that's time well spent. 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:36,560 Thanks for joining us. 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,760 I hope you enjoy today's episode. 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,640 Welcome, welcome, welcome. 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:48,280 Thank you for joining us on the Methodist Voice podcast. 12 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:55,080 We are currently in a series called Primeval covering Genesis chapters 1 through 11. 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,760 In our previous episodes we covered verses 1 and 2. 14 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,720 Today we will be covering verses 3 through 5. 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:04,680 So let's get right into it. 16 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:10,200 Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 says, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 17 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:15,480 The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit 18 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,960 of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 19 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:29,040 And in verse 3, which begins our topic for today, and God said, let there be light and 20 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:35,880 there was light and God saw that the light was good and God separated the light from 21 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:37,480 the darkness. 22 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:44,280 God called the light day and the darkness He called night and there was evening and 23 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,900 there was morning the first day. 24 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:55,760 As we move on through Genesis, we immediately encounter a confusing problem right off the 25 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:57,560 bat. 26 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:05,100 God creates light on the first day, but He doesn't create the sun, moon and stars until 27 00:02:05,100 --> 00:02:07,160 the fourth day. 28 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:14,680 So what is the light that God creates on the first day if it isn't the sun, moon and stars? 29 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:19,160 This is a question that has perplexed theologians throughout time. 30 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,240 There have been many attempts at explaining this problem rather than try and cover all 31 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,480 of the possibilities, which would be endless. 32 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,280 It'd be a really long podcast. 33 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:34,880 We're going to focus on the explanation that makes the most sense to us here. 34 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:41,160 So as we begin the creation narrative, before we get into the light question, let's first 35 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,360 address the term day. 36 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:51,720 Now this is a huge controversy between those who insist on a literal 24 hour period and 37 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:59,360 those who insist it is a non-literal ambiguous phase of creation that matches better with 38 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:05,880 what we know from modern scientific speculation. 39 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:12,600 So to all to address both of those camps, I want to refer us back to Job 38 that's going 40 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:17,280 to guide most of our discussion of Genesis 1 through 11. 41 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,640 This is called primeval because this is content. 42 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:26,880 A lot of it is mythological in nature and it covers events that happened thousands of 43 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,920 years before any official recorded history. 44 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:36,520 So let's be humble about our opining about what's written there. 45 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,640 Here's what it says in Job 38 verse one. 46 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:44,920 God is speaking to Job out of the whirlwind and he said, who is this that darkens counsel 47 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,320 by words without knowledge? 48 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,960 Dress for action like a man. 49 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,040 I will question you and you make it known to me. 50 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,240 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? 51 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:02,040 Tell me if you have understanding who determined its measurements. 52 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:08,240 Surely you know, sarcasm noted that this is God telling all of us to be humble when we're 53 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:14,400 opining about his motives, his actions, his methods, because really when it comes to the 54 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,880 creation of the world, nobody knows what they're talking about. 55 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:24,600 Least of all, scientists who try and speculate about how the world was created and they have 56 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,840 absolutely no idea what they're talking about. 57 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:33,320 And so when it comes to whether or not it was a literal 24 hour period or an ambiguous 58 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:38,040 phase of creation, I don't know and neither do you. 59 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:44,360 And so we're just going to go with our best understanding based upon what we see in other 60 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,600 places in scripture. 