There is a concept in scripture study which occurs so often, that you ought to be aware of it. Scholars call this concept the "law of first mention." The law states that the first time something prominent or important is mentioned in scripture, we find in that mention key points to understand that subject. In other words, the first time something is mentioned in scripture, usually a lot of important lessons can be learned from it and all of the important elements are usually there.

Eve taking the fruit in the Garden of Eden is the first mention of sin in the Bible. And in the story, all the elements of how sin works today are present: Eve was hanging out in the wrong place around sin, she listened to the voice of someone who questioned what God had said, she wasn't really sure what God had said, she looked at the forbidden and desired it, she touched it only becoming slightly involved in it, then she finally partook of it, and then gave it someone else and caused them to sin. When a person sins today, all the steps of the first sin are found in their situation.

There are many "first mentions" in the Bible. Acts chapter 2 is the first time that the Holy Ghost was poured out and all of the crucial elements of a person receiving the Holy Ghost are there. The first time that the word "holy" is mentioned is not until the book of Exodus when God tells Moses to take off his shoes because he is on "holy ground." God is about to reveal His plan to get Israel out of Egypt and from this a lesson becomes clear: man cannot understand God's holiness until he begins to leave Egypt, and serve God! The first use of the word Hallelujah in both the Old and New Testaments are in conjunction with God judging sinners (Psalms 104:35; Revelation 19:1-3) which is something that is not preached very often, that the highest praise of God is for the fact that He is sovereign and does not bless sin!

It's obvious from these examples that when something is mentioned in the Bible, first, that it's important to pay attention because God is trying to teach us something! And so here in verse 3, we have the first mention of two very key themes found throughout scripture. The first is the Word of God: "God said." And the second is "light." God said "let there be light." Two of the biggest themes of the Bible and they are introduced to us together: file that away because it must be important.

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We can begin with the theme of light. It's a major theme of scripture, and light is mentioned no less than 272 times in the Bible. I think that God was trying to tell us something through all of that!

The interesting thing is that light represents several different things in the Bible. Let me give you a quick primer on "light references." Here are a few:

Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:16 that God "dwells in unapproachable light" in that His perfect ness and worthiness and grandeur is greater than anything that we will ever be or approach being like!

People feel safer when a place is lit up. It's a natural human response and so light represents that feeling of protection and safety.

When Jesus was dedicated in the temple as a baby, the prophet Simeon said this about Him:

Light brings revelation. When someone "has the light click on" that means that they understand. The light makes clearer and tells the truth and chases away the darkness of our minds.

To "manifest" means "to make visible." Light reveals the unseen and makes it visible. Light manifests things. Speaking of Jesus, who was God manifest in the Flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), John wrote:

To be "bright" means to be happy and content. To be "dark" means sorrow and depression.

So what is the point? The point is that everything light represents is something desirable that we want for our life. Who wouldn't want more of God's majesty and power revealed in their life? Who doesn't want more divine protection? Who doesn't want a greater revelation of truth, and a manifestation of what God has promised? Who would not want more joy?

But remember the first thing that God wanted to teach us about light was that it comes only from the Word of God. God said "let there be light" and then there was light. The light of God comes from the Word of God; the two are inseparably connected. That's why the Psalmist wrote:

God's Word is Light! It is the only source of the true light of heaven. Peter was talking about the written Word of God when he said:

What the prophets said is true! Pay attention to the Word of God just as you would to a lamp in a dark place. Peter was saying "the Word of God is our source of light!"

God said "let there be light." When God's Word says something, you need to understand that no matter what the subject, it is speaking light to you. God's Word is truth. The scriptures say:

That was true in Jesus' time and it is even more today. Many people don't properly comprehend the light of God's Word. They don't understand that God's Word is light and therefore it is coming to do that which is good. Too many people view the Word of God as a list of rules that are there to "dampen my lifestyle" and "keep me from having fun." They then respond to the Word of God in one of two ways: they either ignore it and walk away and do what they want, or they find a church and a preacher who doesn't put too much emphasis on preaching everything that the Word of God says and they just obey a few things.

The Word of God has some commandments and it definitely teaches us how to live in every area of our life, but you need to properly comprehend its true intentions today. If the Word of God directs you to change something or to do something then -- even if you don't understand right now -- it is something that God commanded because it will bring the benefits of light into your life. If you do it -- even if you don't understand it -- then eventually it will reveal the glory of God to you, it will bring divine protection from some things, it will bring you to a greater revelation in God, it will manifest things to you in the Spirit that you never knew existed, and it will ultimately bring great joy to you in your life. That's what will happen if you will obey the Word of God. The Word of God is light. Even if you can't understand why God would ask such a thing, why don't you obey it and see for yourself that when God speaks, it is always bringing light! And who wouldn't want what light represents!?

