14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

16 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. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and 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.

Genesis 1:14-19 (NASB)

We now have an earth with land and seas plus vegetation all over it. The heavens exist with a portion of the original waters from v1 above it. Light exists and it dispels darkness. But the sun, moon and stars don’t exist yet. So God takes care of that.

Let there be lights

When we look at the sky, especially on a clear night in the middle of nowhere, we can be amazed at all the stars. Truly they cannot be counted. Astronomers can only estimate the number. But when we look at the same quadrant of space with the Hubble telescope, the number of visible stars multiplies “astronomically”. Then use the new James Webb telescope and it multiplies again! It’s almost as if there is no end. [See the image below.]

Sun, Moon Stars

In a sentence, by His word alone, God created all the stars, planets and their moons…every object in space. I’m attracted to the wording, “He placed them” as if there was a design, almost a puzzle, and He put the pieces together – just where they needed to be. If we look at the anthropic principle of science, we see that indeed there is extremely careful design in the universe that reveals the fingerprint of God, the Creator. 

So why did God create them? First, the theme of separation – to continue the separation of light from darkness. Then, to give light to the earth (so things can grow and have life), to give us days (and nights), months and years and to give seasons. These all indirectly tell us that the orbit of the earth around the sun is not a circle and other anthropic information.

And it was good.

Response

How do you respond when you think about this? 

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

We cannot help but respond in praise to our God!

RЯeflection

• Think about these verses, the Psalm and the picture below. Be overwhelmed by the glory of God!