61 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:52,540 So in the debate about whether or not Genesis one is describing seven literal 24 hour periods 62 00:04:52,540 --> 00:04:58,880 or not, I would refer you to an article by Steve Gardner at AuthenticTheology.com. 63 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:05,680 The title of the article is Exodus 2011 and 31 17 often cited by young earth creationists 64 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:12,320 do not necessarily refer to six consecutive 24 hour days. 65 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,920 And then here are some of the evidence that is cited from the article. 66 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:25,380 First Yom, the word we translate for day is used to mean two different things. 67 00:05:25,380 --> 00:05:30,320 Just right there in that single verse in Genesis one five, it says in Genesis one five, God 68 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:37,880 called the light day a 12 hour time frame and the darkness he called night a different 69 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,360 12 hour time frame and there was evening and there was morning the first day. 70 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:49,600 So Yom is translated day meaning daytime and then is translated day meaning something else 71 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,760 such as a 24 hour or indefinite period of time. 72 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:59,520 Another example would be from Daniel's 70 weeks in Daniel chapter nine. 73 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:08,920 Almost all commentators agree that the 77s should be understood as 70 weeks of years. 74 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,460 In other words a period of 490 years. 75 00:06:12,460 --> 00:06:19,120 In other words the 77s are not literal days. 76 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,560 It's used figuratively days of weeks. 77 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:28,020 It's used figuratively to described long periods of time. 78 00:06:28,020 --> 00:06:33,780 One of the early church fathers St. Augustine writing in the early fifth century noted what 79 00:06:33,780 --> 00:06:36,640 kind of days these were. 80 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:42,280 It is extremely difficult or perhaps impossible to determine. 81 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,500 Now that's a good humble statement. 82 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:49,800 Last bit of evidence we'll cite. 83 00:06:49,800 --> 00:07:00,680 The seventh day of creation from Genesis chapter two verses two and three is not 24 hours long. 84 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,720 In Genesis two verses two through three where we are told that on the seventh day God finished 85 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:10,680 his work that he had done and rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had 86 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:15,800 done so God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all 87 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,000 his work that he had done in creation. 88 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:25,360 The question we have to ask here is was God's creation rest limited to a 24 hour period? 89 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:34,080 On the contrary Psalm 95 and Hebrews 4 teach that God's Sabbath rest remains and that we 90 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:40,640 enter into it or prevented or we are prevented from entering into it. 91 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:52,320 Next word I'll say on this topic is from Thomas Oden the great Wesleyan scholar in his work 92 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:53,320 The Living God. 93 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:59,000 It's a commentary on the teaching of the consensus teaching of the early church fathers. 94 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,400 Here's what he says on the days of creation. 95 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,200 The word day or yom has several levels of meaning. 96 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:11,320 It is used in biblical Hebrew to mean not only a 24 hour day but also a time of divine 97 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:22,720 visitation or judgment or an indefinite period of time as in Psalm 110 5 Isaiah 2 11 and 98 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:31,580 12 and Jeremiah 11 4 through 7 or 17 16 to insist on a 24 hour day as the words only 99 00:08:31,580 --> 00:08:41,000 meaning is to intrude upon the text and to disallow the poetic metaphorical and symbolic 100 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,620 speech of scripture. 101 00:08:45,620 --> 00:08:56,060 So that being out of the way let's address let's move on to the light question. 102 00:08:56,060 --> 00:09:04,600 What is the light spoken of by Genesis 3 through 5 if it isn't the sun moon and stars? 103 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,800 Again there have been many opinions upon this. 104 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:12,760 I'll give you one example again going back to St. Augustine who lived from 354 to 430 105 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:19,960 AD he was the bishop of Hippo a prolific author and theologian. 106 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:26,440 Augustine believed that the light on days one through three was specifically created 107 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,860 not something which was later repurposed. 108 00:09:30,860 --> 00:09:35,440 He believed that God created angels on day one and that they were the light which shone 109 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:43,360 on the earth for three days likely based on scriptural references such as Psalm 104 4 110 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:51,760 Ezekiel 1 13 through 14 Matthew 28 3 Acts 12 7 angels are often lumped as luminaries 111 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:53,520 or as bearing light. 112 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:59,720 Job 38 7 again Psalm 104 4 Acts 12 7. 113 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:04,440 Now this is just one of the many areas of theological discussion that I think that Augustine 114 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:10,200 was wrong that came from answers in Genesis dot com that information about Augustine. 