For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. If you've heard me preach for
long, you know that this is a verse that I refer to often because
when we're preaching the gospel, it needs to be understood. due
glory given to God for the fact that the preaching of the gospel
is not an attempt to get sinners to do something for God. This
is salvation. This is what God does when the
gospel's preached. He turns the light on for sinners. And this comparison of that to
creation, to the original command of let there be light is very
revealing and very Securely I guess establishes
The truth of sovereign grace of the fact that it is God. It
is the creative power of God at work in Saving a sinner. In fact the greatest miracle
that's ever been performed by the Lord Jesus Christ is turning
the rebel into a son turning the devil into a servant. The miracle of his grace, the
miracle that was accomplished on Calvary. Turn with me to Genesis
chapter one. Let's read this account because what Paul is referring to here
needs to be understood and in our minds as we hopefully by the grace of God
and we pray that he would reveal to us what salvation is, how
a sinner is saved. That's what is so often avoided
or neglected in what passes for gospel preaching in this religious
world. All these things that we're supposed
to do and not do and nobody Told how God saves the sinner. That's
what we need to know because we're sinners. We need to know
how the sinner is saved Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth and the earth was without form and
void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said God said
God said something and In the beginning, when he created the
heavens and the earth, he spoke. He said something. And what he
said was this, be light. The words let there be are one
word in the original. So it's be light, and not that
that matters. He commanded light to shine.
And there was light. Of course there was, because
it's God, and he is the creator. He is all powerful, he's the
first cause of everything. And the first thing he ever said,
as far as the history of this world is concerned, is be light,
be light. To be or exist, he called into
existence something that did not exist before. That's what
happens when he saves a sinner. The flesh is not reformed. We
don't turn over a new leaf. We don't make a decision and
all of a sudden we're different. It is the creative power of God.
And we're gonna see that clearly in the scriptures, not just our
verse tonight, but clearly in the scriptures. It's the creative
power of God. That's not preached. That's not
preached except where God sends a fool and gives him his precious
word. to exist. He says exist, he says be, and
then he specifies what it is that he has purposed to bring
into existence, and it is. It is. Our text says that salvation
is caused by the same God the same way. He shined then and
he shines. He has shined in our hearts.
He spoke. He commanded light, he said it.
He commanded it in the heart of a sinner. He shined in our
hearts. So consider a question tonight with me. Why did God
make a world? Why did he make an earth? Why
did he create a heavens and an earth? The earth itself is disposable.
Think about it. Did he make an earth because
he just wanted something, a canvas with which to paint his beauty? And he did do that. And the world
is still, even regardless of our sin and our ruination of
it to such a degree, it's still beautiful. And it is that, but
God's gonna throw this world away. He didn't make a world
just to have a world. God inhabits eternity. God's
purposes are eternal. So why did he make an earth just
to throw it away? Well, God has promised he's gonna
burn it up, hadn't he? God has also promised to burn
up all who die in the darkness and evil of sin. So that eliminates
this earth, that eliminates just about everybody in this world
at any given time. Few there be that find it if
you go throughout the history of the ages. It's a lot, it's
a number which no man could ever number. but at any given time,
straight is the gate and narrow is the way and few there be."
They find it by the grace of God. He's gonna burn up this
world. He's gonna burn up just about
everybody in it at the time that he does that. The devil who's
called the prince of this world, all of the fallen angels cast
into the pit, the bottomless pit forever. So what of this
whole world and everything in it, what endures? Well, God's son is born of a
woman, born into this world. He's the God man. He was flesh
of our flesh. He's David's son as well as David's
Lord. He's the eternal God. He's the
everlasting father and so he endures, he's eternal. But he
didn't originate in this world. He's not of this world in that
sense. He didn't originate at all. He is the originator of
all. So what all that is of this earth,
earthy, of all of it, what will endure? Well, it's one word in
our text, our. Our. Those in whose hearts the Lord
has shined. And so when he said, let there
be light in the beginning, It's the purpose of everything expressed
in those two words. Exist and what he, purpose to
exist. He shined in our hearts and only
those in whose hearts he has shined will endure. That's why he has a world. You
see, again, he inhabiteth eternity. Eternity. His purposes are eternal. He's in it for eternity. So what's his purpose in this
world? In having a world? Just one thing about it is eternal. That's his people, his sheep.
