And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Moses now introduces God speaking for the first time, yet the Word was active in all that came before, for nothing was made without Him. God did not put forth His Word visibly until the creation of light, when His wisdom began to show itself plainly. This alone confutes Servetus' blasphemy, that the Word had no beginning until God commanded light to be; the cause must be prior to its effect, and since all things came into being by His Word, we must infer the eternity of His essence.
AI summary
Light was the first visible being God created, not for His own sight but for ours, that we might see His works and His glory. It is the great beauty of the universe, most resembling its Parent in purity and power, next to spirit itself in nature. In the new creation, the first thing wrought in the soul is also light: the blessed Spirit enlightens the understanding, and those that were darkness by sin become light in the world by grace.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 1:3-5
The phrase 'God said' expresses the will, power, and efficacy of the divine Being; His word is clothed with power and is always obeyed. Perhaps the Logos Himself spoke here, He who is the light that lightens every creature. What this light was is not easy to say, but it was not the sun itself, for that came on the fourth day; rather, it was likely a different, more glimmering light that was afterward perfected in the sun's body.
AI summary