Somebody said, "but wait a minute, in the Gospels, Jesus was referred to as the Light." Jesus was everything that light is. He was the glory and majesty of Almighty God. He was the Divine Protector and the Savior of the world. He brought a fresh and more powerful revelation of God's plan and power. He was God manifest in the flesh and God's power manifest among the people. He brought joy to all those who received Him. it is very fitting that the scripture would refer to Jesus as light and even Jesus, Himself, would call Himself "the light."

But don't forget why Jesus was the Light of the World. The 1st chapter of John says this about Jesus:

But the chapter starts with this:

And then:

So why was Jesus the Light of the World? Because He was the Word of God become flesh! He was the only man who perfectly fulfilled all of His life every commandment and every principle and every direction of God's Word! He was the Living Word! And so He was the Light because He was the Word of God being spoken through a lifestyle! He was the Word of God enacted through actions. Jesus was the Light because He was the Living Word that obeyed every commandment of God! And therefore He was able to do and bring the things that light represents!

Jesus also turned to the people that were following Him and listening to His teaching and told them:

Wait a minute, Jesus! I thought that You were the Light of the World. I thought that You were the Living Word. But here we see that He came for a purpose and that was to make you and I the "light of the world!" He wants people to see us and see God's majesty. He wants people to see us and see and example of God's protective power. He wants people to see us and see people with great revelation and direction and joy. But how do we get that? How do we become the "light of the world." Not just by saying "I love Jesus" but by obeying His Word. When your life becomes a living demonstration of the Word of God. When you surrender every action to the Word of God's teachings, then you become the light of the world. You become God's ambassadors. When God's Work speaks, it speaks light! If you want joy and happiness and protection and power and glory, then you need the Light that comes only through His Word being enacted.

And let me say this: Have you ever been inside all morning on a beautiful sunny day and then suddenly walk outside and you feel blinded!? You thought that your fluorescent lights were bright and it seemed bright until you got outside in the real light!

It is the same in the spirit also. Sin and partial obedience are man-made lights that seem to bring joy and seem to bring revelation and seem to bring protection, but they are nothing compared to the true light! Whatever you do don't settle for a philosophy that tries to replace the Word of God. Don't settle for a religion or a tradition that tries to usurp the Word. Don't settle for a sinful lifestyle that tries to bring joy and fulfillment but only leaves you empty. There is no comparison between those things and the joy and power and revelation that the true light of God's Word brings in your life! God's Word speaks light -- it's one of the first things that God wanted you to know about His Word!

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And so we come to verse 4 of our text. The next part says:

The word in the Hebrew for "saw" can imply many things. It can mean that God looked at the light and said "that's a good thing." Or it could also imply that God "made sure that it was good."

When you obey the Word of God, you cannot do so without God keeping up His end of the bargain. God cannot lie, and so He takes careful note of anyone who steps out on a promise of His Word and makes sure that it comes to pass just as He said. He told the prophet Jeremiah:

God is watching over His Word just waiting to perform it! If you make the step of faith, then God will perform His end of the bargain, He'll make sure that His Word is good! If you are not seeing the promises of God come true in your life, then you must not be stepping out on the promises of God! Because daily, God is watching over His Word and is ready to perform it!

And His Word is the source of light. So get this: when you act upon the Word of God, He will make sure that the light that comes into your life is good. He will make sure that the glory that you receive is great. He will make sure you will have true joy! When you obey God's Word, and have the light of truth shining in your life, it's a safe bet that things will be better in your life and that you will be successful because God will make sure of it! He'll see that it's good!

And let me say this: if you make up in your mind to live against a certain principle in scripture, then understand that you will fail. You will never be happy choosing to disobey that or disregard that because when you choose to NOT have the light of God's Word shining in your lives, you are choosing gloom and failure. You are choosing to have badness and darkness pervade your life. Things won't work out because God will not be there to make sure that it works out. Things don't just "happen" to work out all the time for certain people, but the Bible says:

When you are living according to His Word and thus are allowing His light to shine through you, you are living "according to His purpose." And so things will work out for the good because "God causes all things" to do so! When you are in His Will and obeying His Word, then God will cause things to work out that normally would not have worked out. If you trust Him completely, then God will work on your behalf and make sure that everything is for your good. If you are making the effort to be the light of God in this world by obeying His Word, then you can know that God will "see that" His light is good! You can look back and quote Genesis 1:4: "God saw that the light was good!" I stepped out in faith, and God made sure that it worked to my benefit!

