Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. From the scriptures we've studied so
far, we have sufficient evidence to conclude
that the works that Jesus did were contained
from the scriptures, that is, from the Old Testament
scriptures. And the apostles also did exactly
what Jesus did. The context of their ministry,
the things they did, the things they taught,
were from the Old Testament scriptures. So we're
trying to examine the writings of the prophets,
And we asked, we said, do the New Testament writers
ask the same questions that we are trying to
answer today? And we were able to establish some
certain things that, you know, they had a context
to what they were writing, right? They had a
context to what they are writing. We say that
one of the challenges we face today is our desire
to answer today's questions. using the writings
in the New Testament. But we must be careful
not to move into error because in our bid to
apply these scriptures, we tend to negate or
forget the context and the questions that these
writers were trying to answer. So it is necessary
for us to rightly interpret the scriptures in
their context so that in our application we can
rightly apply the word of God. Hallelujah. So
as men that God has called to continue the work
of the Apostles, we are obligated by virtue of,
you know, the ministry we've received that is
of the Lord to rightly divide the word of truth
so that we would not teach what is an error.
So one of the most important principles we've
established that in biblical interpretation of
the New Testament particularly we must consider
or We must allow the New Testament writers to
answer the questions they were actually addressing,
rather than forcing our own ideas into what they
were writing. So we say that every episode was
written to real audience with a specific historical
context and to address a particular issue facing
the early church. So our responsibility is to
first understand their questions. What are they
trying to answer? What was the situation? For
example, now if you read the context of the Corinthian
church, there were several things that were happening
in that church. So the epistles were written
specifically to address some of the horrendous
practices in that church. And even though that
church is a church of Jesus Christ, even that
church had a sense of God, but there were some
malpractices happening in the conduct of the
believers. So we see how Paul will write to correct
some of those things happening in that particular
church. We say that the things that were written
were written not to us, but for us. That from
them we will learn we can edify ourselves from
what we were written, but we must understand
the context of things that were written. And
also, you know, we talk about some things that
the writers of the New Testament, We're not focusing
on, we talk about the issue of women ministry,
which we didn't go into details. The issue of
salvation, which we say that the New Testament
writers, you know, did not actually, their intent
was not to address the issue of whether people
can lose salvation or not, because in our careful
study of the New Testament scriptures, we will
realize that there is an assumption that salvation
is eternal. And there is no any hint of whether,
the believer is losing salvation or not but does
that mean that we can answer those questions
from scriptures when we look at the whole context
of gospel we can answer those questions hallelujah
so but then we must appropriate scriptures in
the context to which they were given so that
we will remain within the authority to which
the scriptures has been given so one of the things
that was assumed in scripture was marriage Hallelujah.
When I mean marriage, I mean marriage practices
in the epistles, right? Marriage practices. For
example now, in the New Testament, consistently
assume the reality of marriage between a man
and a woman. Are we together? But gives very
little information about how marriage ceremonies
were conducted. You know, for example, the scripture
never tells us how Priscilla and Aquila were
married. They didn't tell us the pastor that
joined them together, but we know that they were
a couple who were married and they were serving
the Lord. Hallelujah. So if you're going to the
Bible to answer whether it's a church marriage
you want to do, or it's a court wedding you want
to do, or it's a traditional whatever it is,
the Bible is not there to answer such kind of
questions because it was not written in that
way, to answer such questions. But does that
mean that we will not be able to address such
kind of issues? within the scriptures. Yes, we
can address such issues, but we must be able
to look at God's Word in a totality in order
to arrive at a conclusion concerning issues that
face us today, because contemporary questions
must be answered within the authority of God's
Word of the entire scriptures. So likewise, as
we said, the New Testament never prescribed a
church within Or exchange of rings or anything,
but we know that customary we see this and happen
and we've mistaken to adopt those things as scriptural
They may not necessarily be scripture, but they
are practices that may not in themselves be sinful
right so The text cannot legitimately answer
a question. It was never intended to address
Faithful interpretation begins by asking what
question was the Bible offers answering? What
question we do answer only after understanding
the original context should we apply its timeless
principles? To the contemporary issues we face
in our lives today So Paul will tell Timothy
once again in second Timothy 2 verse 15 be diligent
to present yourself a proof of God Rightly handling
the word of truth. So likewise, Jesus Christ
will see He himself modeled this method by rightly
interpreting the word of truth for us. Hallelujah.
So what are the questions we are facing today?
Today we are faced with diverse questions today.
In our contemporary world today, we are faced
with issues the New Testament writers did not
address directly. All right? such as, as I've
mentioned earlier in my example, the idea of
transgenderism, whatever it is, was never a matter
of discourse in scriptures. Issues of abortion
was not a topic of discussion in the scriptures.
So how do we answer such kind of questions? Issues
about surrogacy, issues about capitalism, issues
about democracy, was not the questions that were
answered or asked in scriptures. Issues concerning
socialism, communism, in fact, even slavery and
colonialism were not, you know, the issues that
the Bible writers were attempting to answer,
whether it is good or it is bad. That was not
their intention. You know, sometimes we'll face
people that will come to us with very confrontational
issues and questions. they will tell you that
the bible is encouraging colonialism or is encouraging
slavery the bible is written to enslave people
is written to control slaves but when you look
critically contextually the scriptures were not
written with the intent of executing these kind
of you know practices so we cannot appropriate
source interpretation to scriptures because that
was never the intent of the writers from the
beginning So we must be able to know the truth
about the world's work understand the purpose
for these scriptures understand the reason or
the inspirations of those scriptures the questions
that they were answering at that moment in order
for us to address the contemporary issues we
are facing with today hallelujah and in the process
of addressing our contemporary questions today
we must uphold the entirety of scripture in that
attempt to answer that from Genesis to revelation
because when we pick a passage it will not be
adequate because the word of God is the entirety
of the word that enables us to look at we can
look at God's plan in entirety and they will
be able to give answers to every issue so the
Bible writers never wrote about online church
because they will not even understand what is
online church I believe that when Paul was saying
never neglect the the gathering of the brethren
he was very specific And he didn't say that that
garden of rebellion can be online. All right?
But we cannot even condemn online church from
reading the epistles. But from the entire council
of gods, we will know the plan of God. And when
we read the entire council of God, we will know
that church actually cannot be online. Because
there are some certain things we can see with
evidence of the entire scriptures that indeed
will not benefit powerfully and well from what?
From that kind of process. or system. So the
entertainment -driven worship of today were not
some of the things that were exposed in scriptures
or attempted to explain to us. Feminism, you
know, is one of the issues that today we are
faced every day. I confronted someone that is
very close to us from this church, the person
I've left. The person wrote a whole lot of things
about the issue of feminism, the issue of patriarchy,
something, something. And I have to take the
person back to the plan of God to see what is
God's original intention for creating man and
woman. So when we navigated through the plan
of God, I will look at the whole council of God
concerning these issues, the person realized
that the scriptures, well not properly interpreted,
will allude what it has never been intended to
say. Hallelujah. So outside Christ, outside the
plan and the purpose of God, the scripture can
mean anything. But that is not the intent of
it. That's not the intention of the scriptures.