115 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:16,960 I happen to think that Augustine was off out of tune there like he was on on several topics. 116 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:24,360 Of course he was a great thinker but he was also deviated from a lot of the thinking of 117 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,880 other church fathers. 118 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:34,920 To start with I believe that the light displayed by the angels is what is called the uncreated 119 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,720 light of the glory of God. 120 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:43,800 So it's not a created light like Augustine speculates the angels are just manifesting 121 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:48,940 or reflecting the uncreated light of the glory of God. 122 00:10:48,940 --> 00:10:55,000 It's not a different light it is a reflection of God's uncreated glory and light like that 123 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:05,360 which is manifest by the Lord Jesus himself like he does on the Mount of Transfiguration. 124 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:10,280 And I'm going to tell you I think from several different places where I think this is the 125 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,160 correct interpretation. 126 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,740 I think the picture we're going to get in Genesis 1 through 11 is that originally while 127 00:11:17,740 --> 00:11:23,500 you had a supernatural and a natural realm those two realms coexisted. 128 00:11:23,500 --> 00:11:30,800 They lived together and so you will see human beings walking with God in the garden. 129 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:37,760 You will see human beings interacting with angelic creatures divine beings. 130 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:43,440 There wasn't this separation from the supernatural and the natural realm that we see now. 131 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,920 When we get to the end of this topic we'll see that's actually the picture that the Book 132 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,320 of Revelation paints. 133 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:53,500 The Book of Revelation is a recombining a reuniting of the supernatural and the natural 134 00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:57,720 realms in the Garden of Eden. 135 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:03,100 And so we're going to cite from different thinkers of the past how there is evidence 136 00:12:03,100 --> 00:12:11,240 of this thinking of the light described in Genesis chapter 1 verses 3 through 5 being 137 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:21,940 the uncreated light of the glory of God that is manifesting within the created order. 138 00:12:21,940 --> 00:12:30,280 So from the Midrashic tradition the Babylonian Talmud suggests that God originally created 139 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:35,560 a very special light on day one but that he hid that light and replaced it with sunlight 140 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:44,160 because he saw that people would be too sinful to deserve the original special light. 141 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,760 But was the light created on the first day? 142 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,280 This is from the Babylonian Talmud. 143 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:56,360 For behold it is written and God set them in the firmament of the heaven and it is further 144 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:03,160 written there was evening and there was morning a fourth day. 145 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:09,440 This is to be explained according to Rabbi Eliezer. 146 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:15,180 The light which the Holy One blessed be he created on the first day one could see thereby 147 00:13:15,180 --> 00:13:17,920 from one end of the earth to the other. 148 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:22,520 Of course the text doesn't say that, it's just somebody opining. 149 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,360 But as soon as the Holy One blessed be he beheld the generation of the flood and the 150 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:31,800 generation of the dispersion and saw that their actions were corrupt he arose and hid 151 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:41,200 it from them for it is said Job 38.15 but from the wicked their light is withheld. 152 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,040 Continuing with the commentary. 153 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:49,640 And for whom did he reserve it? for the righteous in the time to come for it is said Genesis 154 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,840 1 4 and God saw the light that it was good and good means only the righteous for it is 155 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,080 said say of the righteous that he is good. 156 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:03,040 As soon as he saw the light he had reserved for the righteous he rejoiced or said Isaiah 157 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:08,200 3 10 he rejoices at the light of the righteous. 158 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:13,880 So this Midrashic solution to a textual problem eventually became an important concept and 159 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,120 what is called the Kabbalah. 160 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:23,480 Whole books have been written about what it refers to as the buried light. 161 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,400 So the hidden light. 162 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:32,200 And so you can see in the text if you think again metaphorically the text talks about 163 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:38,360 the light being manifest and there's a separation between the light and the darkness. 164 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:47,080 God's uncreated light is only manifest in a certain sphere and we will say that that's 165 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,000 what the Garden of Eden is. 166 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:55,520 It's a place where God's presence and God's glory is fully manifest. 