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November 19, 2022 Q & A

Who said, “Let there be light”?

Question

As I read Genesis 1:3 I’m confused as to who said, “Let there be light,” because in John 1 it states that all things were created through the Word, and the Word (Jesus) was with God. So I guess I’m trying to say, “Why did Jesus say, ‘Let there be light,’ and not God?”

Answer

Dear friend:

I’ve been asked to respond to the question you submitted to the OPC website.

You’re exactly correct that John 1:1–18 presents Jesus as the Word through whom all things were created, and therefore it was the Word (Jesus before his incarnation) who spoke all things into being at the creation. But it’s not just that! John begins by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

One of John’s main points in the prologue to his Gospel is that Jesus is himself God, the Second Person of the Trinity. As the Son of God, he is the Word of God through whom the Three Persons of the Trinity—and particularly God the Father—reveal themselves. This is why the prologue concludes: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). Thus, when the Word said, “Let there be light” in Genesis 1:3, it was God the Son who spoke, and God the Holy Spirit and God the Father spoke through him.

This is a mysterious and wonderful reality, but it is unquestionably the message of John 1:1–18. You’re reading the Bible correctly by comparing John 1 to Genesis 1. As you continue to interpret Scripture with Scripture, you will find more and more of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, on every page of the Bible.

 

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