Those to whom he says, let there be light. And there's light. If you think of it, the creation,
you think, well, what does the creation in the beginning have
to do with sinners being saved? It's all one work to God. It's
salvation. If I'm cutting something out
on a saw, on my table saw, I cut out a piece of wood, and it's
a certain dimension. It's very precise. I only do
precise work. I don't mess around, but I cut
it to exact dimensions. And you say, what are you doing?
I said, well, I'm building a cabinet. And you look at that piece of
wood and you say, well, that don't look like a cabinet. That don't look
like a cabinet. Well, when God created the world,
it didn't look like a center being saved, but it's part and
parcel of the work. You see what I'm saying? That's
why he made a world, to save sinners. It's one work in his
purpose and heart and mind. It's the same thing, let there
be light. That's why that's the first thing
he said. In a sense, everything else comes from that. The hour in our text. It was
His first command in this world was to create the world for the
purpose of the spiritual command that causes light to shine in
our hearts. It's the Lord Jesus Christ without
whom was not anything made that was made. It was His voice that
said, let there be light. And there was. And why? It's all His one work. his purpose
to save sinners for his eternal glory. The kingdom of heaven
is like unto a king that made a marriage for his son. That's
what God's doing. When we sit at the marriage supper
of the Lamb, that's the realizing of the purpose of all of it. He has a world because he has
a people, and he has a people for the glory of himself, his
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself the light. Light came
into the world. God didn't need a sun in the
beginning in order to say light be. He didn't create the sun
until much later, you know, days later. Why? Because he is the
light of the world in every sense. In every sense, he is the light.
Without Christ, the light of the world was not anything made
that was made. And why was light first? What
did light do for this world? Nothing lives without light.
If he did it for his glory, for the angels of heaven to behold,
and they knew what the purpose of it was. They didn't say, why
is God making a world? They knew what he was making
a world for. They're looking into these things in eternity.
And seeing how he saves sinners in his great mercy and grace
in saving sinners. These are things the angels desire
to look into. And that's what we're here for
tonight because we desire to look into that. This is what
Christ did. And we behold that. And how are
you gonna behold his glory without light? And how are you gonna
live to behold his glory without light? Nothing lives. There can't
be any life. This passage we're about to read
here shows that it was more than physical life that came into
this world in the beginning. Turn with me to John 1. In verse
1, John 1. in the beginning was the word.
We read that, didn't we? The first thing that God did,
he made a heavens and an earth, and it was without form and void. Darkness was upon the face of
the deep, and we'll talk about that a little bit in a minute.
But the first thing he spoke in the history of this world
was let there be light. Do you think he even had to say
that? He doesn't have to say anything for it to be. He just
wills it. But He said it. We're told that He said it. That's
the Word. The Word, in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made
by Him. The Word, He spoke, and they
were made. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. In Him was life. There's no life
yet. But where'd the life go? It was
in him. It was in him. And the life was
the light of men. This is not just some scientific
phenomenon. It's a person. This light was
a him. We're told in John one. In him was life and the life
was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness. And
the darkness comprehended it not. God created all life in
the beginning. He's the creator Christ himself,
the person of Christ is the creator of all life. And he is life,
the life was in him. It came from him. The life spoken
of in the beginning is a hymn and that hymn was the light of
man. There's no life without that.
There's no beholding God's glory. Look at our text. You can't see
it, it's paradise. Perfect paradise this time. The
very glory of God revealed, but you can't see it without light. Not the Son, the S-O-N, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, look a few verses down in
John 1, verse 10. He was in the world and the world
was made by him. And the world knew him not. The
world knew him not. This refers back to verse five,
the light shineth in darkness. The darkness comprehended it
not. That's us. We're the darkness. We're the
darkness. We're the reason that the earth is in darkness to this day. But
look at, Verse 11, he came unto his own and his own received
him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God. He gave power. He empowered them. He gave them the ability. To
them that believe on his name, which were born. How did they
believe on his name? Well, they were born from above.