167 00:14:55,520 --> 00:15:00,200 And the mandate of human beings was to take the Garden of Eden and extend that environment 168 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,960 throughout the earth. 169 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:09,880 And so there is a separation between where God's presence his glory is fully manifest. 170 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,320 There's a distinction between the Garden of Eden and the rest of creation. 171 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:16,600 We see that we're going to see that in the text. 172 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,160 Let's look at what some other church fathers said. 173 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:25,220 This is Tertullian from 155 who lived from 155 to 220 AD of Carthage. 174 00:15:25,220 --> 00:15:28,480 He was an early Christian apologist and theologian. 175 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:36,720 He believed that the light was the physical manifestation of Christ's glory early in creation 176 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,680 week for millennia before the incarnation. 177 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:46,120 Now you will see the second person of the Trinity all over the Old Testament. 178 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:53,300 So in the Gospel of John, John testifies that the Logos, the second person of the Trinity 179 00:15:53,300 --> 00:15:58,800 was present with God and participating in the work of creation. 180 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:05,880 So Tertullian is working off of good biblical exegesis. 181 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:10,280 Then therefore, this is Tertullian again, then therefore does the word also himself 182 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:16,600 assume his own form and glorious garb, his own sound and vocal utterance. 183 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,260 When God says, let there be light. 184 00:16:19,260 --> 00:16:26,960 This is the perfect nativity of the word when he proceeds forth from God. 185 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:31,920 But in respect of the previous works of the world, what says the scripture in the first 186 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,760 statement indeed is made when the sun has not yet appeared and God said, let there be 187 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,100 light and there was light immediately. 188 00:16:40,100 --> 00:16:46,680 There appears the word and the true light, which lights man on his coming into the world. 189 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:53,300 From John chapter one, verse nine and through him also came light upon the world. 190 00:16:53,300 --> 00:16:58,240 From that moment, God willed creation to be affected in the word Christ being present 191 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,000 and ministering unto him. 192 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,700 And so God created again, that makes good sense. 193 00:17:04,700 --> 00:17:13,260 If you understand God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, God being an uncreated 194 00:17:13,260 --> 00:17:20,600 being, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity being an uncreated being, co-equal, 195 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:27,680 co-eternal with God the father, but in his form, a man. 196 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,460 Anytime you see God in the form of the man, in the form of a man, think of the second 197 00:17:31,460 --> 00:17:35,400 person of the Trinity. 198 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:40,480 Carrying on with another church father, Irenaeus. 199 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:45,960 In previous times, man, it is true, was said to have been made according to the image of 200 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:55,880 God, but he was not revealed as such for the word, according to whose image man was made, 201 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:57,480 was still invisible. 202 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:01,640 Therefore, also man easily lost to the likeness. 203 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:07,200 But when the word of God was made flesh, he confirmed both image and likeness. 204 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:12,240 For on the one hand, Jesus truly showed the image by becoming what his image was. 205 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:18,480 On the other hand, he firmly established the likeness by the co-assimilation of man to 206 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,400 the invisible father through the visible word. 207 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:30,560 So in the person of Christ Jesus, God unites, he ultimately unites the physical realm and 208 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:31,640 the heavenly realm. 209 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:39,440 Jesus Christ represents a union of both realms. 210 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:48,840 And Jesus Christ, in many places in scripture, is said to manifest the glory or the light 211 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:50,520 of God the Father. 212 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,800 Now let's talk about that word glory. 213 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,740 It's the Greek word doxa. 214 00:18:56,740 --> 00:19:00,680 And it comes from the Hebrew word kavod. 215 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:11,880 And so the dictionary entry on doxa, Strong's dictionary, says the usage means honor, renown, 216 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,480 glory, and especially divine quality. 217 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:23,320 The unspoken manifestation of God and his splendor corresponds to the Old Testament 218 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,700 word kabo, to be heavy. 219 00:19:26,700 --> 00:19:34,380 Both terms convey God's infinite intrinsic worth, his substance, his essence. 220 00:19:34,380 --> 00:19:45,520 So from Thayer's Greek lexicon, it says as a translation of the Hebrew term, again kavod, 221 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:52,360 in a use foreign to Greek writing, it speaks of God's splendor and brightness. 