So we must understand how to rightly handle this
Bible. This scriptures has been given to us as
a guide to the exercising of the authority that
we have to do greater works. So I said, yes,
are the scriptures, especially the New Testament,
sufficient to answer our contemporary questions,
the scriptures and the New Testament? The answer
is yes. The scriptures meaning the entirety of
God's word is sufficient enough. The New Testament
may not address these issues directly, but it
provides the biblical principle and the interpretative
framework for us in order to answer some of these
questions. So we answer today's questions not
by forcing modern issues into the Bible, but
by understanding how the Bible authors address
the issues of their day. And then we faithfully
apply those same God -inspired principle. to
our contemporary challenges that we face today.
Hallelujah. So I want us to look at an issue
that was raised during Jesus' time. Then we will
just follow a little bit of his pattern. Then
we will have a clue of how we can address some
of the issues that we face today. For example
now, when Jesus Christ was confronted with the
question of divorce, when Jesus was confronted
with the controversial issue of divorce in his
time, it was controversial. He did not begin
with contemporary opinions of cultural practices.
All right? He didn't begin to tell them, oh,
you know, in the case of so and so and so, this
was what happened. No. He went straight to the
scriptures. He returned to God's original design
revealed in the scriptures. Hallelujah. Now,
let's go back to the text we read in Matthew
19 verse three to nine and see an examine and
see a model on how we can address even the question
that we face today. Okay? Matthew 19 verse 3,
Matthew chapter 19 verse 3. The Pharisees also
came to Jesus, to him, testing him, and saying
to him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his
wife for just any reason? For just any reason?
And he answered and said to them, have you not
read that he who made them at the beginning,
made them male and female? And said, For this
reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife and a two shall become
one flesh So then they are no longer two but
one flesh therefore what God has joined together
Let no man what let no one separate verse 7 they
say to you why then did Moses Command to give
a certificate of divorce and to put our way He
said to the Moses because of the hardness of
your heart Because of your hardness because of
your hardness of heart permitted you to divorce
your wives but from the beginning It was not
so from the beginning girls never intended for
divorce In fact, we'll read some scriptures in
the Old Testament. We'll see where Jesus the
Bible is written that you know, he had got he
had divorce, right? Yes, he hates divorce. I
think I've forgotten the text. Yeah Malachi,
right? So if God was a head divorce, then why
would Moses give a certificate of divorcement?
So and he said to them Whoever divorces his wife
except for sexual immorality and marries another
commits adultery and whoever marries her who
is divorced commit adultery so The Pharisee acts
in verse 3 is it lawful is it lawful that a man
divorces his wife for any reason So Jesus answered
by taking them back to Genesis, all right? Back
to Genesis, not to the current debate, but he
went back to the original plan of God, the intention
of God, the counsel of God from the beginning.
And what is the counsel of God? He said to them,
have you not read that he, that is God, who created
them from the beginning, make them male and female.
Therefore, what God has joined together let no
man separate. So when they appeal Moses's permission
of divorcement in Deuteronomy 24 verse 1 to 4,
Jesus clarified, they get clarity to what happened.
Hallelujah. So we as well are to give clarity
to questions that will arise from some of the
things we see in scriptures. Someone has once
asked the question that why is it that, you know,
why is the Bible so bloody? That will see a scripture
where God will give them command to go and wipe
a generation. Why is the Bible so genocidal?
And I asked him a question. I said even did in
the scriptures the children of Israel went and
they wiped a generation completely. Let's say
for example now which tribe was always they have
always fighting? The Amalekite, right? First
instance, they said and you hear the report that
they He saw the entire Amalekite and none was
left. And after 203 -05 he heard that the Amalekite
came and overcome. Where did the Amalekite come
from? Even did they were erased from the face
of the earth. How comes we see after 203 kings,
in fact the Amalekite will still be coming to
fight them. So it doesn't mean that they were
not really erased. Yes, you must understand biblical
language. When you write reports about war, especially
in their time, in their context, right? For example,
Nani, if I say Arsenal demolish Man U, five goals
to zero, we kill them completely. We ensure that
none of them was alive in the game. Am I literally
saying that we kill the entire players on the
pitch? No. But you must understand that it's
a way of communicating our victory of demolishing
them. He's laughing. Hallelujah. So you must
understand the way the scripture is written,
the way they narrate these issues in scriptures.
They're not saying that they're erased because
we see them several times. In many, many years
we'll see their existence on the face of the
earth, hallelujah. So we must be able to understand
scriptures properly, contextually, understand
the background and the context, the historical
context, the cultural context of those people.
in order for us to arrive at a better understanding
of scriptures. So we see Jesus Christ giving
clarity to an issue, right? It says, Moses permitted
you to divorce your wives, verse eight, because
your hearts were hard, but it was not this way
from the beginning. So let's notice Jesus' method.
He acknowledged the present question. Did he
dismiss the question? He acknowledged the question
that they were asking. And then he returned to
scriptures. Where did he return to? He went back
to the scriptures. He distinguished between God's
original intention and the temporary concession
made because of human sin, because of human inability.
Hallelujah. So we see the techniques he used.
He interpreted the alt -estimate in the light
of God's redemptive purpose. He interpreted that
question or he interpreted that scripture in
the light of God's redemptive purpose. Therefore
giving clarity to God's plan and God's purpose.
Why did God give, why did Moses give him the
permission to divorce? It's because of their
stubbornness. Because some of them as passers
-by told us that if we allow them with the wife
they may even do domestic violence will be so
high. Because those who were so stubborn that
they can do anything. Somebody can just walk
up and say he does not like his wife and he will
divorce her. At least he should let her go alive
to her parents house, it's better. All right,
so because of the wickedness that is in the heart
of men, Moses permitted, so but in the beginning
that was not God's intention. In the redemptive
plan of God, That was not the intention, because
the idea of marriage was to communicate God's
eternal purpose. And in God's communication of
his eternal purpose, there is no idea of separation.
In God's idea, there is no separation. So Moses'
permission for divorce was not God's ideal. It
was a concession because of Israel's hardness
of heart. God's original design for marriage
established in creation remain his true intention.
So the framework for today's issue is that from
this issue, the way Jesus handled this matter,
it provides us a biblical framework for addressing
every contemporary issues. We must begin from
God's original purpose as revealed in the scriptures.
Hallelujah. That must be the genesis of every
question that we have that pertains to scriptures.
To distinguish between God's eternal design and
what is seen in a falling world. And then we
apply the timeless principle of scripture faithfully
to our modern questions. What are the issues
about abortion? For example now, is it right
for you to do abortion? And we have to go to
scriptures. Because when you go to the epistles,
you will not see, they don't even have an idea.
It will be strange to them to think that somebody
will be pregnant and go to a physician and say,
I want to remove the etes. That will be the highest
level of witchcraft in their time. They will
not understand it. But today, it has been coined
at women's rights in our contemporary world.
It has been coined as a fundamental human right.
The right to eliminate another person's right
is a fundamental right in today's world. But
when we go to scriptures, we discover that we
look at what is God's intention for creating
a life. Life is safe. Do you have dominion over
another life as a man or as a woman? Do you have
authority over the existence of another person?
