When you go to an art gallery, you are there to see art and appreciate the value of the artists time and energy and seek to understand why the art was made. There are some pieces of art only certain tastes and understanding can help you to appreciate it and the same for others. When you go to a modern art museum unless you are an avid modern art fan don’t expect to understand or appreciate the art immediately. Jackson Pollock one of the most famous modern artists produced some pieces that just about any two year old could paint but there is some message and required and acquired tastes needed to appreciate the work and its message. He would go into his studio and attach the framed canvas to the wall and open the paint can, dip his brush into the paint stand back and fling the brush in different movements and directions creating a painting of splatters and sprays of paint. Sounds like a masterpiece, but for some it is truly a masterpiece. Then there is other truly modern art called 3-D art. Using a computer a picture is made and when you stare at the picture in just the right way and long enough an image pops out that you can see. What appears to be a weird and crazy picture is in fact just the means to seeing the true picture and meaning. When you go to an art gallery and visit the masterpieces of all time, such as Monet, there is a certain message and required and acquired tastes to truly appreciate his work. The work of Pollock is appreciated by some from a certain vantage point Monet is appreciated by some with an appreciation for the clarity and beauty of the scenes. But if you were to look at a Monet from up close you would think that it is some of the worst work you had ever seen. The style of Monet’s paintings is not appreciated from up close but from standing back and taking in the scene that was created with numerous brush strokes put together. When you stand on the top of a mountain in the Rockies you are amazed by the beauty of everything together but when you stand in the midst or at the edge of the forest in the Northern Neck you are amazed at how everything works together to create a grand glorious beautiful scene. When you are in the middle of the
The first message we see is that God’s creation is good (verse 4). Beginning in verse 3 we are told that God said, “Let there be light.” God spoke our world into being. Throughout Genesis 1 and the creation account whenever God creates we are told he spoke. Was this a verbal speaking or was it the kind of speaking when we say that God spoke to me? Probably the latter but the point is that God did not have to physically shape and mold it as we do a painting or a sculpture. God is powerful enough that he can merely speak things into being. It is not required that he draw up the blueprints and then have them double checked and corrected and then begin creating only to need to make corrections from that point. Notice that verse 3 then says, “and there was light.” The light appeared after God spoke it into being. It appeared perfectly. There is not a verse that tells us, “and there was light and then God tweaked it in order for the light to be according to his desire.” It was perfect and did not need corrections or additions.
Psalm 95:2-7b
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,
And a great King above all gods,
In whose hand are the depths of the earth;
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for is was He who made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
Come let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
If you are a gregarious and outgoing person there is nothing wrong with you. If you are quiet and reserved, there is nothing wrong with you. If you are in between, there is nothing wrong with you. If you are tall and skinny, there is nothing wrong with you. If you are short and round, there is nothing wrong with you. If you are the opposite of the two already mentioned, there is nothing wrong with you. If you are dark skinned, or light skinned, or anything in between, there is nothing wrong with you. If you were born in
The second message we see is that God’s creation is ordered (verses 4-5). The last half of verse 4 says, “and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.” God not only created the light, he gave it a purpose. Not only did He create the light but he confined it to a certain area. Light does not shine continuously throughout the day from the same source. At night, there is the moon and stars. During the day there is the sun. During the day the light is brighter and more revealing and illuminating. During the night, the light is dimmer and less concentrated. Yet, God has designed and ordered the world in this manner. It is not random chaos or random chance that the world appeared the way that it did. God’s creation is how he intended it to be. God’s creation is how he intended it be for us. It is according to his will that there be light and darkness. When you look at the world and study how the animals and fish and birds survive and live there is a clear order. There are certain animals that are hunters. There are certain animals that are hunted. The same with fish. There are certain bugs that make the world a better place by eating other bugs and there are certain bugs that are eaten by fish, birds or other animals. There is a clear and consistent order
The very universe declares the glory of the Lord. Read the inspired writings of David:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4 NIV
Pause for a moment and ponder the boundless expanse of the universe. Do so and you will catch a fleeting glimpse of His unlimited glory! In the words of David, "The universe declares it." God's creation is not limited to the earth but encompasses even the unknown universe. He arranged the stars of the heavens with His fingers. (See Psalm 8:3.) For most of us, it is difficult to comprehend the vastness of the universe.
Beside our sun, the nearest star is 4.3 light years away. So that this number does not remain just a figure, let's expound on it. Light travels at the speed of 186,282 miles per second-not per hour but per second. That is roughly 670,000,000 miles per hour. Our airplanes fly approximately 500 miles per hour.
The moon orbits roughly 239>000 miles from the earth. If we traveled by plane to the moon, it would take nineteen days. But light reaches there in 1.3 seconds!
