First words are a milestone. Parents encourage their babies to make meaningful sounds when they start babbling, coaxing them to say “Mama” or “Dada.” When the baby finally does say his or her first word, proud parents share the news and brag to their friends about how smart their child is, perhaps even teasing each other about which parent got the honor of being named first. It makes me wonder what Jesus’ first word was. The Bible doesn’t see fit to tell us, but it is interesting to read God’s first recorded words in Scripture.
“In Hebrew narrative, the first words a person speaks are extremely important to understanding his or her character; they tell us about the personality or faith of the person,” Elizabeth Ahlman explains in Ruth: More Than a Love Story (47). So it is interesting to see that the first character in the Bible to speak is none other than God Himself, and His first words in the narrative of Genesis are indicative of His character: “Let there be light.”
The account of creation is one of the more well-known stories in the Bible. It seems like every Sunday School curriculum, every VBS program, and every children’s Bible story book begins with creation. After a while, people may be tempted to glaze over it and think, Yeah, yeah, I know all this. God created the world. Let’s move on already. But take a moment to think about God’s first recorded words about light.
Anyone who knows the Bible knows that there are many references to light in Scripture, and not just physical light. Yes, God was creating light and darkness, day and night, that first day of creation, but there’s a deeper level here. The Bible often contrasts light and darkness, referring to faith and spiritual blindness. The book of John, in particular, highlights this theme. In fact, the beginning of John refers back to creation, parroting the first words of Genesis, “In the beginning…” We learn from John 1 that “all things were made through [Jesus], and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:3-5).
What is this “light” of which John speaks? More accurately, who is this light? Jesus, of course. Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus states, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (8:12). Jesus is the light who was with God from the beginning, who came into the world as a man, and who will be our light into eternity. As the Bible begins with light, it also ends with light. In speaking of the New Jerusalem—aka heaven—John writes, “Night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5, see also Revelation 21:22-25).
Yes, God’s first words are indicative of His character, for He brings light into a world of spiritual darkness. He brings us to faith in Jesus, the light of the world, and He will keep us in His light forever. Indeed, “Let there be light.”
TruthNotes 
August 12, 2019 at 10:23 am
Good post! The creation account and creation of light is tied to one of my “questions for God” when I get to heaven:
God created light on Day 1, separating it from the darkness creating Day and Night, and there was evening and morning. But then on Day 4, God created “lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night…” and made “the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night…”, setting them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. So if He created light, Day/Night, and evening/morning on Day 1, why recreate light on Day 4? And if they’re different, what was the light created on Day 1 vs Day 4? It couldn’t be Jesus, the light of the world, since He IS God and has always been (not created).
Any thoughts?
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August 12, 2019 at 3:01 pm
Yes, that’s a great question! People have debated this very question for centuries. You’re right that it’s not Jesus, since He was not created, so what was this mysterious light that was there before the sun and moon and stars? There are many theories and attempts to explain what this original light source for the first three days of creation could be, as this article from Answers in Genesis shows:
https://answersingenesis.org/days-of-creation/days-without-sun-what-was-source-light/
It’s a bit long, but a good read. Ultimately, as the article concludes, we may theorize but can never know for sure what the light was from days 1-3. It’s one of those instances where we have to admit our limited understanding and take God at His Word even when we can’t comprehend it!
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August 13, 2019 at 9:46 am
First words are indeed important! According to Luke, it’s very interesting that the first words Jesus speaks in His public ministry are, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:18). In other words, “In the name of the Father (the Lord) and of the Son (upon me), and of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit).” Jesus begins His public ministry the same way we begin our worship services – by reciting the Trinitarian Invocation!
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August 13, 2019 at 10:55 am
Excellent point! That could be another blog post! 🙂
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August 15, 2019 at 9:14 am
Thank you, Mary!
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