222 00:19:52,360 --> 00:20:00,880 Properly, it's a word used of the sun, moon, and stars, Acts 22, 11, 1st Corinthians 15, 223 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:10,800 40, used of the heavenly brightness by which God was conceived of as surrounded by. 224 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:15,120 And which heavenly beings were surrounded when they appeared on earth, with which the 225 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:24,840 face of Moses was once made luminous and also Christ in his transfiguration. 226 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:30,920 In the Targum and Talmud, Shekinah glory, the glory of God, which is simply a bright 227 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:36,360 cloud by which God made manifest to men his presence and power on the earth. 228 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:40,800 The manifest presence of God, there's a heaviness to it. 229 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,600 There's a weightiness to it. 230 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:48,280 Sometimes there is a shining light associated with it. 231 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,080 There's all kinds of examples of that. 232 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,980 The burning bush, when God speaks to Moses through the burning bush, says the bush looks 233 00:20:54,980 --> 00:20:57,760 like it was on fire, but it didn't burn. 234 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,880 Well, fire was the only word they had for light. 235 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,960 And so God's uncreated light was manifesting. 236 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,640 Men referred to it as fire, but it didn't burn anything up. 237 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:08,640 It was light. 238 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,240 It was uncreated light. 239 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,760 And that light was later manifest before Moses on the mountain. 240 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,760 And he came down and he spoke to the people and it says his face was shining and the people 241 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:22,000 cringed when they saw it. 242 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,520 We see the uncreated light of God manifesting. 243 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,920 Again, it's a light that doesn't come from the sun, moon or stars or any other light 244 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:30,920 source. 245 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:32,400 It is the glory of God. 246 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,700 When it manifests, it's bright. 247 00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:41,760 And it made it said it made Jesus face shine like the sun on the Mount of Transfiguration. 248 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:46,200 On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell, it says tongues of fire rested on each 249 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:47,200 one. 250 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:48,200 Well, what is that? 251 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:49,200 It's shafts of light. 252 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,240 It's the glory of God that fell on the disciples who were praying. 253 00:21:55,240 --> 00:22:02,000 And it was a shine, the shining light of the uncreated glory of God. 254 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,520 After Stephen stoning when it says his face shone like that of an angel, the heavens opened 255 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,880 and he looked up and he saw the sun seated at the right hand of God the Father. 256 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:17,640 And when Stephen beheld that it caused his face to shine with the uncreated glory of 257 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,280 God. 258 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:26,320 Different example when Paul's on the road to Damascus and God reveals himself to Paul, 259 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,360 Jesus reveals himself to Paul and speaks. 260 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:34,980 The same light that caused Stephen's face to shine caused an unregenerate and unredeemed 261 00:22:34,980 --> 00:22:39,440 apostle Paul to be struck blind on the road to Damascus. 262 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:44,320 He was like the other Jews who cringed when the light was manifest. 263 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:50,680 Jesus is described in Revelation with a face, the resurrected Jesus with a face that shines 264 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:51,760 like the sun. 265 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,680 Let's read from scripture what the scripture says on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 266 00:22:55,680 --> 00:23:02,120 17 verse 1 it says after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother 267 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:07,280 and led them up on a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them and his 268 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:13,840 face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. 269 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,520 He was shining. 270 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:21,140 It says the same thing about Jesus in Revelation 1 16 it says in his right hand he yelled seven 271 00:23:21,140 --> 00:23:28,040 stars from his mouth came a sharp to edge sword his face was like the sun shining in 272 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,840 full strength. 273 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:36,120 And then again Revelation 22 the end of the book you're going to notice it's going to 274 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:39,480 describe the Garden of Eden conditions. 