God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
– Gen. 1:16–19
On the fourth day, God created the greater light, the sun, to govern the day and the lesser light, the moon, to govern the night. It is not enough that we have the dry land. In our experience, the sun is Christ shining within us, and the moon is the church reflecting Christ to the world.
– Titus Chu. A Sketch of Genesis, p.9
On the first day, God created light and established the cycle of night and day, but it is not until the fourth day that the light bearers are created. These light bearers–the sun and the moon–have an express role: to govern. The sun governs the day, and the moon governs the night. As Titus points out, in our experience the sun is Christ shining within, while the moon is the church reflecting Christ to the world. In either case, there is a governing work happening.
What does it mean for Christ to govern? It means our life is regulated by Him. As we begin to have the experience of the fourth day, Christ plays a regulating role in our living. Through the many stages we have passed to this point, God has shown light to reveal our situation (day one), He has given us earthly and heavenly enjoyments (day two), and He has begun to have an expression in our living (day three). But all this is not enough. God desires not only that Christ would be revealed in how we live our life, but also that Christ would govern and regulate our life.
The more we grow, the more we are governed and regulated. We no longer just talk about the Lord in a general way—how good He is and how much we love Him. We have Christ as the sun within to enlighten and regulate us. He shines in every part of us. In every aspect of our daily life, His light is there. When we are pursuing Him, His light is there. When we think about drawing back, His light is also there. This light within will not allow us to escape or run away.
– Titus Chu. A Sketch of Genesis, p.9
All of the previous stages in this study are made substantial when we allow Christ to govern us. When He shines His light on something, we learn to yield to Him. When He tells us to follow, we obey. When we try to back away from His leading, He shines His light on our hearts, causing us to return to Him. In a certain sense, believers who have begun to experience the Lord in this regulatory way are restrained, for they “have become slaves of God” (Rom. 6:22b). On the other hand, they are made more free, for “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17) and “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). As the Lord shines more light on our hearts and on our living, the more substantial His being and His Word become to us and the more regulated we become under His governing hand.
OK, but what does all of that mean? It means we are no longer brought to do the things which occupy our life, distract us from the Lord, or lead us away from God. For example, many people in my generation simply love video games. They might spend hours each day, every day of the week, engrossed in playing and competing in such a pastime. When the Lord shines as the governing light in such a person, they may feel they have no more desire to spend all night playing such games, since it makes it difficult to wake up early to read the Bible. Another example is a person who is very stubborn. When they set their mind on a decision, it may seem the entire world couldn’t stop them. But one day the Lord may shine His governing light on such a one’s stubbornness in a situation to the point he is compelled to yield to the Lord’s will. This is what it means to experience Christ as the reality of the sun which governs the day. A person with the experience of the third day shows Christ in how they live, but a person living in the experience of the fourth day has their living regulated by God.
While the sun governs the day, the moon governs the night–which represents times of hardship and difficulty. How does the church, as the reality of the moon, fit into this picture? Titus has the following simple statement:
Who can help us when we are in hardship? Often it is not Christ directly but Christ reflected by the church. This is the experience of the moon. When we are excessively burdened, the moon may seem more precious than the sun. We should learn to be supplied and governed by the moon, the church.
– Titus Chu. A Sketch of Genesis, p.10
In times of difficulty and hardship, we don’t often need the bright and powerful shining of the sun to govern us, but the simple, calm light from the moon. The moon does not actually produce its own light, but reflects the light from the sun. Similarly, the church does not produce her own light, but reflects Christ to the world. When we face hard times, we may not go to the Lord directly to receive our help, but we can find our help from His church. The Lord’s light reflected by the church should supply, guide, and govern our living through such difficult times.
Without the church, we will have problems. The church is our best protection during the night. Whether the moon is full or new, whether the church life is good or not so good, we will always gain the benefit when we immerse ourselves in the church life…Besides the sun and moon, there are stars—the believers. As we grow in life there should be others who can help us. If we cannot receive their help, we are in real trouble. There is always someone who can help us in the church, although their help may not be what we expect.
– Titus Chu. A Sketch of Genesis, p.10
