ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tu’apulelulu Sanuali 5, 2023 

יהי אור !Let There Be Light

Ke maama mai

GENESIS 1:3

THEN GOD SAID, "LET THERE BE LIGHT," AND THERE WAS LIGHT.

SENESI 1:3

Pea folofola ‘a e ‘Otua, Ke maama mai: pea na‘e maama

The first two spoken words of God, y'hi or, are both simple and sublime. They are not complicated in grammar or meaning. Y'hi is a form of the verb "to be"; or is the word for "light." Yet their simplicity masks sublimity. Light is voiced into being. Not stumbled upon by chance or constructed by careful engineering, but "worded" into being. Light shines forth from the face of God-specifically, his mouth.

This light is a more profound light than the sun, moon, and stars, which will be created on day four. It chains the darkness, erects a barrier between night and day. It says to darkness, "Here you shall go, and no further." To flourish in this light is to escape darkness and thrive before the radiant face of the God.

As such, this verse proclaims the Gospel according to Genesis, for it points us to the "Light of Light," Jesus Christ. "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). He shatters the cosmic midnight in our hearts. From Christ's face bursts forth rays of the glorious, life-giving light of God that transfigures us into his image (Matt. 17:2).

"Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!" (Ps. 4:6).