Then we will begin to come along and we'll see
in God's eternal plan. questions about gender,
about sexuality, about biotech, biotech, technology,
economics, worship, or any contemporary challenge,
the task of a biblical teacher is to ask, what
is God's original intention from the beginning?
What is God's counsel? What is God's intention
right from the beginning of the creation of the
world and humanity? Okay? How did the biblical
authors address issues in their context? If the
issues were addressed specifically in scriptures,
we have to look at contextually, how did they
address these matters? What timeless theological
principle can emerge from the text that will
express the scriptures? And then how we should
faithfully apply those things today. So the Bible
remains sufficient for every generation. The
Bible remains sufficient for every generation.
In fact, the truth of scripture is eternal. The
truth of scripture is eternal. No matter the
level of advancement in technology, the eternal
truth of the scriptures cannot be outdated. The
principle enshrined in the entire council of
God's word are eternal principles. So, Our responsibility
is to make the scripture fit our culture, all
right? To ensure that the scripture is our culture.
Right, I said our responsibility is not to make
the scripture fit our culture, but to understand
God's revealed will, okay? His revealed will
will be found within the pages of the scriptures,
the entirety of the council of God's word. So
our duty is to find and to understand his revealed
in the scriptures and apply its enduring principle
to the questions of our time today. So this is
the interpretation framework that we can see
from, we can believe there are several instances
in scriptures where Jesus Christ was confronted
with issues and then in answering those issues
he has to go back from the beginning and even
the apostles sometimes when they are faced with
issues they have to go back from the genesis
of the creation of mankind. And then through
scriptures, they are able to skim through scriptures
and show a straight line around, you know, the
things that God has as a plan and a purpose for
humanity, thereby reaching a conclusion concerning,
you know, the issues that affect their time.
So therefore, we must study the scriptures carefully.
We must study the scriptures carefully and then
rightly interpret God's Word to understand his
whole counsel, his original intention, especially
when it comes to creation and his redemptive
purpose. Only then we can faithfully apply his
word. We can fulfill the work of ministry and
also work in the greater works to which Jesus
Christ has called us to do. So we have a big
obligation. Now, what is our duty? Our duty is
to go back to the Word of God, the entirety of
the Word of God, and not treat some above others,
but uphold the entirety of God's Word in order
to arrive at the understanding of God's plan
for us. So we've looked at the essence of the
synoptic gospels in our bid to look at the context
of what Jesus did, the works Jesus did. We've
looked at the reason or the importance of the
epistles. What were the epistles for? Now, what
about the Old Testament scriptures, the Old Testament
scriptures? Since we've emphasized that they
are crucial, right, for the works that we do,
then it becomes necessary for us to understand,
even though we may not... Go through the entirety
of it, but it's important for us to understand
the basic foundational truth that we found in
scriptures. The moment you open the scriptures,
what is the first thing you see about God? The
first thing we will see about God is creation.
Hallelujah. So the common misconception, or the
view of the Old Testament. When I say the Old
Testament, understand what we are saying. Genesis
to Malachi. is that it is merely a collection
of prophecies pointing to the New Testament.
If we just look at it as just prophecies, there
are prophecies pointing to the New, actually,
to Jesus Christ and his fulfillment and all that
will happen. There are prophecies. But when we
just look at it as only prophecies pointing to
the New, then we will not be honest or we will
not be fair to the characters that are found
in those Old Testament scriptures. because they
had a dealing with God. They had experiences
with God. They had a relationship with God. Are
we now saying that all that happened in their
time was pointing to what is new? That they never
had an understanding of what they were doing
until when the New Testament writers arrived,
they now told us, or they explained to us what
happened in the Old Testament? Then we will be
in that dangerous position to assume that, you
know, God was not really honest with some of
the things we see we deal with in the alt -estement.
So, we must understand that why the alt -estement
certainly anticipates Christ. It first served
as God's revelation to its original audience,
okay? We must understand that the alt -estement
scriptures first and foremost served as God's
revelation to its original audience. and must
be understood within its own historical and literary
context. All right? Removing the context of any
biblical passage will mean that we remove the
message of it. Amen? So I don't want to go into
my pastor's handouts to go into his notes. Yeah.
So the Autism Enlays the Theological Foundation
for God's Identity Plan. All right? Whatever
God will do or whatever God has done, the foundation
of it, the intention and the foundation of everything
was laid right from the beginning. Among its
most important themes is what we call the creation
theology. As we've seen from Genesis chapter
1 verse 1, we will see the story of creation.
All right? The story of creation. And of course,
we'll see the concept of sin in Genesis 3. Both
of which are essential for understanding the
rest of scripture if we don't establish an understanding
of what is creation Genesis 1 and we don't establish
an understanding of the scene that happened in
Genesis 3 then it becomes difficult for us to
navigate through the entire scriptures and Find
a better understanding of the character of God
and what God is doing If our understanding of
creation is wrong, our understanding of seeing
how Adam failed is wrong, then I don't think
we'll be able to know God's will and God's plan.
Hallelujah. So what I'm going to be attempting
to do is to maybe pick one of the teams and then
discuss and then we will interpret it together
and then see how it goes. So these foundational
teams are further developed through doctrinal
messages or themes that we will see. We'll see
salvation, walk of the Spirit, and then the Church,
and many, many other things that will come up
later. So a proper understanding of this will
enable us to know the purpose of God. Hallelujah.
So now let's go to Genesis chapter one and try
to walk through gently in the next few minutes
that we have. Wherever we stop, we'll just stop
there. Okay? Now, let's look at Genesis chapter
one, especially from verse one. It says, in the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
All right? Now, let me say this. If we don't
understand this first verse of scripture, then
understanding the will and the purpose of God
will be difficult for us. So this is what has
been termed as creation theology. Creation theology.
So this creation theology is a foundational theme
of biblical theology. and the starting point
of understanding the message of the entire Bible.
All right? In case you are writing this already,
you can just write the creation theology. It
is the starting point of understanding the message
of the entire Bible. The first two chapters of
Genesis provides the theological framework upon
which every major biblical doctrine, salvation,
including salvation is built. So without a proper
understanding of creation, we cannot understand
the rest of scripture. The key biblical concepts
such as heaven and earth, humanity, God's purpose,
and his relationship with creation are the first
thing we can see with the moment we open the
Bible in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. And they serve
to us as the foundation for the narrative we
see in Soskem passages of scripture. So to interpret
Genesis 1 and 2 correctly, we must first ask
the same question that his original audience
will have asked, okay? For us to understand Genesis,
then it becomes necessary that we today should
ask probably the questions that will be in the
heart of the hearers of that teaching at that
moment. Now the primary concern of these chapters
or these books especially Genesis is not to explain
to us the scientific origin of the material universe
or to resolve modern debates such as evolution
because one of the biggest mistakes we make is
that we try to carry the Bible and we try to
prove evolution theory wrong or right or we try
to prove how old the world is You know, Pastor
says, I've taught us that Moses, the writer of
this scripture was not an, he was not an archaeologist.
