Hid From Our Eyes

It is easy to read and run on to the next verse or two thinking that we have read something we have not really read.  In the early verses of the book of Genesis, we find the seven day account of creation.  Shortly after the beginning on the first day, the Word enables us to hear God saying, "Let there be light."  (Genesis 1:3)  We know the rest.  There was light and it was good.  But this light which was different than darkness had nothing to do with the sun and moon and the stars.  As the account unfolds, we see that these great lights were creations of the fourth day.

 

So what was this light spoken of as a creation of the first day?  If the Word is not speaking about the light of the sun and the moon, what is this light?  In pondering these questions and this passage, I have found myself remembering the old hymn which sings, "Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible, hid from our eyes..."  Could these ancient Words from Genesis be speaking of a light that shines, yet, one which is inaccessible to the sight with which we are blessed?  While it is not true of the light of the sun or the moon, is there a light which is hid from our eyes?

It is surely true that God is the One who is unseen and seen.  He is the One who is visible, yet invisible.  He is the One who is as present as the one who stands beside us, yet, not here but always there.  He is the One who can be understood, yet, the one who is always mystery.  Given this reality, perhaps, these words speak of the essence of life which was brought into being by the Holy Three. The light of the first day seems to point us to the unseen foundation, the invisible undercurrent, the impossible to understand truth upon which all of creation depends for its ongoing life.