Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light (Genesis 1:3).
Without light, we could not see. Light makes all things manifest. After the Spirit moved, His first great task was to bring forth light. Light represents truth, and as soon as the Lord begins to move in our lives, His first task will be to shine the light of His truth into our lives.
It is interesting to note that light was created before the sun, moon, and the stars, and did not take place until the fourth day of creation. Light was created before the vessels that were to manifest it. Jesus is the Light of the world, and He existed as One with God before the world. We see this in John's great explanation of Jesus at the beginning of his gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name (John 1:1-4, 9-12).
Jesus was the plan of God from the beginning. He is the Son who makes His Father's heart glad. In everything that was created the Father looks for the reflection of His Son, and in everything that was created there is a message about the Son, as Paul explained in Colossians 1:16-17:
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
"In Him all things hold together" reveals that He is the binding force in all of creation. The light was created before the sun, moon, and stars as an eternal testimony that He must be given first place in everything. Every new believer needs to be saturated with the revelation of whom Jesus is before their attention is turned to all of the other doctrines of the faith, or an understanding of their place in the church. The Light, Jesus, must have preeminence in all things. He is the first, and He is the last. Jesus is the Light of God, and all things will be summed up in Him. We must know Him first.
As we read before in I John 1:7, "but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another." This Scripture makes clear, if we depart from fellowship, we also depart from His light. If we break fellowship with His people, we will also be breaking fellowship with Him. Christianity without fellowship is not true Christianity. The Lord created His church so we would all need one another. No one will get to their destination in Christ alone.
Church life can be one of the most glorious, and most difficult, experiences we can have. Amos 3:3 states, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (KJV) This does not imply that we must agree on everything to walk together, but we walk together in the things upon which we do agree. Every Christian agrees that Jesus Christ is Lord, so every Christian can walk together to some degree. There should be at least some level of fellowship between all who hold to the basic truths of the faith.
As we walk together, understanding and agreement will grow. To have fellowship, we must start by looking for things upon which we agree, rather than those upon which we disagree. This will enable us to stay in the light, which requires that we "have fellowship with one another" (I John 1:7). Likewise, when we start breaking off fellowship with God's people, we will start walking in darkness. We cannot be joined to Jesus Christ without also being joined to His body, the church.