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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Lecture on Genesis Ver.2(25) - Lecture on Genesis Ver.2 (25) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Genesis 1:3-5 |
Date |
2010-03-05 |
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Scripture
Genesis 1:3-5
[3] Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
[4] God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
[5] God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is Genesis Lecture 25.
In the last lecture, I explained to you about the first day of creation when God surrounded the fleshly (-physical) space with the light when He commended, "Let there be light."
This light was the "Original Light of Creation."
Since the fleshly space was surrounded by the Original Light of Creation, and covered by the spiritual space, the fleshly (physical) space then rode on the flow of spiritual time.
And orders and principles were established which would be applied to everything that would be created in the future.
In addition, the power and divine nature of God was put into every creature (and all creation).
Whether or not you acknowledge this power and divine nature of God decides whether you believe in creationism or evolutionism.
Since we realize and acknowledge this power and divine nature of God in all creation, we can believe that God the Creator exists.
On the other hand, the evolutionists don't realize this power and divine nature of God, and thus they try to understand and explain all things in the limit of man's theory and knowledge.
However, as scientists study deeper and deeper, they encounter a certain limit where they have no explanation.
In the world of science, for example, there is no proven evidence that will clearly explain the birth of earth.
There are only hypothesis.
A "hypothesis" is a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences.
In order to make a hypothesis a certain "truth," evidences should be derived through observations or experiments.
Even though countless scientists have studied the space and the earth for long time without ceasing, they haven't found any truth about the birth of the earth; they only have many hypotheses.
However, the Bible clearly records the truth about the birth of the earth.
That is, Genesis 1:1, which reads, "In the beginning, God created heavens and the earth."
Is there any evidence that proves this word is true?
Yes, there is; indeed, there are countless evidences.
The work of creation that science or medical technology cannot explain is taking place even today.
For example, there were members whose legs were not equal in length; one was 5 to 7 centimeters longer than the other.
However, as they received the prayer of a God's servant who is guaranteed by God's power, the length instantly became equal.
Usually, the shorter one grew longer and the length became equal.
The evidence that God the Creator did the works of creation with His divine power is clearly seen like this even today.
This church has so many evidences that are like showing that God did the works of creation.
Therefore, it is the truth that "God created heavens and the earth"; it is neither hypothesis nor theory.
Even with scientific logic like this, it is true that God created heavens and the earth.
I certainly hope that all of you will revere God the Creator with all the more perfect faith.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, I will focus mainly on Genesis 1:4-5.
It reads, "God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night and there was evening and there was morning, one day."
Let me explain its physical or fleshly meaning first.
I already told you that, as God said "Let there be light," the Original Light of Creation surrounded the earth.
God called this period when the light surrounds the earth as the "day."
And the period when the light was withdrawn, God called "night."
I also told you that order and principles for the operation of the earth were established when God said "Let there be light." The existence of "day and night" is one of them.
Even from the first day when there was no sun, moon, or stars, there was separation between day and night on the earth.
Did the earth rotate back then, or not? (It didn't.)
Today at sunrises, it becomes day; and at sunset, it becomes night.
To be more specific, the side where the earth faces the sun as the earth rotates is "day", and the other side where it doesn't face the sun is "night."
However, on the first day, it was not the sun that separated "day" from "night."
Depending on whether God surrounded the earth with light or not, it was either day or night.
Therefore, from the first day till the third day, the earth didn't need to rotate.
Dear brothers and sisters.
The sentence "God separated the light from the darkness" contains very important spiritual meaning.
It means God divided and separated the domain of light that belongs to God from the domain of darkness that belongs to Lucifer.
As it was the first night, God released Lucifer and evil spirits that Lucifer would manage from the Abyss.
"Night" spiritually symbolizes the world that evil spirits rule.
Even in a physical sense, the attributes of darkness that are kept in a heart of man are aroused by evil spirits better at night.
Therefore, various crimes take place more at night than during the day.
For your information, "2007 Crime Analysis & Statistics Study" by Supreme Prosecutors Office shows following time-based crime rate.
From 04:00 am to 12:00 pm, it was 9.2%, from 12:00 pm to 06:00 pm, it was 21.2%, and from 06:00 pm to 04:00 am the next day, it was 47.9%.
The crime rate during the time that is "night" is the highest.
I have another interesting study.
It is so called "Blue Streetlights Effect."
In 2000, Glasgow, SCOTLAND in the UK, installed blue street lights in certain neighborhoods for a better appearance.
After the installation, the crime rate was significantly reduced.