He was not a historian. He was a prophet. So
what he will write must be the message concerning
God. So the Bible, especially Genesis, is a book
concerning God. is not about history knowing
the history of the world so when we try to carry
the bible or especially the book of genesis and
we try to say okay let's interpret let's try
to know let's try to bring scientific things
into it we will not be able to answer scientific
questions with the scriptures hallelujah because
the bible in its essence was not given for scientific
research it was not given for scientific purposes
it was given for spiritual purpose Was given
for spiritual edification. We say that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God and it's forfeitable
for what? For doctrine for teaching and in the
end we say that the man of God will be what?
Will be complete for every good work. That is
the essence of scripture So when it becomes a
tool for debating scientific research, you know
the history of the world then we will miss the
intent of the scriptures Who means the intent
of the scriptures So rather the Bible revealed
God, okay, especially this Genesis 1 and 2 reveal
who God is It reveals his purpose for creation
It reveals the purpose for creation, okay and
humanity's role within creation It reveals God's
purpose for creation and the role of man within
God's creation. So biblical theology therefore
seeks to understand the text in its original
context and cause believers not to only interpret
scriptures accurately, but also live out his
truth in the daily life. So we must understand
how to appropriate scriptures by interpreting
scriptures contextually, especially within the
purpose to which they were written so that our
lives will be edified by scriptures. Hallelujah.
No one that Paul would tell Timothy, don't engage
in so much arguments and, you know, debates that
only will lead into what? It will lead into more
offenses and other things. There is a focus for
scripture. It's not for all those kind of debates.
So let's go back to Genesis 1 and try to understand
God's word. The essence is that we will know
the will of God. All right We've seen it as the
council the whole council of God. We've prayed
some scriptures that our eyes will be open to
understand What are we understand? We're understanding
the old council of God's what inefficiency and
any coercions of the one Who will be praying
that we may understand what? We understand the
way the will of God. Hallelujah But the wheel
of God begins as a story. There's a storyline
of God's purpose and his plan and his purpose
from the beginning to the end. It's a plan and
it's a story that begins from Genesis 1. So Genesis
of the 1 verse 1 says in the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth. Now it is vital to
understand again that the concept of heaven and
earth in the communication of Moses and his immediate
audience in their world. It is important for
us to understand the concept of heaven and earth
as communicated in Moses' communication, all
right, and his audience. The word heaven, from
the Hebrew word, is from the Hebrew word shamayim,
S -H -A -M -A -Y -I -M. And it's often referred
to in relation to God's activities, or the supernatural.
Okay? This word heaven in the Hebrew, Shamaim,
was often referred, referenced in relations to
God's activities, or the supernatural. That is,
the unseen activities in the, the unseen activities
in the natural. So to the context of his audience,
when you talk about heavens they're talking about
the supernatural all right they're talking about
the supernatural in the eastern culture the word
heaven that is the eastern culture has to do
with the culture of those in whom Moses was writing
to the children of Israel all right so in their
culture heaven would refer to where God is where
God dwells or in literal form God's activities
in the earth that is found within men Hallelujah
Heaven would refer to God's dwelling place or
a literal form God's activities in the earth
I will see another word again The earth in that
verse one in the beginning God created the heavens
and then we will see and the earth So the earth
was referred or referenced to man's dwelling
place and activities. Man's dwelling place and
activities. So there are two, you know, I would
say complementary ideas presented in Genesis
1 verse 1. The heavens and the earth. The heavens
and the earth. The earth was created for man
to dwell. while heaven relates to the unseen
part of the earth where God dwells the sphere
of God's authority over man on the earth the
realm of influence of God over man on the earth
right and in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 let's
look at verse 2 it says the earth that is where
man is the earth was without form and void darkness
was on the face of the deep and the spirit of
God was hovering over the face of the waters.
What does it mean? Without form and void and
we see darkness. Now the word darkness was derived
from the Hebrew word chashek which implies obscurity.
So what we see on the earth was obscurity. It
further implies that what darkness implies without
light or absence of light, that what Chachak,
S -H -O -S -H -E -K is derived from the verb
Chachak. So from Chachak we now have Chachak.
Chachak, C -H -A -S -H -A -K. which implies to
make dark, to make dark. So darkness, you know,
here implies obscurity on the earth. We see another
phrase in that same verse too, without form.
It says, the earth was without form and void
and darkness was on the face of the deep and
the spirit of God was moving over the face of
the waters. So what does the phrase without form
mean? It was derived from the word, the Hebrew
word tohu, T -O -H -U, which implies emptiness,
or I would say desolation, emptiness. So what
we see on the Earth is obscurity and emptiness,
all right? Obscurity and emptiness. In essence,
the time without form and void and the word darkness
seems to be synonymous in the application in
this verse. Void and without form and darkness
seems to be synonymous in the application in
this verse. Now let's observe verse two carefully.
It says upon the face of the deep. Upon the face
of the deep. Now by just looking at the use of
the word face upon the face upon the face of
the deep Darkness does that man has a face. Let's
read and see it says the ad was void What would
I form and void and darkness was upon the face
of the deep? Attributing you know a Character
of something that is intimate something to something
is it shows that is a figure of speech you see
it So, in saying that upon the face of the deep
and the spirit of God moves upon the face of
the waters, that word face will see appear twice
in that same verse two. Yes, it appears twice
in that verse two. And that word is derived from
the Hebrew word panin, P -A -N -Y -M. And it
implies appearance, appearance before the presence
of. So, the uses of the word face needs to be
examined what does it mean for darkness to be
upon the face of the deep and the spirit of god
was hovering over the face of the waters we see
face in relation to the the darkness on the face
of the deep our see face in relation to the spirit
of god hovering over the waters so it means that
we need to examine and see what is this face
the uses of the word face need to be examined
Firstly says darkness upon the face of the deep
and also the spirit of God moving on the waters
Now watch without form and void and darkness
in this one to a describe They describe the state
of the man that is the earth away from God's
creation That is God's plan. They they show the
time to describe, you know the state of man the
earth refers to man Let's just say it this way.
The Earth refers to man. And then the idea of
without form and void and darkness describe the
status of man, the Earth, apart from goals, own
plan, and its purpose. So let's study some more
about the phrase. We'll look at the phrase later.
Without form and the idea of without form and
also darkness. Without form was derived from
the Hebrew word to who, as we saw. And we can
see the same word also was used in Deuteronomy
chapter 32 verse 10. Let's look at Deuteronomy
chapter 32 verse 10 to see the uses of that word.
Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 10. Are we there?
Yes. So he says he found him a desert. A desert
land and with the Westland, that Westland speaks
about, without form, that Westland. A holding
wilderness, he encircled him, he instructed him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye. So the word
to who is used to imply West in this text, contextually,
okay? Confusion in this text, nothingness, desolate,
vanity. What is vast, what is empty, right? Wilderness.
So this can be associated with chaos contextually
to this text as seen here. So what does Moses
means by darkness in Genesis chapter one verse
two? Based on how we see him using it again in
another text. He explains what he implied by
darkness. in the subsequent verses in Genesis
chapter one, especially verse two, verse three
and verse four, as the absence of light on the
face of the earth. Let's look at verse three,
Genesis chapter one, verse three. Then God said,
let there be light, and there was light. So this
is, you know, the implied meaning of darkness.