Isn't that what the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus? Except you'd
be born from above, you can't see the kingdom of God. You can't
enter into the kingdom of God. So they were born, not of blood.
I'm not talking about, born again. Born again, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man. It's not according to my
will that I'm born. It's not according to anybody
else. If somebody gets somebody saved, don't cut it according
to this verse. nor of the will of man, but of
God. In the beginning, God, in the
beginning, the word. He said, what, I'm the alpha
and what else? The omega. Beginning and the end. He's the
author and the finisher of our faith. So we see how that the
creation of the world is connected inseparably, inextricably to
the salvation of a sinner, whether God's creating a world or a son,
he must command light. Because there just isn't any
otherwise. There isn't any other way. There's no spark in the
human heart. The darkness of sin is on the
face of the deep inside of us. And there's got to be a miraculous,
supernatural command of God. Salvation is an act of creation. It's not a decision, it has no
more to do with man than the creation of the world did. What
did the creation of the world have to do with God creating
the world? Well, it happened. That's my
part too, it happened to me. It happened to me. God said to
Job, listen to Job 38.4, where were you when I laid the foundations
of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding,
who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath
stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof
when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted
for joy? Well, that's rhetorical language
because the answer is a resounding I wasn't there. Nowhere. I was nowhere. Where were you
when God came where you were and commanded the light in your
heart? Where was Saul of Tarsus? Where
was Saul? Where was Abraham? He was an idolater in a family
of idolaters in a country of idolaters. And God came and said,
I'm in the mercy business and I'm gonna have mercy on you.
Why do I say it that way? Because that's in effect what
God said, in mercy, in having mercy, I'm gonna have mercy on
you. That's what he came there to do was have mercy and you're
it, you're it. Where was Moses? A murderer on the backside of
the desert hiding from justice. Where was Nebuchadnezzar? Where were the disciples? To whom the Lord said, you didn't
choose me, I chose you. We're not the void of non-existence
in Genesis, well, we're the darkness. We are the deaf, we are the ones
in John 1 who comprehended it not. who couldn't see, who had
no life or light. We're the ones who had to be
born, not of our will, but of God. And God doesn't suggest
light. He doesn't recommend light. He doesn't make light available.
He commands it. He creates it. He speaks it into
being. He shines it in our hearts. Salvation
is a heart work of creation. a new person, a new heart. You
know this verse, but we don't always read verse 10 of it, but
listen to Ephesians 2 again, for by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of
words, remember the word give in our text? To give the light. We'll talk about faith in a minute,
because that's the light that we're talking about. When he
gives faith, you can't see God or his son without faith. That's
what happens when he turns the light on. You believe on him,
you see him as he is. And you know him by his grace.
The light in our text is what? The light of the knowledge, knowledge,
faith. Not of works, lest any man should
boast, for we are his workmanship. He's the one building this thing.
He's the one that's built it. He's the one that finishes it.
He's worthy of more glory in so much that He that built the
house is worthy of more glory than the house. Where His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained, that we should walk in Him. That word created there
and the word creature in the next two verses that we're fixing
to read, they're the same word that Paul uses in Romans 1.20
when he's writing of the creation of the world. Same word, same
work, same act of God. Creation, exist. A born again believer, a child
of God is a person that never existed before. You don't decide
that. God creates that. And that's
where we have to start in the preaching of the gospel. God's
gonna get the glory in every jot and tittle of the gospel
because he alone is worthy. Let's look at Ephesians 4, 24. And that you put on the new man,
which after God is created. in righteousness and true holiness,
created. 2 Corinthians 5.17, therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. That word is
creation. Same word in Romans 1.20, when
Paul speaks of the creation of this world. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things have become
new, and all things are of God. Everything that's new and good
and holy and right is of God. It's of God that we're
in His Son. It's of God that we're born from
above, born of God, gotten again by His word of truth, His gospel. And all things are of God who
hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and hath given
us the ministry of reconciliation. He made peace with the blood
of his cross, and now we preach peace by the blood of his cross.