A subsequent report said that crimes were reduced by 10,000 a year.
In 2005, Japan installed this blue streetlight first in Nara.
As the streetlights were changed where crimes were happening frequently, the crime rate was amazingly reduced to 0%.
After that, 39 more cities instantly followed to install the blue street lights.
Then, many other cities such as Shimane, Hiroshima, and Shizoka also adapted this blue street light.
In Kang-Nam District of Seoul, Korea also installed blue streetlights in some neighbors in November 2008.
Psychology Professor Sang-Min Hwang at Yonsei University said, "The blue color emits its light wide and far. Psychologically, it has an effect of making people clam down and steady.
Of course, other say they need more research to prove whether the decreased rate of crime is solely resulted from Blue streetlight effect.
However, I just explained this hypothesis because it seems to coincide with the creation providence of God who made the color of sky blue.
Just as there are day and night in the earth, there are beings that belong to God who is light, and evil spirits that belong to darkness.
By the way, no matter how dark the darkness is, once the light shines, it withdraws.
The darkness can never defeat the light.
Even if the evil spirits have authority to manage the world of darkness, it is God, the Light, who allowed it to them.
As a result, the evil spirits can enjoy their authority only within inside the boundary that God permitted in justice.
Once human cultivation is complete, the evil spirits will be confined in the Abyss again.
On the other hand, what about Heaven where the souls will live forever after human cultivation?
Revelation 22:5 says, "And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them."
In Heaven, there is no night which is darkness, but only day which is light.
By the way, on this earth which is the stage for human cultivation, the ratio between day and night is 1:1.
Of course, the length of day and night is different depending on seasons.
In north hemisphere, day is longest and night is shortest at the summer solstice around June 21.
After the summer solstice, day gets shorter and shorter, but night becomes longer and longer.
Then, around December 22, the winter solstice, day is shortest, but night becomes longest.
After the winter solstice, again day gets longer and longer, but night becomes shorter and shorter.
Likewise, also in a physical sense, the length of day and night is equal, not partial.
This fact shows how precisely, according to justice, God is cultivating souls.
Just as the ratio between day and night is equal, God allowed the evil spirits to compete with God under the same conditions.
You should understand it well spiritually.
Why? The evil spirits work not only during the night but also during the day.
However, when I say the ratio between day and night is equal, I'm not referring to physical length of day and night, but spiritual length of day and night.
Physical length of day and night is the same, and it means that the condition that the evil spirits have to compete with God is the same with God's.
God is the Creator, and He is the Master of all things, but He never made the condition of human cultivation favorable to Himself.
Just as day and night is equal in a physical sense, God made the conditions equal which are never partial.
Therefore, Lucifer and the evil spirits can never say that they competed with God under unfair conditions.
Dear brothers and sisters.
God separated day from night precisely like this.
You should understand from this that day and night can never coexist with each other even in a spiritual sense.
2 Corinthians 6:14 says, "...for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?"
Truth cannot co-exist with untruth. Neither can goodness exist together with evil.
In a spiritual sense, "light" refers to all the attributes that belong to God who is light itself.
For example, truth, goodness, and love are such attributes.
To the contrary, darkness in a spiritual sense means all the attributes that belong to evil spirits.
Lawlessness, untruth, sin, and evil are such attributes.
God allows a man to choose either light or darkness in his free will.
The Lord said in John 3:20-21, "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
If a man has evil in his heart, he will walk the way of darkness, not the way of light. On the other hand, if he has goodness, he will come forth toward the light.
However, the evil spirits control people encouraging them to walk the way of darkness.
They make usage of all the things of untruth that belong to the world, and tempt people to commit sin.
However, if you are a man who loves God, you should flatly refuse the temptation of the world, and come forth toward light following the truth.
And you should stay in the light, not in the darkness.
Let me tell you more about how to stay in the light in greater detail.
In the Bible, you can find the Do's, Don'ts, Keep's, and cast off's.
To keep this word and live by this word is to shed the darkness and to stay in the light.
To be more specific, there are many Don'ts in the bible. .
"Don't hate," "Don't lie," "Don't envy," Don't be jealousy," "Don't covet what belongs to others."
If you do what you are told not to do, then you are staying in the darkness.
On the other hand, if you don't do as you are told not to do, then you are staying in the light.
In addition, the Bible tells you what to "cast off."
"Abstain from every form of evil," "Cast off sin," "Forsake hot temper," "Cast off greed."
If you don't cast off what you are told to cast off, then you are staying in the darkness.
But if you cast off what you are told to cast off, you are staying in the light.