It says, let there be light, And there was light,
verse four. And God saw the light that it was
good. And God divided the light from darkness.
So there was a division that God made between
the light and the darkness. The prophets also
presented this idea in the scriptures, in their
writings, because the prophets, their writings
has a context. And the context of their writings
is from the writings of Moses. They all found
their genesis and their inspirations from the
writing of Moses. Now let's see how they themselves
used this concept. Jeremiah chapter four verse
23. Jeremiah chapter four verse 23. So Jeremiah
four 23 will say, I beheld the earth, okay, and
indeed it was without form. and void. Jeremiah
speaking from Genesis. And the heavens, they
have no light. Let's look at Isaiah 60 verse
1. Another prophet. Isaiah 60 verse 1. Isaiah
60 verse 1. Arise, shine, for your light has
come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
you. Specifically talking about light, shine,
and is a context of Genesis chapter one. So in
essence, darkness clearly is Moses' explanation
of the state of humanity without the Spirit of
God, which is that light. So the time without
form and void, and of course darkness, were employed
by Moses to explain this to his audience, okay?
So these are terminologies that Moses will employ
in revealing the state of man's condition to
his audience and his time. This has nothing to
do with physical creation of the earth so far
till now because there are a lot of figures used
here, figures of speech used here that needs
to be considered and interpreted properly to
arrive at the intention of the writer. So let's
look further into Genesis 1 verse 2. The phrase
without form and void is further substantiated
by the darkness, by the word darkness. This implies
that the without form and void, Elia described
as chaos, can be inferred as the word darkness,
okay? So remember, as we said, the word earth
was figurative. was figuratively employed to
explain humanity or mankind. Now, some of the
allusions I've made, I've not given proof yet,
but we're going to see how the writers of scripture
will refer to earth as humanity, okay? We'll
see how it was used in scriptures. So, let's
see Jeremiah once again, Jeremiah 422. Jeremiah
422, the scripture we read earlier on, to see
his writing concerning this concept, Jeremiah
422 to 27. For my people are foolish. They have
not known me. They are silly children, and they
have no understanding. They are wise to do evil,
but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld
the earth, where we read earlier on. So he's
talking about the children of Israel, right?
And he's bringing the conversation of Genesis,
he's talking about the earth. So when Moses,
when Jeremiah was speaking about the children
of Israel, was he referring to people on the
earth? He was referring to people on the earth,
right? And he says, I beheld the earth. Don't
get out of context here. And indeed, it was without
form and void. Is he referring to their conduct?
Right? Without form and void, and the heavens,
they had no light. Verse 24, I beheld the mountains,
and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved
back and forth. So there's a chaos here. The
mountains and the earth, there's a chaos here.
I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all
the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld,
and indeed the fruitful land, you see, concept
of land the concept of earth the land which is
the earth was a wilderness wilderness has to
do with you know dissolution desolation rather
and all the cities were broken down at the presence
of the lord by his face anger verse 27 the last
verse here 27 for thus says the lord the whole
land shall be what So from the above text that
we just read, it can clearly be inferred that
the word darkness depicts the state of the disobedience
or the rebellion of man towards God as we see
in the expression of the prophet in his use of
language. in his use of the same concept as Moses
presented in Genesis. While the word light will
depict God's response to this anomaly, okay,
the solution to the chaos is actually the light
that has been alluded here has been absent. So
let's see also Genesis chapter five verse six.
To have a clear understanding of this darkness
that was upon the earth Genesis of the six verse
five Genesis of the six verse five to see how
this concept has been expressed entirely in scriptures
Genesis of the six verse five to six then they
all saw That the wickedness of man was great
in the earth So you see the idea is about what
is happening on the earth and what we are seeing
as a darkness upon the earth was wickedness and
that every intent of the thoughts of his heart
was continually evil and the Lord was sorry that
he had made man on the earth so man on earth
and wickedness the chaos that was happening on
the earth and he was grieving his heart now let's
move to verse 11 verse 11 to verse 13 the end
also was corrupt so we see darkness we see corruption
we see evil all talking about the state of the
earth. the earth was corrupt before God and the
earth was filled with violence. so you see violence,
chaos, violence verse 13. and God said to Noah
the end of all flesh has come before me for the
earth is filled with violence through them and
behold I will destroy them with the earth. so
here also emphasizing the state of the earth,
the wickedness that is increasing upon the face
of the earth. These are the expressions of the
darkness that is in the heart of men. These are
different expressions, Moses in his writing expressing
the darkness that is on the face of the earth.
And we see it from the beginning, we see it even
during the time of Noah here. giving us a clear
scenario of darkness upon the earth. Hence, this
would be seen in the physical disposition and
the action of men without the light of God. So
we see the darkness upon the earth in the activity
of men that don't have the light of God in them.
We see wickedness on the increase. We see violence.
We see disobedience. We see contrary lifestyle.
that does not align to God's will and his purpose.
Again, we see another employed word in the text,
corrupted, that is the act was corrupted. The
act was corrupted before God, was corrupt before
God as a description of mankind in rebellion
towards God, okay? The word F can be seen in
the letter writings as the word world. So the
word F and the words have been used interchangeably
in scriptures, let's see. For example, in John's
explanation, 1 John chapter 5 verse 19. 1 John
chapter 5 verse 19. We see John also writing
from the inspiration of scriptures. He says we
know that we are of God and the whole world lies
in what? It lies sway of the wicked one, okay?
so the word earth here is used interchangeably
to the world without God it lies in the sway
of the wicked one wicked one wickedness in this
context can be interchangeably applied to the
word darkness here also all right so Paul also
allude to this similar fact in Galatians of the
one verse four talks about this world has been
evil Galatians of the one verse four who gave
himself for our sins that he may deliver us from
this present evil age. The word age day is world,
all right? The word age day is talking about
the world according to the will of our God and
father. So interchangeably here we see the F
also used as what? As the world by Bible writers,
okay? By Bible writers. And of course, as I said,
this echo the description of the state of the
art, as we have seen in the time of Noah, Genesis
chapter six was five to six, and Genesis chapter
six was 11 to 13. So therefore, the word light
and darkness in scripture were not always applied
literally. When we see light and darkness in
scripture, especially from Genesis one, they
are not always applied literally. but were often
figuratively used to depict the state of being
of man. That is this world, okay? Man, the F.
John continues with the same narrative in his
account. We'll read his epist, I mean the John
chapter one verse four to five, we'll see. Let's
look at his writing in John chapter one. verse
four, to see how he carried this narrative from
Genesis and expounded on it in explaining to
his audience. He said in the hymn, John chapter
one, verse four, says in the hymn was life and
the life was the light of men. So the light is
in relation to men. The light is meant to be
for men, okay? Verse five, and the light shines
in a darkness. where will the darkness be from
we'll see it later and the darkness did not comprehend
it okay so john describes the word as having
life and contrast that light and darkness this
echoes strongly genesis 1 verse 2 and 3 so as
we've seen before in what we are trying to look
at the creation story the creation theology creation
you know story of scripture It borders around
God putting order to disorder because we will
see God will say, let there be light and there
was light. Okay? So God introducing light to
darkness. That is what we're going to see in
the entire story of creation. That God putting
order to disorder and putting light to darkness.