Galatians 6.14, but God forbid that I should glory, save in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor keeping the law, not keeping the law,
God saves sinners. What does avail? A new creature,
a new creation. You see, that's where it all
starts in the preaching of the gospel. In the beginning, God,
that's my testimony. That's the testimony of every
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Light is also equated in Scripture
with the ability to see, and not just see physical eyesight,
but the sight of knowledge. That's what our text speaks of,
isn't it? That's what we've got to talk about here, to give the
light of the knowledge, knowledge. And that's what our text is, In the next part of our text
that we're gonna consider, it's not the natural light of human
intellect that gives the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in our text. This is a soul-saving knowledge
spoken of here, and it comes from God. God gives it to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. He commands
it in the heart. Paul is saying in that verse
that just like he said let there be light in the beginning, he
said let there be light when he showed us his glory in the
Savior by the preaching of the gospel. That's why we preach. Because God has promised that
by that word, by that word he would give light, a light of
knowledge. The light of knowledge. Except
a man be born from above, he can't see the kingdom of God. This is the promise of the new
covenant of grace. Listen to it. You're familiar
with this, but I want to remind you, but this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. This is Jeremiah 31,
33. After those days, saith the Lord,
he said, I'm going to make a covenant. I'm going to put my law in their
inward parts. my testimony, my word in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their
God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know
the Lord, for they all shall know me. From the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. You see, that's
the promise. We're gonna see, we're gonna
know. That's His covenant of grace. We didn't make a deal
with God. We don't make deals with God.
He made a covenant with His Son and included us in it. When the Lord said, blessed are
your eyes for they see, He's speaking of faith given to them. Given to them by Him. in order
to know him. Regarding that word knowledge
in our text, consider this verse, listen to John 17 one again. Think about the word, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. These words speak Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven It said, Father, the hour has come, glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. He gave us eternal life. How
do you possess eternal life in this world? This is a temporal
world, this is a world of that's decaying and waxing old and will
be disposed of. And even these bodies, as we
know them, they can't enter into the kingdom of God. Corruption.
Cannot inherit incorruption. So how do you possess it? This
is that life eternal. That's what he's saying here. This is that life eternal that
he gave us. That they might know you. the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. I've given unto them eternal
life. What is it? The light of the knowledge of
God's glory. Glorify thou me, that thy son
may also glorify thee, and let them see it. Let them see it. The cross is where God's glory
has shined like nowhere else in this world now. When Judas
betrayed the Son of God, you remember what the Lord Jesus
said? Now is the Son of Man glorified. In that horrible dark hour, it
says Judas went out from them and it was night. And how black
a night that was in a sense. And yet he said, on that occasion,
the Son of Man now is glorified, is glorified. That's the glory
that he was talking about in John 17, one, in his great high
priestly prayer to the Father. And he said, I've given them
the ability to see that glory in Christ crucified, in myself
and what I did for them. Knowledge given, that's our text.
What knowledge is this that we're given? And we could preach a
series on this one verse, couldn't we? You see why we refer to this
verse so often? It tells us how a sinner is saved.
It reminds us when we see, what we see everywhere we go in the
scriptures is how a sinner is saved by Christ, His power, His
sovereign will, His eternal love for His people, His precious
blood that washes us clean, His effectual, successful atonement
on Calvary, We see that everywhere, and then we refer back to this
verse because it says it so concisely, it sums up everything we've said,
everywhere we are in the scriptures. And there are other verses like
that. But what a glorious declaration this is. Knowledge given. And what is
this knowledge that we're given? The knowledge of the glory of
God. Why did God make a world? Why
did he shine light? Father, I will that those that
you've given me be with me where I am. Why? That they may behold
my glory. What did David say his one heart's
desire was? That I might dwell in the house
of the Lord, that I might behold his glory. It's what God wants
out of this thing, when I say thing, the universe, history
of time, everything. It's what the Lord Jesus wants
out of this thing, and it's what we want out of this thing by
his grace, his glory, his glory. We're gonna shout it both now
and forever by his grace. How does a sinner see the glory
of God? Moses said, show me your glory.
And what did God do? He put him in the cleft of rock. and said, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. I'm gonna have mercy on sinners.