The Bible also tells you to do something, and to "keep" something.
"Love each other," "Serve others," "Rejoice always," "Pray without ceasing," "Give thanks in all situations," "Be faithful," "Keep the Lord's Day holy," "Keep the law and ordinances of God."
To keep these words and live by them; it is to stay in the light.
On the other hand, if you don't do what you are told to do, and if you don't keep what you are told to keep, you are staying in the darkness.
Where do you stay more often, in the light or darkness?
Ephesians 5:8 says, "...for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light."
Since we are the children of God who is light, we should walk in the light.
No matter how diligently you go to church, unless you don't keep the word of God, you should realize you belong to darkness.
When people belong to darkness, it is the enemy devil and Satan that control people because they have authority over darkness.
The enemy devil and Satan can incite and control the hearts and minds of people who belong to darkness.
They can cause people to commit sin and then undergo trials, affliction, or disasters as retribution for their sin.
They make people fall down into deeper darkness so that they keep far away from God.
Their final goal is to keep people from receiving salvation and go to Hell.
It is possible because the enemy devil and Satan have authority to rule over the darkness.
Just as Romans 6:23 says that the wage of sin is death, the law of spiritual realm dictates that people will eventually die if they commit sin.
Spiritual death refers to falling down into the fire of Hell which will never be quenched.
This is the final destiny of those who live in the darkness; that is sin and evil.
However, the enemy devil and Satan cannot touch those who always stay in the light.
1 John 5:18 says, "We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."
God protects those who stay in the light because God has the authority over the light.
The Bible tells you that God protected Daniel, who was thrown into the den of lions, and that God saved Daniel's three friends who were thrown into a burning furnace.
Since they didn't commit any sin, not even their hair was hinged, they could be perfectly protected.
Manmin members also experience similar things.
For example, even though their car was wrecked in a car accident, Manmin members inside the car were not hurt at all.
Unless those who keep the Lord's Day holy and give proper tithe commit a sin that leads them to death, even if they make a mistake, they are protected in an accident.
To keep the Lord's Day holy and to give proper tithe shows that they live in the light to that extent.
That's why the darkness cannot work.
It is rather that God surrounds them with light and protects them and keeps them safe.
Moreover, God always gives good things to His children who walk in the light.
God gives various overflowing blessing as promised in the Bible.
James 1:17 says, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."
Just as the enemy devil and Satan can bring trials and afflictions to those who commit sin, God can bring every good thing and every perfect gift to those who dwell in the light.
However, the best blessing of blessings is to have spirit and soul prosper.
Therefore, even though God can give as much blessing as possible to His children, God gives the blessing to the extent their spirit and soul prosper.
Dear brothers and sisters.
When we dwell in the light, we can receive blessing like this, and we can also be protected.
Now, which one would you like to choose, light or darkness?
If you are wise enough, you will surely choose light and walk toward it.
By the way, there is another reason why those who love God should choose light and why they cannot but choose light
That is, only when we walk in the light, can we have fellowship with God.
For those who love God from the depth of their hearts, the fellowship with God is as important as life itself.
What about even those who are deeply in love with each other in a fleshly sense?
They always want to stay together; at least they want to hear the other's voice when they cannot see each other.
What if they cannot keep in touch or cannot see each other? Wouldn't they be hurt in their hearts, and wouldn't they be in deep sorrow?
For those who truly love God, it is happiest when they have fellowship with God.
1 John 1:6-7 says, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."
Only when you walk in the light can you have true fellowship with God.
Since those who truly love God know this fact, they cannot even turn their eyes toward the darkness.
They aver darkness, not to mention that they will neither commit the deeds of darkness nor choose the darkness over light.
I urge you to walk in the light all the more perfectly so that you can have deeper fellowship with God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Tonight, I told you about the work of God separating day from night on the first day of creation.
Just as the ratio of day to night in the earth is one to one, God gave conditions that were equal to the evil spirits in the history of human cultivation.
God gave authority to the evil spirits so that they could supervise darkness just as God supervises light.
He even gave them a place where they could dwell.
Once the first day of creation was over, He did it as the second day began.
In the next lecture, I will tell you where the dwelling place for evil spirits is, and what happened on the second day of creation.
You could have gotten a bit more comfortable sleep at home at this moment; however, you didn't. You came here to attend this worship service.
I believe almost all of you came here by your free will.
You came here following the light since you long for spirit, truth, and light.
I do hope you will always continue to choose light over darkness, and make your stay in the light.
May the blessing of heaven that God has prepared for the children of light overflow in your life, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen!!!] |
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