The four gospel writers. In giving an account
of Jesus' teachings, spoke several times of this
concept. What concept? The concept of God making
light to shine in darkness. Particularly John,
give us an express, you know, explanation of
Genesis 1. In John chapter 1 verse 5, let's go
back to that John that we read, we stop at, okay,
chapter 5, let's go from verse 5 to 9, and see
the continuation of his explanation. He says,
and the light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it, verse 6. There
was a man sent from God whose name was John.
Now this John is not the one writing, he's talking
about this particular John, he's talking about
John the Baptist, okay? This man came for a witness
to bear witness of the light. Now the light here,
okay, if you read contextually here, is used
as a figure referring to a personality, to an
individual. This man came for a witness to bear
witness of the light that all through him might
believe so the essence of the light coming is
that men may believe in that light he was not
that light who was not that light john was not
that light okay but was sent to bear witness
of that particular light he was sent as a witness
as as a witness to that particular light So we
see verse 7 that the light was applied as a personality,
as an individual here, okay? To bear witness
of the light that all men through him might believe.
So this implies that the word the light was personified
in the writing of scriptures, was used figuratively,
particularly personified as a person. as a message
the light lightens all men that believe verse
9 from here what's not give me verse 9 says that
that was a true light which gives light to every
man coming into the world so this light illuminates
men that believe okay John the Baptist a prophet
was described as one who came to be a witness
of that light Now let's look at how Luke used
that concept of light and darkness. Luke presents
the fact that the light was a message preached
by the prophets across ages. Luke chapter 2 verse
32. Luke chapter 2 verse 32. Look at how Luke
put it. He says a light to bring revelation to
the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.
That is to say this light was meant to bring
revelation not only to the nation of Israel,
but also to the Gentiles Okay, so he's presenting
the light as a message that brings revelation
And he's alluding the context say is that that
is what the prophets all over scriptures has
been talking about So this key facts are also
explored when we look at Jesus's teaching in
the four gospel How did Jesus use the concept
of light the idea of light when we see how the
Apostles the epistles Interpret that concept
of light and scriptures how the prophet explained
the idea of light. Let's look at Jesus's teaching
concerning that idea of light Matthew chapter
4 verse 16 Matthew chapter 4 verse 16 The people
who sat in darkness Have seen a great light And
upon those who sat in the region and shadow of
death, light has done, light has done, talking
about light coming to people who are in darkness.
Matthew 6, 23, Matthew 6, 23, we're looking at
Jesus's word, he's teaching in his teaching how
he used that word light. But if your eye is bad,
your whole body will be full of what? Of darkness.
If therefore the light, that is in you is darkness.
How great is that darkness? So he's talking about
a light that should be in a man. Okay? The essence
of the light is to illuminate and to dwell in
a man. In this context of research in this scripture.
Matthew 10 verse 23. Matthew 10 verse 23. Matthew
10 verse 23. When they persecute you in this
city, flee to another. Marry in the right text,
Matthew 10, 27, sorry, 27. Matthew 10, 27. Whatever
I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. And
what you hear in the air, preach on the house
top, okay? And then Luke 1 verse 79, Luke 1,
79. Luke 1 verse 79. We're looking at how Jesus
used this word, okay? was it literal or it was
figurative was it literal up until now we've
not seen Jesus speaking about this light as a
literal light but he was using it figuratively
to express express concept that has to do with
with humanity with men to give light to those
who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to
guide our feet into the way of peace so here
light is also used figurative okay Because I
wonder how light, if it's literal light, can
save people from death. So this is applied figuratively.
John chapter three, verse 19. John chapter three,
verse 19. John chapter three, verse 19. And this
is a condemnation that the light has come into
the world. And men love darkness. rather than
light, because their deeds were evil. So we see
consistently in his teaching, he is contrasting
between light and darkness. And in the contrasting
between light and darkness, he is using the light
and the darkness figuratively, especially in
dealing with humanity on the earth. Hallelujah.
So we must keep in mind that the word light and
darkness are majorly employed figuratively within
the scriptures. to depict spiritual realities
and personalities. In all the texts we read so
far, we'll see that the users of the word light
or darkness is used to explain either personalities
or spiritual realities. Also, this will find
expressions through the heart, okay? Oftentimes,
when we see what Jesus will say, that this light
will find expressions through the heart of heart
or what we call the mind or the conduct of men
as seen in Genesis chapter 6 as seen in Genesis
chapter 6 narrative about the wickedness that
was on the face of the earth how men became wicked
you know so this concept is further explained
through the scriptures especially let's look
at the epistles Acts chapter 26 verse 18 Let's
look at Acts 26 verse 18. Acts 26 verse 18. To
open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness
to light and from power of Satan to God that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance
among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
So the quotation here, is making a contrasting
of two issues here. Firstly, the idea is that
the personality here, okay, will turn them from
darkness to light. And this darkness to light
is meaning from the power of Satan to God. So
darkness and light is used figuratively to explain
the power of Satan and of course God in this
context here. So it's not used literally across
scriptures, but it's used figuratively for spiritual
realities and for personalities. Romans 2 verse
19. Romans 2 verse 19. Romans 2 verse 19. Let's
look at what Paul will say about this. And are
confident that you yourself are guide to the
blind. Okay? a light to those who are in darkness.
So he's talking about the people here as guide
to the blind and people becoming light to those
who are in darkness, all right? Use figuratively
for individuals, for personalities here, okay?
So again, observe the application of the word
darkness in the first Corinthians of the four
verse 15, light and darkness in first Corinthians
of the four verse, see? My goal is to give an
overwhelming evidence Beyond reasonable doubt.
Okay that this is how this idea is expressed
in scriptures Now first Corinthians chapter 4
verse 5 First Corinthians to the 4 verse 5 therefore
judge nothing before the time until the Lord
comes who will but bring to light the hidden
things of darkness and reveal the counsels of
the heart when each one's praise will come from
God. So the word light was employed to describe
revelation and the word darkness to describe
that which is hidden, okay? So also is applied
figuratively here. Jesus referring himself as
a light of the world. John chapter 3 verse 19.
Jesus referred to himself as a light of the world.
And this is the condemnation that the light has
come into the world, and men love darkness rather
than light because they are due to evil. So he
is talking about himself here, that he is the
one that has come into the world. John chapter
8 verse 12. John chapter 8 verse 12. John. it
verse 12 then Jesus spoke to them again saying
I am the light of what of the world he who follows
me shall not walk in darkness but have the light
of life I am the light of the world so he is
a light that the world what is the world here
talking about the earth thinking about men okay
jesus is a light of men who are those who follow
him those who believe in him they will no longer
work under the influence of darkness darkness
here is an expression of what a spiritual reality
while jesus is using the light as a symbolic
expression of himself or a figurative expression
of himself john chapter 9 verse 5 john chapter
9 verse 5 John chapter 9 verse 5. As long as
I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. John chapter 12
verse 35. John chapter 12 verse 35. He says,
then Jesus said to them, a little while longer
the light is with you, referring to himself.
