Let There Be Light

Let There be Light - Christine Nichols

This painting was a few years in the making, unlike God's proclamation of "Let there be light" and instantaneously light appeared! We know this by the first few verses of Genesis 1, which is the first book of the Bible. The word genesis means "a coming into being" and in this instance, it was the absolute power of God's very words. He spoke light into existence.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day." Genesis 1:1-5 

The first chapter of the Bible outlines creation from bringing forth light to humankind. Note that the sun, moon and stars were created on the fourth day.

Genesis 1

V 1: START Genesis and the Bible begin with God who created everything.  
V 2: SPIRIT God’s Holy Spirit is there in the beginning, bringing order from chaos and light from darkness.  
V 3–31: SEQUENCE The order of God’s six-day creation is as follows: 
Day one—light; 
Day two—sky; 
Day three—land, including vegetation, and sea; 
Day four—sun, moon and stars; 
Day five—sea-life and birds; 
Day six—animals and finally man in His image as a special creation to rule over all living creatures and to benefit from God’s provision in His creation, which is ‘very good’.

The Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005 Day One Publications.

 As Genesis 1 shows the six days of creation, I thought I would show the creative steps of the painting:

First, the background layer was painted horizontally across the canvas. It was a combo of gesso and hues of blue.

During this creative step, I wondered is the Holy Spirit was leading me to paint a flower.

The "flower" became a starburst background and I began dabbing the wet paint from center outwards.

 At this point, the Holy Spirit told me the title of the piece: "Let There Be Light" in 2010.

 Three years later, the Holy Spirit lead me to slightly adjust a photograph of the painting. It looks like the birth of star to me.

As I was given the title, I assumed the painting was complete, but there a part of me that didn't quite know what to think of the artwork. It seemed too pastel to me. Then three years later, as I was working with image editing software on another project, the Holy Spirit told me to import an image file of this painting and with a couple of minor adjustments, the painting went from pastel to vibrant! The newest version of this painting brings Psalm 33:6 to mind..."By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth." In fact, I used this painting in blog I write entitled, Psalms Blogger for Psalm 33. 

Let There Be Light - Christine Nichols

Perhaps the lesson to be learned by this experience is that light is shown by it's contrast to darkness. In the Bible, light stands for goodness, purity, and life, whereas darkness equals evil, perverseness, and death. This contrast of light and darkness is repeated throughout Scriptures from the first book of Genesis to last book of Revelation. 

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All my paintings begin with prayer. I ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance from beginning to end - from choosing the canvas and paint colors to the last brush stroke. I pray that the Lord's message would go forth through the art and that Father God would be glorified. 

I believe all prophetic art has a message, but what the Holy Spirit speaks to me about a specific piece of art, may be different than what the Spirit says to you. Seek Him for a personal interpretation.

You can find more Christian Abstract paintings that the Lord has given me on my Facebook page, Christine Nichols-Art, in a Photo Album called FOR HIS GLORY. If you've enjoyed the art, you're invited to LIKE and SHARE my art Facebook page: STEEN ART.