And Moses got a glimpse of that. He saw the glory of God in his
son. I don't know what that looked
like to him then. But that's what we see in the
gospel. The very glory of God shining in the countenance of
Jesus Christ. That's the only place you can
see it. You're not gonna see it looking at this world. I know,
you know, somebody said that, you know, when the Lord saves
you, you see him in everything. Yes and no. You can. I'm thankful when I do see something
of this world. And you know, the Lord used simple
illustrations to declare his glory, you know, trees and seeds
and things of this world, the sun that rises in the sky. Yes, but if you're saying world
as in the fashion of this world and the evil of this world, the
way of this world, the anti-Christ religion of this world, no, no. Where you're gonna see God's
glory is in the face of his son, and I'm gonna make the point
at the end of this that's key to all of this, and you already
know what it is. You already know how God does this. You see
it in the text, in the context. But listen, in the countenance
of Jesus Christ, that's where God, where did the three, where
did they see on the Mount of Transfiguration? Where'd they
see God's glory? It says his face shone brighter than the
midday sun. His face, his face, his countenance. The law came by Moses, Grace
and glory came by Jesus Christ. Listen to Hebrews 1.1. Let's
turn over there. We're done. But let's close with this, Hebrews
1.1. God, who at sundry times and in diverse
manners speak in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. Whenever I read that, I want
to remind us, he's spoken unto us by his son, now the prophets
then now by his son, but what has he always spoken of? His
son. Who did the prophets speak of?
He said, Abraham saw my day. Moses wrote of me. They wrote
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning at the prophets
in the Psalms and in the prophets, he began to preach unto them
all things in the scriptures concerning himself. So he hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his son, but he's always spoken unto us of
his son. by whatever means he's chosen,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, not just shining
it forth, not just revealing it, who being the brightness
of the glory of God and the express image of his person. He said, if you've seen me, you've
seen God. And upholding all things by the
word. The stars are where they are
tonight by the word. Where are you? Why are you where
you are tonight? By the word of his power. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty. He made a world in six days and he sat down having come into this world,
the light of this world, and accomplished salvation for
his people, his reason for having a world. Now, how does God do
all of this? How does he show us his glory
in the face of his son? Well, in the beginning, what
was it that caused light and life? The word. In the beginning
was the word. God said, let there be light. He still does it that way. He
still does it that way. We know that, don't we? We're
always gonna come back to that. Look at verse five of our text
again. 2 Corinthians 4, five. And this is the verse preceding
our text. For we preach. Why do we preach? For God. who shined in the beginning still
shines. He still commands light. We preach,
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves your
servants for Jesus' sake, for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Shines
in sinners' hearts. That's why we're here. When he said in the beginning,
let there be light, there still is. So those of you in whose
heart the light is already shining, we're here for that reason too,
because he still shines in our heart. And we get in on the very
glory of God when we see him in the preaching of the gospel. He still does it just like that
now. We preach, not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and
that's just what we'll keep doing. How long will we do that? How
long are we gonna do that? Second Peter 119, listen. We
have also a more sure word of prophecy, where unto you do well
that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place. Well, I've heard the gospel all
my life. Chris, how long am I gonna listen? How long am I gonna sit
in a church building and somebody's gonna get up and preach the gospel?
Am I gonna do that my whole life? Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your
hearts. Keep hearing it. Keep taking
heed. Take heed how you hear. and keep listening until, like
you're listening to a light. Isn't that a strange? That's
the gospel. Everybody that believes on Christ
understands that. Take heed as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place until the day dawn. Keep hearing the
gospel until the day star arises in your heart. And when he does,
you won't care about much else. But that light, the glory of
God, everything has to do with His
glory. Our families, our business in
this world, everything we are, everything we have, everything
we do is for His glory. And so we're gonna do what He
said to do. That's all right with y'all. We just do what he said to do.
We have this sure word of prophecy. Simon Peter in that context in
2 Peter 1 is saying that they saw the Lord himself and heard
his voice audibly. He said, this is better. This
is more certain. We could mishear with these ears.
But if God speaks to you from this book, if he has something
to say to you, you're fixing to hear it. That's how sinners are saved. By the grace, the power, the
creative power of God. By these means, let's pray.