What I've been up to...💐"In the Beginning" Part VII

May 20 2019 Genesis 1: 14-19

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. ¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

This is Day 4 of Creation…

Natural science has struggled to explain all the stars and planets that exist in the universe.  How could so much evolved out of nothing and how did the plants and the stars get dispersed across such a immense expanse of space?  Where did the they come from?

The first chapter of Genesis gives us a simple answer…

God made them all… He spoke them into existence. 

And all of this reveals the glory and the wisdom of an all–powerful Creator. 

When we consider the size of the universe and the vastness of space…  in perspective to the of size, our little world, which is but a tiny speck of all He created it reminds us of how amazing it is that such a great Creator would lavish His grace and favor upon us; the human race. 

David thought of this and he expressed it by saying "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you have set in place— what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?"  (Psalm 8:3-4, NLT)

So here we are on day four, and God fills that which was once formless and void.  And the first thing to be filled is the vast expanse of heaven.

There is no process and no passage of time; everything that He creates comes into being instantly by His Word alone. 

That is why theories that add multiple billions of years to the age of the earth do nothing to advance biblical understanding. 

Always keep in mind that Creation is not a process God initiated; it is something God completed.  He literally spoke it into existence!

 

Just as the psalmist declares in Psalm 33:6-9: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.  He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses.  Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.  For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."

In other words, what God made did not evolve. He gave the order, and it came into existence complete and fully functioning. 

As we saw on day one, God had already created light and separated the light from the darkness.  Where did that original light come from and what form was it in? We do not know because Scripture does not say.

But on day four, God created the sun and moon to be permanent heavenly light. The source and creator of the light was still God, but from now on there would be light–bearing bodies that would continually shine their light on the earth.

Our question should never be "How?" but "Why?" "Why did God make the sun and moon and stars?"

So here are 3 reasons for us to consider…

First, the greater light exists, first, to give light upon the earth, both during the day and at night.

Second, the great lights exist to measure the process of time "for days and for years," says the Scripture. They are the means by which we measure time.

Third, these lights are designed to mark significant events; they are "for signs and for seasons." For example:

Like the star of Bethlehem. It announced the birth of Christ; the greatest person ever born in the history of our globe.

There is also the darkening of the sun at the time of the crucifixion.

And throughout the Bible we’re told that there is coming a day when the greatest event the world will ever know, the return of Jesus Christ to earth, will be heralded by the darkening of the sun and the moon's turning to blood. These bodies are provided for signs and for seasons.

And when we’re told that God made the stars along with the sun and the moon, it demonstrates His immense power.

When you think about that, it’s mind boggling

But also notice in verse 16 when we’re told, “And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.”

That simple statement at the end of verse 16… “The stars also.”  It’s as if He just threw them in.