One of the most recognizable phrases in the Bible is found in the first paragraph of God’s Word: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:1-3). It is always somewhat interesting to me that God created light without the Sun. We recognize that the Sun is the source of light on earth. When it is hidden at night we have little light other than from the Moon’s reflection of the Sun and the distant stars. But all three of those things aren’t created until the fourth day of creation in Genesis 1:14-19. Light, then, actually comes from God originally and then He created the Sun and the Moon for our benefit (light and seasons). There is something else notable in these first words of Scripture: “And God separated the light from the darkness” (4). He gave the light the name “Day” and gave the darkness the name “Night.” And with that second act of God He began a work that He will continue until the day of Judgement. From the dawn of time God has been in the act of separating light from darkness and that theme runs all through the pages of God’s Word. ¨ At the Flood he separated Noah (light) from the evil world (darkness). ¨ He separated Lot (light) from the wicked Sodom and Gomorrah (darkness). ¨ He made a distinction between Abraham and his seed (light) and the uncircumcised world (darkness). ¨ He separated Israel (light) from their abusive captors of Egypt (darkness) during the plagues and as He led them out of Egypt with the pillar of fire. ¨ He sent His Son (the Light) into the a world of rejection (darkness) but it could not overcome Him (John 1:1-5). ¨ He established the church (light) to shine in a world of sin and death (darkness) like a city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14-16; Philippians 2:14-15). And so His work continues today. It is not that God hates all those in the darkness. To the contrary, God loves each and every one of the souls still trapped as in a dark room (John 3:16). He wants so much for them to see the light and come to the light of His Son (2 Peter 3:9). He would love nothing more than to rescue all those from the domain of darkness and transfer them to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13-14). So there is one great separation of darkness and light remaining. We will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ and answer for the way we lived this life (2 Corinthians 5:10). If we have lived in darkness then to the eternal darkness we will go (Matthew 22:13). If we have lived in the light then we continue in eternal fellowship with God and His people (1 John 1:7). This isn’t about living perfectly. None of us will. This is about choosing to walk in the light of Jesus in our lives. We will fall and we will fail, but as long as we keep walking with Him in the light He shines in this world we will enjoy eternal light with Him. The cool part about that eternal life is it seems to go back to what is stated at the beginning of Genesis. There will be no sun, moon, stars, or even any lamps of any kind. We will not need them for the light because “the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5).