Walk while you have the light. Let darkness overtake
you. He who walks in darkness does not know where
he is going, referring to himself as the light
of the world. So this clearly shows that the
phrase light and darkness will refer to spiritual
entities or attributes or the state found in
man, okay? Now let's examine that John chapter
8 verse 12 again. He says, he that follows me,
not John chapter 8 verse 12, he that follows
me. How do you follow him? I am the light of
all he who follows me shall not walk in darkness
with half light He that follows many face to
faith in the light While the first walk in darkness
implies being in unbelief So when you walk when
you follow him when you believe him You will
not walk in the darkness Okay, so Jesus here
describes himself as a light of the world the
world I am as we see all over later in the book
of john was translated from the from a greek
word ego in my ego in my e g o e m i he says
i am the light so is from that greek word ego
in my which was transliteration of the hebrew
word higher okay i am from the old testament
From the Hebrew writings So he is saying he is
God. He is the I am that is a light of the world
That has come to the world Let's say Jesus control
description of himself in John's account. You
see you say I am the light I am the way I Am
the truth. I am divine. I am the life. I'm the
bread of life One vital description that is that
he described in safe is that among all these
that he is the light. Okay? But keep in mind,
the light that we've been talking about in Genesis
of the one verse three, the essence of going
around is to see how biblical writers employ
the usage of this word light and darkness so
that we can comprehend the communication of Moses
in Genesis of the one verse two, verse three,
down in the context of the creation story. Because
all the biblical writers were not inventing their
concepts. They were writing from the inspirations
of the scriptures. They were writing from the
verbiage of the scriptures. They were using terminologies.
They were associated with the writings found
within the borders of the scriptures. So John
equally records seven declarations of Jesus about
himself. as the I Am in what we call the Septuagint
Bible. The Septuagint has to do with the Greek
Old Testament, okay? So in the Septuagint, the
term I Am was translated from two words, ego
and imai. Now let's look at them, some of them.
John chapter 14 verse six. John chapter 14 verse
six. Jesus said to them, I am the way, the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. So that I am there is a transliteration
of the word I am that is found in Hebrew, which
is higher. Okay? So, John chapter six verse 35
also, verse 35, verse 35, John six, 35. John
chapter six verse 35. And Jesus said to them,
I am the bread of life. So Jesus is not bread.
He's not physical bread. So if he's not physical
bread, then he cannot be physical light. Because
that is the context of the usage of this word.
That is how the writer has been writing. He who
comes to me shall never hunger. And he who believes
in me shall never thirst. So believing in Him
and never fasting is actually drinking of Him,
okay? Eating of Him that you may not be hungry
and you may not fast. Look at verse 41 and verse
45, you know, same text. Verse 41 and verse 45
of that same text. Yes, the Jews then complain
about Him because He said to them, I am the bread
which came down from heaven. Let's read down.
42. quickly it is written in the prophets that
the son of joseph whose father okay let me read
again and they said is it not jesus is not this
this jesus son of joseph whose father and mother
we know how is that then he says i have come
down from heaven 43 just therefore answer and
say to them do not mourn among yourselves verse
44 no one can come to me unless the father who
sent me draws him and i will raise him Up at
the last day was 45. It is written in the prophets
and They shall be taught about taught by God.
She is making a bold claim here It is written
in the scriptures That they shall be taught by
God Therefore everyone who has heard and learned
from the father comes to me 46 Not that everyone
has seen the father except the he who is from
God He who has seen the father verse 47 Once
I surely I say to you he who believes in me has
everlasting life 48 I am the bread of life 49
Your father's at the manner in the wilderness
and are dead This is a bread which comes down
from heaven that one may eat of and not die 51
the last verse I am the bread the living bread
which come down from heaven if anyone eats of
this you will live forever and the bread that
i shall give is my flesh which i shall give for
the lie of the world so we will see clearly that
you know he keeps saying i am i am i am so in
john 8 jesus employed that phrase ego in my several
times you know speaking of himself speaking of
himself. So John understood that the Old Testament
writers wrote concerning that I Am that is in
the Old Testament. That is the background of
his writing about Jesus. He wrote with that understanding
of that I Am. They were writing concerning Jesus.
And this was because Jesus revealed himself as
the I Am of the Scriptures. Okay? Let's see that
John chapter 17 verse 6. We'll see how he linked
himself to the Eternal Father. John chapter 17
verse 6. I have manifested your name. What name
has he manifested? What name did Moses make in
the wilderness? He made a God that is called
I Am, right? And Jesus here is saying, I have
manifested your name to the men whom you have
given me out of the world. They were yours, you
gave them to me and they have kept your word.
Verse 26, jump to verse 26. Verse 26. And I have
declared to them your name and will declare it
that a love which you love me may be in them
and I in them. So he's alluding an eternal union
with the father here. So the word manifested
here, okay, him manifesting the name, the word
manifested here is the Greek word feneru, feneru,
P -H -A -N -E -R -O, P -H -A -N -E -R -O, which
implies to reveal or to unveil, to reveal or
to unveil. So Jesus says he is a manifestation
of the name of God. He is a revelation of that
I am. By his use of the phrase ego in my, Jesus
reveals himself as the I am. John was actually
explaining from the Old Testament scriptures.
He was writing his story of Jesus. with the Old
Testament scriptures in mind. Okay? Especially
Exodus chapter one, chapter 20, verse one to
three. Let's look at the Exodus chapter one,
verse three. Exodus chapter one, chapter 20,
sorry, chapter 20. Exodus 20, verse one to three.
Is it one to three? Yes. And God spoke all these
words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of Bandajor. It sounds similar to what Jesus
was claiming. You shall have no other gods before
me. Shall have no other gods before me. All right,
let's look at the same conversation that Moses
later was speaking to the same nation, Hebrews,
Deuteronomy 5 verse 6 and 7. You know, the phrase,
the Lord thy God, was referenced in the Torah
to describe a singularity of the entity. We're
trying to see the union of Jesus and God, okay?
In his expression of that particular light, I
am that he's been expressing. So I am the Lord
your God. who brought you out of the land of
Egypt out of the house of bondage all right so
in his expression and saying the Lord thy God
he was referring to a unity that word the Lord
thy God is is a unity is a word that describes
a singular entity okay Deuteronomy 6 verse 4
also betrays is that So the author presents God
using two Hebrew words, Yahweh, that is Jehovah,
and Elohim, which is God. Earlier in Exodus 3,
we had referenced the same word, Yahweh, we saw
it. Exodus 3 verse 10 to tattoo, we see it there.
