On the fourth day, there was no growth of life, but the appearance of the stronger, more solid lights (Gen. 1:14-17). Although light came in on the first day, it was not that solid, not that strong. On the fourth day, not only the lights came, but also the light bearers—the sun, the moon, and the stars. These are lights which are stronger, more solid, and more available. This is the first requirement for the growth of life.
Suppose that you are not only the grass or the herb, but also the tree. By this time you will receive more light. Although you have the light of the first day, you need something to happen on the fourth day. You need to receive some higher lights, some fuller lights, some richer, stronger, and more available lights. First John 1:5-7 tells us that after we are saved we need more light, that we need to walk in the light.
Genesis 1:14-19 does not speak about lights in a loose way, but in a very definite way—the sun, the moon, and the stars. In typology, the sun typifies Christ. Christ is our sun. Malachi 4:2 tells us that Christ is the Sun of Righteousness and that there is healing in His wings. His shining forth is the wings, and with this shining forth there is healing. The second half of this verse tells us that we all will grow up under the shining of Christ. Also, Luke 1:78-79 tells us that Christ is our dayspring, the sunrise in the early morning. Hallelujah! Jesus the Lord is our sun. He is the "great light" which has sprung up over darkness and the shadow of death (Matt. 4:16).
The overcoming saints are also likened by the Lord Jesus to the sun (Matt. 13:43). They are so one with the Lord that one day they will shine as the sun, even as He does.
Who, then, is the moon? The moon is the church. Although it is difficult for us to find a verse in the Bible indicating that the moon is the church, there is, nevertheless, a basis for saying that the church is the moon. Remember Joseph's dream about the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars (Gen. 37:9-11). The sun was his father, the moon his mother, and the stars his brothers. Based upon this fact, we may say that the church as the wife, the bride of Christ, may be typified by the moon. The church today is the moon. What is the moon? The moon is an object that has no light in itself, but has the ability to reflect light. By itself, the church has no light. But hallelujah! the church was made in a way to reflect the light of Christ. Furthermore, the moon is able to reflect light only in the night time. Today, during the church age, it is the night time. Look at the world. How dark it is! Although the church is really in a dark night (the local churches are lampstands shining in this dark night, Rev. 1:20), she can reflect the light of Christ. However, frequently the church (like the moon) is not very stable, coming up and going down. The church may be the full moon, the half moon, or the new moon. And, when there is no moon, the stars shine. Hallelujah!
We not only have the sun, the moon, but also the stars: not only Christ, the church, but also all the overcoming saints. Daniel 12:3 says that those who turn many to righteousness shine like the stars. If we are going to help people to be saved, if we are going to turn people from darkness to light, if we are going to recover all the backsliders, we must be the shining stars. Revelation 1:20 tells us that the churches are the lampstands shining in the darkness and that the angels (the living ones in the churches) are the shining stars. The Lord said that the saints are "the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14), and Paul said that the saints shine "as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15).
After we have grown in life from the grass to the tree, we should not be satisfied, for that was only the third day, not the end. We must go on to the fourth day to enjoy Christ as the sunrise, to enjoy the church as the bright moon, and to enjoy so many good saints as the shining stars, that we may grow in life.
If the moon doesn't shine, don't say that the moon is not there. The moon is still there. Likewise don't say that there is no church; the church is still there. The problem is that the church is somewhat covered, and is not so right with the sun. Thus, it doesn't reflect any light. Although there may be a problem with the church, the church is still there.
When there is a problem with the church, that is the time for the stars to shine. Many of us have to be the shining stars. We need to contact Christ, we need to contact the church, and we also need to contact the shining saints. We must contact so many good saints. When you come to a living brother or a living sister, don't you sense an amount of light, that when you enter their presence you are under a certain kind of shining? This is light. This light will help us to grow in life.