Let's continue. The sun is 93,000,000 miles from the earth. If you boarded a jumbo jet today and traveled to the sun, your journey would take over twenty-one years! That's nonstop too! Where were you twenty-one years ago? That's a long time. Can you imagine flying that long without a moment's break in order to reach the sun? For those who prefer driving ... well, it couldn't be done in a lifetime. It would take roughly two hundred years, not including any gas or rest stops! Yet light travels this distance in a mere eight minutes and twenty seconds!
Let's leave the sun and move on to the nearest star. We already know it is 4.3 light years from the earth. If we built a scale model of the earth, sun, and nearest star, it would be as follows. In proportion, the earth would reduce to the size of a peppercorn, and the sun would become the size of an eight-inch-diameter ball. According to this size scale, the distance from the earth to the sun would be twenty-six yards, which is only a quarter the length of a football field. Yet remember, for a scale airplane to span that twenty-six-yard distance, it would take more than twenty-one years.
So if this is the earth's and sun's ratio, can you guess how far the nearest star would be to our peppercorn earth? Would you think a thousand yards, two thousand, or maybe a mile? Not even close. Our nearest star would be placed four thousand miles away from the peppercorn! That means if you put the peppercorn earth in
To reach this closest star by airplane would take approximately fifty-one billion years, non-stop! That's 51,000,000,000 years! Yet light from this star travels to earth in only 4.3 years!
Let's expand further. The stars you see at night with the naked eye are one hundred to one thousand light years away. However, there are a few stars you can see with the naked eye that are four thousand light years away. I wouldn't even attempt to calculate the amount of time it would take for a plane to reach just one of these stars. But, think of it; light travels at a rate of 186,282 miles per second, and it still takes four thousand years to reach the earth. That means the light of these stars was first released before Moses parted the Red Sea, and has traveled a distance of six hundred severity million miles every hour without slowing down or ceasing since, and is just now reaching the earth!
But these are only the stars in our galaxy. A galaxy is a vast gathering of usually billions of stars. The galaxy in which we live is called the Milky Way. So let's expound further.
The closest galaxy to ours is the Andromeda Galaxy. Its distance from us is approximately 2.31 million light years away! Imagine, over two million light years away! Have we reached the limit of our understanding yet?
Scientists estimate there are billions of galaxies, each of them loaded with billions of stars. Galaxies tend to group together. Andromeda Galaxy and our Milky Way are part of a cluster of at least thirty galaxies. Other clusters could contain as many as thousands of galaxies.
The Guinness Book of World Records states that in June 1994 a new group of cocoon-shaped clusters of galaxies was discovered. The distance across this group of galaxies was calculated at six hundred fifty million light years! Can you imagine how long it would take to cross such a vast distance by airplane?
The Guinness Book of World Records also states that the most remote object ever seen by man appears to be over 13.2 billion light years away. Our finite minds cannot even begin to comprehend distances this immense. We've yet to glimpse the ends of the galaxy clusters let alone the end of the universe. And God can measure all this with the span of His hand! To top it off, the psalmist tells us, "He [God] counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite" (Ps. 147:4-5). Not only can He count the billions upon billions of stars, but He knows the name of each one! No wonder the psalmist exclaimed, "His understanding is infinite."
Solomon said, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You" (1 Kings
Psalm 104:10-14
He sends forth springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
They lift up their voices among the branches.
He waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And the vegetation for the labor of man,
So that he may bring forth food from the earth.
God’s order is there for our provision. God’s order is there according to His plan. Creation is ordered according to God.
The third message we see is that God is involved in our world (verse 2). God speaks creation into being but he is active in its creation. There are those who tell you that yes God created the world but then he has left it alone. We are now left to our own choices and consequences. It is not God’s place to be involved and disrupt our world and our choices. Wow, what an uncaring God! Who would want that kind of a god? Why would we care about him if he does not care about us? There are those who say that God himself is removed from creation. He called for creation to take place but the order went down through the hierarchy of celestial beings until it reached one who was far enough removed from God but close enough to the evil and lowly material world. This way God himself is not corrupted but he was too holy to be involved in our making. What kind of a god is that? “I am willing to make you but from the beginning you will be so evil that I can’t make you.” Would you desire to serve that kind of a god? Would you be willing to submit to the authority of a god who could really care less about you? Our God was intimately and personally involved in the creation of our world and continues to be involved in our world through the working of His Spirit. We are not left to our own consequences and realities of our actions. We are left here as His people with a purpose that He has mandated. We are to do his will with him intimately involved in every aspect of that purpose and mission.
John 16:13-15 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.
The Spirit will guide and lead us as His children. He will guide and lead us from a relationship with Christ and the Father that leads to guiding us. Just as Christ was one with the Father so is the Spirit. As we are told in Matthew 28:20- and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
If God’s creation is good, may we seek to love others by serving them in their need.
If God’s creation is ordered, may we seek to live according to His Word for our lives.
If God is involved in our world, may we seek His involvement in the salvation of the lost.
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