275 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,920 This is from verse 1 of Revelation 22 then the angel showed me the river of the water 276 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:51,360 of life bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the 277 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:55,960 middle of the street of the city also on either side of the river the tree of life with its 278 00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:01,040 twelve kinds of fruits yielding its fruit each month the leaves of the tree were for 279 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:05,720 the healing of the nations no longer would there be anything accursed but the throne 280 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:11,660 of God and of the Lamb will be on it and his servants will worship him they will see his 281 00:24:11,660 --> 00:24:17,160 face and his name will be on their foreheads and hear this so that's describing the Garden 282 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:22,720 of Eden it's going to extend it's going to be extended throughout all the nations verse 283 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:34,240 5 and night will be no more they will need no light of lamp or sun for the Lord God will 284 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:40,820 be their light and they will reign forever and ever. 285 00:24:40,820 --> 00:24:50,680 In other words now it doesn't say there won't be any sun or moon or stars or lamps it says 286 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:58,420 in the city verse 2 none of those artificial light sources or natural light sources are 287 00:24:58,420 --> 00:25:05,440 going to be needed because God himself will outshine them all by fully manifesting his 288 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:13,400 uncreated light on the earth it will be powerful and it will be amazing and it will be awesome 289 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:19,300 and it will be a beautiful thing to behold for the redeemed. 290 00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:26,240 It says in Isaiah 24 23 then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed for the 291 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:36,360 Lord of Host reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders and 292 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:45,640 it will be their great joy and pleasure to contemplate and behold the uncreated glory 293 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:51,840 manifesting itself in the most beautiful light ever seen. 294 00:25:51,840 --> 00:26:01,200 To behold that and to be energized with it with an energy in life beyond measure. 295 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:09,440 It says in Numbers 14 21 but truly as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with 296 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:16,440 the glory of the Lord and that is the plan it's the same plan we're going to read about 297 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:22,320 from Genesis 1 & 2 God's mandate to human beings to take the Garden of Eden the place 298 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:30,880 where God is made fully manifest and fully known in an unhindered and uninhibited way 299 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:41,440 he wants the entire earth to be capable of being a receptacle of his uninhibited glory 300 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:47,240 that is that again Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14 for the earth will be filled with the knowledge 301 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:54,600 of the glory of the Lord as waters cover the sea. 302 00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,680 God wants the entire earth to be filled with his glory. 303 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:08,880 Psalm 57 5 be exalted oh God above the heavens let your glory be over all the earth that 304 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:17,960 is a prayer because that is the destiny of planet earth to be clothed with the very light 305 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,880 and beauty and glory of God. 306 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:30,560 Psalm 72 19 blessed be his glorious name forever may the whole earth be filled with his glory 307 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:36,440 amen and amen. 308 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:46,120 I want to read to you a Wikipedia entry that describes this it is an ancient concept from 309 00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:52,600 it's a particularly important concept in the Eastern Orthodox Church it's the essence 310 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:57,200 energies distinction that they make. 311 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:06,200 God's essence is distinct from God's energies or his light or his glory however you want 312 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:16,760 to phrase that in the same manner as the sun's essence and energies are distinct. 313 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:22,280 The sun's essence is a ball of burning gas while the Eastern Orthodox hold that God's 314 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:31,240 essence is incomprehensible as the sun's essence is certainly unapproachable and unendurable 315 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:39,480 so the Eastern Orthodox hold that God's essence is the same as the sun's energies on earth 316 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:48,520 however can be experienced and are evidenced by changes that are evident like the sun can 317 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:55,180 melt things it can harden things by dehydrating them it can grow things like plants it can 318 00:28:55,180 --> 00:29:02,520 bleach things changing their color the same as said of God's energies though perhaps 319 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:08,640 in a more spiritual sense like the melting of someone's heart or the sapping of someone's 320 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:16,280 strength the hardening of someone's heart God's energies can cause spiritual growth 321 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:23,400 God's energies can cause us to be bleached making our sins white as snow though more 322 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:30,920 physical and psychological manifestations occur as well like in miracles or in divine 323 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:40,120 inspiration people are inspired to create a product to write a book to love God more 324 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:45,680 whatever that might be the important points being made here are that while God is unknowable 