So the context of the author's discussion in
Exodus 3. of the word name was derived from the
name name because Moses was asking for the name
of God all right what should I tell them Exodus
3 please what should I tell them is your name
let's say Exodus 3 let's say verse 14 verse 14
yes and also to them three Moses I am who I am
And he said thus you shall say to the children
of Israel, I am has sent me to you Okay, so in
the context of the conversation here the word
name Of course is derived from the Hebrew word
shame a word used to describe a person's character
and The use and also used for an office also
has been teaching us about the name of Jesus
the name of God the name of Jesus Okay, so the
use of the phrase I am in verse 14 Was derived
from the Hebrew word higher as we saw player
on higher Previously which implies to exist to
become or to exist or to become So the first
I am in today's language or we translated to
today's English language Will be written this
way. I am what I am and I will be what I will
be Okay, I Am what I am and I will be what I
will be. So Moses was revealed a God that is
called Ayam. And in his revelation of the Ayam
was towards the goal that that Ayam will exist
and follow him through the redemption of the
children of Israel from Egypt. I wanted to see
what I'm trying to draw the line I'm trying to
draw here. Moses had a revelation of God, that
is, I Am, that will work together with Moses
for the redemption of the children of Israel
from Egypt. And when Jesus came in the flesh,
also for the work of redemption, he revealed
himself as the I Am for what purpose? For the
purpose of redemption. So we can see the unification
of this concept of God being one in purpose,
okay? God being one. So in other words, the name
Yahweh will be interpreted to imply redemption
in Exodus 6 verse 1 to 6 to 8 in all the contextual
application to the children of Israel. We see
that it is implied to redemption to save and
to deliver. However, In the context of Israel,
the salvation of the nation of Israel. So God
revealed what he will become to Israel, that
is in salvation. However, however, Moses was
the one who led the congregation of Israel out
of Egypt. So Moses used the phrase, thy Lord,
thy God, was in view of him working in partnership
with God to bring the children of Israel out
of Egypt. So in scriptures apart from the word
Yahweh, we see the word Elohim meaning unification.
The word Elohim is generic term used for God.
It is also referred to deities and for angels.
I wouldn't want to go deeper into this because
it is crucial but it is important in helping
us understand the conversation at hand. Now let's
look at what Jesus said in Matthew 28 Okay, and
I want you to unify this thought to Moses He
was the I am the work with Moses for the redemption
of the nation of Israel When he arrived on earth
for the work of redemption he revealed himself
as that I am to redeem humanity. Matthew 28 verse
20, we'll see that in relation to the work of
ministry, okay, Jesus established that same concept
of I am. Matthew 28 verse 20, it says, teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded
you and know what I am with you always, even
to the end of the age. And this is contextual
in the work of ministry that we also will do
on the earth. So he pointed out that the God
of Israel, the I Am was there with them. Okay,
we'll see similarly in John chapter 12, verse
46, you know, the expression of that. So again,
as we conclude this session, for us to put a
stop. Let's observe the order of creation in
Genesis chapter 1 verse 4 and 5. After going
around to establish that Jesus is that light,
and seeing how he connects himself to God, he
connects himself to the Father for the purpose
of redemption, and the light itself shines in
the darkness, talking about redemption. Okay?
Now Genesis 1 verse 4, and God saw the light,
and it was good, and God divided the light from
the darkness. and god called the light day and
the darkness he called night so the evening and
the morning were the first day okay the evening
and the morning were the first day that is god's
plan god's plan is to create order okay and this
order his intention is to bring about a separation
between the darkness and the light That would
be that is what would be good that is saying
it is good. Okay I'm also the light that it was
good. So God intention is to see that that light
Distinct or seen in its effect on the earth that
is in men Separating them from the darkness That
is what is good. That is what is fitting. This
was a middle theme Now when we look through scriptures,
we'll observe, you know, the contrast, the contrasting
theme of the gospels in the book of, in the gospel,
we'll see how, you know, the emphasis were laid
concerning the light and darkness. And similarly,
we'll see in the writings of the apostles, many
times, especially, let's see one contrasting
fact in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14, where Paul
uses this same idea. Let's see it briefly, and
then we run off for today. 2 Corinthians 6 verse
14. Yes, 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14 He says do
not be unequally yoke together with unbelievers.
All right for what fellowship has righteousness
and lawlessness and What communion has lied with
darkness? So Paul was writing here with a concept
of God's plan and God's course from the beginning
that God in God's plan He was intending to bring
about a separation between light and darkness
And remember how we've been defining darkness
as chaos. Remember how we've been defining darkness
as what? As lawlessness. And God's desire is
a righteousness will be separated from what?
From lawlessness. So he describes the believers
as righteousness. He described the believers
as light in Christ. He described Christ, you
know, the believers as what? As righteousness,
light, as Christ, and as a temple of God. This
description are qualified terminologies or pointers
to narratives in the Hebrew text because as I
keep on saying, the writers of the New Testament
scriptures are now writing a different story
from what we found in the Old Testament scriptures.
So this shows a clear division between light
and darkness as pointed out in creation theology,
which is an important thing for us to understand,
okay? It's an important thing for us to understand.
Finally, for now, for now, as we rest, let's
take this last text, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 1.
2 Corinthians 4 verse 1. Tomorrow when we come,
we'll just try to conclude on this idea of creation,
looking at what was the plan as expressed in
scripture. As we view the divination of the terminology
so far, We'll be able to tie it together and
see okay. What was God's plan? Understanding
God's plan from the beginning as a separation
between light and darkness and how God will implement
this Especially in his salvation work will help
settle many many of the ambiguity we have about
the scriptures So when we begin to read the scriptures
with that background in mind We will not deviate
from the initial plan of God from the beginning
And consistently we will see how the story unfolds
until the time of Jesus Christ and how we ourselves
are brought into the matter. Because we're going
to see how this was communicated in the time
of Abraham. We're going to see how this was communicated
in the time of the nation of Israel when they
were coming out of Egypt. We're going to see
how, you know, this was tied down to the church
era and how you and I have brought into this
conversation and how we partner with God. Who
is the I Am? and bringing about the manifestation
of his plans and his purpose on the earth says
therefore since we have this ministry as we have
received mercy do not lose heart but we have
renounced the hidden things of shame what are
these hidden things of shame that we've renounced
not working in craftiness or handling the word
of god deceitfully But by manifestation of truth,
commanding ourselves to every man's conscience
in the sight of God was three. But even if our
gospel is veiled, who is it veiled to? It is
veiled to those who are perishing. How are they
perishing? They are perishing fundamentally because
their minds, okay, whose minds the God of this
age has blinded who do not believe Less what
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ
who is the image of God should shine on them
Okay So to shine on them. Yes So we do not preach
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves
once I run for Jesus Christ For it is that it
is the God who commanded where did he command?
He commanded that in what in Genesis of the one
right? For it is the God who commanded light
to shine out of darkness who has shone in our
hearts So we see the operation of that light
in the heart of men. All right to give the light
Who has shone in our hearts? To give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ Hallelujah So what I want to
bring to our notice, before we put the pause
and continue tomorrow, is that the conversation
in Genesis was actually the communication of
God's plan, especially the plan of redemption.
And in that redemption is communicated in figures
of speech, is communicated in what? In terminologies
that when we go through scriptures we will see
consistency in the communication of God. there's
clarity in God's communication right from the
beginning and we will discover that Genesis 1
verse 1 verse 2 verse 3 and all the conversation
in creation story when we tie it up together
we will discover that the creation story was
actually redemption story hallelujah we appreciate
you being here today we hope you carried this
word with you throughout your week Don't forget
to check the show notes for additional insights.
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Until next time, stay blessed.