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The next portion of the scripture reads:

As soon as light came into the world, it was separated and divided from darkness. Light is the complete opposite of darkness. Darkness flees at the mere presence of light. If light is obeying what the Word of God has spoken, then darkness is disobeying the Word of God. "Walking in the light" means that you are living as God's Word has said. "Walking in darkness" means that you are living in sin. Listen to what Paul said to the church in Philippi:

We should "be without blemish." Jesus said this:

And the Apostle Paul said:

If we are really "children of the light" then we cannot be so and walk in darkness. In our text in 1 John, he wrote

The Apostle is not talking about a mistake or a mess up that is quickly repented of and corrected, but rather when he refers to "walking in the darkness," he means living in willful sin. And so he says that "if we say that are living for God and yet we walk in the darkness, then we are lying." You cannot live for God and yet live in willful sin. If you are doing something wrong, and you know that it's wrong, and yet you continued doing it and don't desire to change, then you are walking in darkness, and thus are not really in close fellowship with God! Grace does not mean that we can live like we want to. God divides the light from darkness and it He who draws the line between sin and righteousness. "If you are going to serve me," He says, "you must walk in the light!"

How do we "walk in the light?" Here are three ways to make sure that you walk in the light.

1. By repenting of willful sin and allowing God to change our behavior. Listen to what Paul wrote:

2. By hanging out and partnering with people that live righteously. Paul wrote:

3. By guarding what we see. Jesus said this:

If it seems to hard to live outside of sin, then you are not letting the light of God's Word into your mind and life. We give the devil too much credit. The darkest darkness flees instantly at the weakest light. And the Word of God is not a weak light but a strong light! If you are having trouble not living in willful sin and are continuing to walk in darkness, then you are simply not allowing the Word of God to shine in your life. You are not obeying its commands, or it would be easy for the darkness to flee.

But remember that how we live does speak about our relationship with God. God separated the light from the darkness; you can't claim to walk in one and actually walk in the other.

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And so we come to our final verse:

He called the light day and the darkness night; okay, there's no problem there. But the kicker comes in the last part of the verse. God named the light first and the darkness second, and so you would think that logically God would then say the morning comes first and the evening second, but when God defines the first day, He reverses the order.

God flips it and puts evening first and then the morning! And from this passage of scripture, the Jewish people celebrated the beginning of the day at sundown and the morning was the second part of the day. It's reverse from the way we think today and it's the reverse from everything that God had done to this point. But there is an important lesson learned here. The night is synonymous with pain and suffering and hardship in scripture. It is the time of darkness. The morning is always in reference to joy and hope! It is the time that the light begins to shine! The Psalmist wrote:

And so God called the first day "evening and then morning." God was trying to teach us a principle that when He's involved, everything always gets better and better. With God in control of your life, things go from bad to better; from darkness to light. Evening lasts a while but the morning is coming when you are allowing God to work in your life!

The exact opposite is true when we try to fix things and live our life on our own. Our lives will get worse and worse. Living your life without Jesus on the throne of it will end up with your life falling apart. The hope of the sunrise quickly fades into the heat and struggle of the night.

And so we are presented with a picture of darkness and light. Everything in the kingdom of God can be reduced to those elements. Living for God is only complicated when we try to justify sin or straddle the fence. It's not complex to God. There is darkness and there is light. You choose to walk in one or the other. You choose to obey His Word or not. And by doing so, you choose the end fate of your everyday life as well as eternity. But the lesson of God in the first five verses of the Bible is clear:

God's been working in your life from the beginning to bring you to a place where you can know Him. His plan for you goes far beyond what you can see on earth. God allowed a mess in your life in the hopes that you would get the revelation to look up. When you look up you find that His Spirit has been there over you just waiting to move, but that it can't move until you allow the Word to speak into your life. The Word of God brings light and separates your lifestyle and being from darkness. When you choose to walk in the light, then God causes the evening to turn into morning and things to get better and better! God is the One who reverses everything and causes it to be this way!

What a mighty God we serve! Let us never forget the first things that He wanted to us to know about how He works in our life! He is still the Almighty Creator!