In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Together these made up one day.

Genesis 1:1-5 (NLT)

When reading this passage, I always made the assumption that the light that God created on Day One was the sun. It wasn’t. The sun didn’t come into play until Day Four. So if the light wasn’t the sun, what was it?

Jump over to the New Testament.

In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:1-5 (NLT)

For those of us raised in church, we knew the story of creation from a very early age. And, if you’re like me, you picture a big God in the sky with a glowing robe and a long, white beard. The Gandalf of the Heavens. But God wasn’t alone.

In the passage from Genesis quoted above, the entire Trinity is present. In the beginning God… And the Spirit of God was hovering… Let there be light (Jesus is the Light according to John 1:4)… The Hebrew word used for God is a plural word. Elohim. A plural of majesty indicating God’s greatness, not His number.

Jesus didn’t just appear at His human birth. The Holy Spirit didn’t arrive only at Pentecost. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have been present since the very beginning. They are three in one and cannot be separated from each other. They are all and they are in all.

There is no better way to go into a new year than with the revelation that God is in everything and cannot be separated from anything. He is as much a part of you as He always has been. He will never leave you or forsake you. He cannot be extinguished.

Daily Bible reading: Genesis 1-2, Matthew 1