325 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:54,320 in his essence he can be known or experienced in his energies and such experience changes 326 00:29:54,320 --> 00:30:02,400 neither who or what God is nor who or what the one experiencing God is just as a plant 327 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:09,200 does not become the sun simply because it soaked up the light and warmth and grew nor 328 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:15,240 does a person who soaks up the warmth and light of God and spiritually grows ever become 329 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:25,360 big G God though such may be called a child of God or again according to the Eastern Orthodox 330 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:34,360 Church a little G God just like the other divine beings in Eastern Orthodoxy they refer 331 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:41,920 to that as theosis the divinization of human beings our mandate on the earth in the time 332 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:49,360 that we have is to become people who are capable of receiving and reflecting the uncreated 333 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:56,640 light of God in greater and greater capacities and that process brings us to a place of theosis 334 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:02,880 where we are eventually divinized at the resurrection from the dead if you're a Wesleyan or a Methodist 335 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:11,280 we refer to that as a glorification but the ultimate destiny of every person is to be 336 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:18,480 resurrected from the dead as people who are capable of receiving that light and reflecting 337 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:25,160 it in differing magnitudes and differing magnitudes it says in first Corinthians 15 about the 338 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:31,840 resurrection from the dead just as star differs from star and brightness so it will be at 339 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:36,600 the resurrection from the dead resurrected human beings according to how they grew in 340 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:43,880 the things of God in this life will be capable of manifesting that light in greater and lesser 341 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:48,280 degrees. 342 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:56,040 Here's what Pope Gregory the Great said he was Pope from 590 to 604 AD he wrote of people 343 00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:04,840 by whom while still living in this corruptible flesh but yet growing in incalculable power 344 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:15,840 by a certain piercingness of contemplation the eternal brightness is able to be seen. 345 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:22,640 You can see it with your what the early church fathers called your noetic capabilities the 346 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:27,840 inner eyes of the heart the inner eyes of the spirit you're capable through contemplation 347 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:36,200 of seeing it here and now I wanted to end with a hymn from the 15th century it's a 348 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:46,360 Latin hymn called Colestus Forman Gloriae here's how it goes a wondrous type o vision 349 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:54,700 fair of glory that the church shall share which Christ upon the mountain shows where 350 00:32:54,700 --> 00:33:04,160 brighter than the sun he glows with shining face and bright array Christ deigns to manifest 351 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:15,160 today what glory shall be theirs above what joy and God with perfect love amen that's 352 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:24,520 inspiring to me I believe that we're capable through contemplation through the cultivation 353 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:32,160 of the inner life through union with God by faith in Jesus Christ through the indwelling 354 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:41,720 Holy Spirit we are receptacles of this uncreated light this energy this life and it manifests 355 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:48,600 all kinds of beautiful things in us and our goal in life is to grow grow in our relationship 356 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:57,080 with this God grow in our capacity to see this light to experience this light to manifest 357 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:04,560 this light in various ways and to have our labors rewarded one day at the resurrection 358 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:13,040 from the dead with a ever increasing capacity in the next age to engage with this light 359 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:20,280 to gaze upon it and enjoy it forever it's it's fascinating it's amazing so I believe 360 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:29,320 that's what Genesis chapter 1 verses 3 through 5 are teaching us God is manifesting his uncreated 361 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:36,000 glory within physical creation withholding it from some places that are not yet prepared 362 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:42,920 for it manifesting it in a particular place with the intent that through the work of human 363 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,620 beings in partnership with human beings the entire environment of the earth would be a 364 00:34:47,620 --> 00:34:55,280 place where he would eventually be able to openly manifest his glory on the entire planet 365 00:34:55,280 --> 00:35:00,000 that's the testimony of scripture that's the testimony of the book of revelation that's 366 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:07,600 the end game God being able to fully manifest his glory with human beings who are capable 367 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:18,520 of reflecting it and enjoying it and it's a thing of beauty great beauty to behold so 368 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:24,420 that gets us through verse 5 we will carry on with the rest of the book in coming weeks 369 00:35:24,420 --> 00:35:39,120 hope you enjoyed this episode look to see you again next time have a good one bye bye