The Message

I am continuing our new series of messages entitled Once Upon All Time: Creation. Last week we started at the beginning, In the beginning......

Today we continue with the first day. I would like you to read the following words from Genesis, Chapter one:

 "And God said let there be light and there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5)

The first day God did four things.

1.          God spoke

2.          God saw

3.          God separated

4.          God called 

The Bible says, "He said let there be light and there was light." He spoke. There is tremendous power in the spoken word. As I mentioned last week, we see Jesus Christ throughout creation. In John's gospel, it specifically says, "In the beginning was the Word." (The Word is Jesus Christ.) The gospel continues, "The Word was with God and the Word was God. And nothing was made that has been made without him." The Bible says that God spoke. When He speaks, something happens. He said, "let there be light," and there was light and that is a message for every single one of us. When we speak, there is a miraculous spiritual power that takes place to create a reality. We need to be careful about the way we speak. Most importantly, we need to learn to say positive, affirming things about ourselves, about our futures and where we want to go. Therefore, I want us to begin practicing positive speech.

Positive speech says: I am a child of God.

Positive speech says: I am blessed in every way.

Positive speech says: God is blessing me.

If you believe those statements, would you repeat them with me today?

I am a child of God.

I am blessed in every way.

God is blessing me.

 These positive affirming words are prophetic. When you say the opposite, negative things, I have bad news for you. They are prophetic as well. When you say, "I'm having a bad day," guess what?  You are right. You are having a bad day and you are creating a worse day. When you are having a bad day, or you feel like you are having a bad day, you need to make a change. Use your spoken word to make a difference. Speak a positive result into that day and turn that day from a bad day to a good day. Speak it out loud saying, "the rest of my day is going to be the best I have ever experienced." Then open your eyes and you will see things start to turn around. You might think negative thoughts but do not allow the words to come out of your mouth. There is something about the spoken word that we do not understand.  It is a spiritual reality that when you speak, it makes a difference.

I've learned this from several different mentors that I've had. One of them is one you probably wouldn't expect, Tommy Lasorda, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He used to say that in a clutch play, many fielders will think to themselves, "don't hit the ball to me, don't hit the ball to me," because they don't want to be the one who just fumbles the ball for a second and the run scores. He would tell his players, "You have to say to yourself, hit the ball to me. Give me a chance. I am going to make the out. Hit the ball to me. When you do, you are affirming these positive affirmations of your ability and your strength to be able to create an aura around you of success because you know that when that ball is hit to you, you are going to make the play!"

The second thing that Scripture says is: God saw.  God saw everything. God knows everything. There are no secrets with him. My father has a wonderful prayer that I heard him start praying about fifteen years ago. The prayer is this. "Lord, bless me where I need the blessing the most." Isn't that a great prayer? It's a realization that God knows far more than what I could ever know. God sees what I can't see. God knows what I need, more than I know what I need. I think I know what I need. But do I really?

On that first day, God saw the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness.

The third thing Scripture says is: God separated.

I have an artistic piece by Salvador Dali, it's actually a wood carving and I am not absolutely sure how the artist did this, but don't get too impressed!  I paid two hundred dollars for it twenty years ago. I bought it because of the message that it gives to me. This painting is called The Judgment. It is part of a trilogy that Salvador Dali did to express how God judges people. God is judging this individual who is knelt before Him. As he is receiving the crutch of life, he also has color and light. All color is light, correct? Darkness is no color. You can change any color on planet earth with the right lights. In the picture there is a gentleman who has received judgment and it doesn't look like it went in his favor. He has no color. The beautiful thing about this picture is that it is an interesting religious symbol. About fifteen years ago an architect friend of mine came to my home where the picture was hanging and he recognized it as piece by Salvador Dali. My friend told me something about Salvador Dali that I did not know.  He said, "Dali always has pictures within pictures." We wondered if there was a hidden picture in The Judgment. The two of us studied it for a few minutes and we found the hidden picture. Ever since then, it has become my favorite picture. You see, overshadowing the entire judgment of God is the face of Jesus Christ. You can see his eye. You can see his nose. You can see his mouth and his cheekbone. This is the face of Jesus Christ. Overshadowing the judgment of God is the grace of Jesus Christ!

In the beginning was the Word. When God separated the lightness from the darkness, and He separated evil from good, overshadowing the whole thing is the incredible grace of Jesus Christ, that whoever will call upon Him, will receive the light. They will have color back in their life again. They don't have to turn away and walk away from their creator and from their Lord, and from Jesus. God spoke. God saw. God separated. Then the most amazing thing, He named. God called. The scripture says, "God called the light day and the darkness he called night and there was evening and there was morning, the first day." (Genesis 1:5) What is the big thing about God calling these things, or naming them? In the ancient days, when a dramatic thing took place in a person's life, they would change their name. Look at Abram. When he accepted the call of God he became Abraham. Simon Bar Jona became Peter. Saul became Paul. It happens today in modern times also.  We know that Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. Paul Yonggi Cho, a great pastor from South Korea became David Cho.  Why do people change their names? What is the significance of having a name? When one is named, and when God names something, He is taking dominion and ownership over this thing.

He took dominion over the day and the night. God has dominion over the darkest of the dark. God has dominion over everything negative within your life. God has taken ownership of the cancer and other illnesses which have infected bodies, over the destroyed marriages, over the families. God has taken dominion over the negative. He has named the darkness as night and when you call upon the name of Jesus Christ, you call upon His grace in your life.  When His grace enters your life you will see color brought back into your life. That is light. A light is color and with light in your life you will see joy and goodness.

1.     God spoke

2.     God saw

3.     God separated

4.     God called

God called and there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:5b)

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are the God of creation and that your hand and your power is at work in this world and You have taken dominion over the night, over the darkness, over the evil. At this very moment You are in process of removing the negativity that is in our lives and our families, You are restoring hope and joy and so we are affirming and calling out by name, the success of eliminating illness and sickness and distress. Oh God, this is a new day, the first day, thank you Lord, Amen.