Filling the Cosmos

Psalm 8:1-4 “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

Introduction:

Vincent Van Gogh made a painting that portrayed his point of view on the sky. It was his painting “Starry Night”.

Vincent wrote this about his painting:

“This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big".” - Wikipedia

We all have been sitting by a fire at night, away from the city lights, and can look up and see the heavens: Stars, planets, distant galaxies, and the moon. The night sky and it’s beauty should make every person reflect on how small we are when compared to the amount of lights that we see.

The night sky has stirred emotions in people all throughout history. There are hundreds of poems, stories, pictures and paintings that try and capture the thoughts of people when pondering the night sky.

The same can be said for the sunrise and sunsets as well. It isn’t just the night sky we witness; it is the beginning and the ending of it too.

Sunrise:

Sunset:

All of which is made possible because of Day 4. This is the day when God gives the Cosmos more detail. He made distinctions between the sun and the moon by stating their duties!

Transition:

The Sun and Moon are important and they are recorded with the creation account for us to understand and know about His creating the:

I. General Lights.

Genesis 1:14-15 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.”

Transition:

We have His recording of action; but what are the purposes for each light? They are to be:

A. Signs.

Genesis 1:14 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,”

Let’s start with the stars for us to view at night.

We have modern clock; but without them how do you know it is night?

When you can see the lights of the universe? (at night).

Illustration:

It is estimated that between 2-3,000 people get lost in the woods each year.

It would be safe to say that it’s easy to get lost when your exploring the wilderness.

What is commonly used to find your way through the woods?

- Compass.

- Map.

- Ribbon, used to mark your path.

The idea is that you have a lot of tools to use when you navigate land.

How would one navigate the seas?

Finish the statement: In 1492…

?How could the sailors navigate the sea?

By following God’s “Sea” map: The stars.

The stars could be used to determine the directions of a compass.

Find: North, South, East, and West. (Let’s see how they could do that)

In the northern hemisphere you should first locate Polaris or the North Star!

Then Orion’s belt, the sword points south.

A Star chart would help.

Transition:

All of these celestial land marks God provided for us as signs.

The blood moons are also signs but we wouldn’t have time to sift through the theories with them or their significance.

Just imagine all that we don’t understand about the sky we see at night.

? Why are we able to see stars at night?

Most don’t have light of their own making yet they are visible. they are seen because they are reflecting the light of the sun and we can see the reflection.

From our perspective in the northern hemisphere we can see different constellations in the summer then what we can see in the winter.

Where the constellation is in the sky indicates our current:

B. Seasons

Genesis 1:14 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,”

Here in our Northern hemisphere we are blessed with 4 distinctive seasons:

Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

In the Southern hemisphere they have a few seasons too:

Hot and Less hot.

Seasonal changes are very perceivable through our senses.

We can see the leaves change.

We can smell the cold and difference in the air.

We can feel the difference in the temperature.

But the signs God gave us also reveal to us the changing of the seasons.

There is something we refer to as: Moon phases.

The phases of the moon indicate the season or 1/4 of the year we are in.

There are 8 total phases of the moon.

Each indicate a portion of the month.

If you think about it: That is a very specific time table or indication about what part of the month it is.

We can break down the time table a little further.

God created the 24hrs on Day 1, which is indicated by the formula:

Evening, Morning, and the day number (example: first day).

Then He gave us signs for the 24hr period:

The rising of the sun, setting and rising again.

Which we understand from all the seasons when they begin to repeat that there is only 365 days in a year or until it starts again.

We have been able to track and follow these signs.

Hours in the day:

Enter the sundial.

24 hrs in a day.

This is before we came up with: AM and PM; which stand for:

A.M. = Ante Meridiem = Before Noon

P.M. = Post Meridiem = After Noon

“The creation of AM and PM was necessary to describe how close the sun was to the meridian (12 Noon).” - Militarytime.us

God gave the translation of His signs through wisdom of men to understand and allowed us to keep track of time.

Almost everything that we do is dictated by time.

Transition:

We are given the signs and wisdom to discern the signs and seasons so that we can follow His example by doing things in detail.

Imagine if the farmers didn’t plant their crops in the right season..what a disaster that would be.

We must do all things in decency and with order.

Something to remind us of this is that He allowed us to have:

II. Specific Lights.

Genesis 1:16 “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.”

Transition:

We have the Greater light:

A. The Sun.

Genesis 1:16 “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.”

The sun is for a sign as it is part of the cosmos that we can view; but it is also the source to sustain life.

We are an estimated:

93 million miles from the Sun.

That distance has been coined as the “Goldilocks” zone or “Habitable” Zone.

It can be measured at .4 to 1.5 AU wide.

(an astronomical unit measures at 9,295.6 miles)

If we were anywhere outside that zone, we would die from heat or die from cold.

Life wouldn’t be possible.

Scientists say how lucky we are to be in that zone.

One website HuffingtonPost.uk says:

“Earth is already a statistical anomaly, something that at present shines out as a blip on the norm of space. Well a new study looking into the atmosphere’s of exoplanets has revealed just how lucky we really are. The team from Sorbonne Universities has found that were Earth to be just the tiniest amount further from the Sun it would be an unrecognizable, inhospitable ball of ice locked into a permanent ice age. Led by Martin Turbet, the team examined how CO2 would react in planets that were slightly closer or further away from their host stars. What they found was that even a small adjustment further away would cause the CO2 to condense at the poles forming permanent ice caps. Without any CO2 entering the atmosphere this would drastically alter the greenhouse effect and in turn would fail to warm up the planet’s atmosphere. What’s worse is the team find that this situation would only get worse if the amount of water ice increased. The CO2 would become trapped under the water ice, permanently, resulting in a planet that would be stuck in a never-ending ice age. Earth then is in just the right place. It isn’t too far away that its CO2 has been trapped in the ice and yet it’s not too close that the greenhouse effect went into overdrive and the planet became too hot. Studies like these are vital in helping researchers better analyse exoplanets, some of which have previously been found to fall into what has often been called the ‘Goldilocks Zone’.”

- I believe that God knew exactly what He was doing.

Here positioned us to His perfect will in orbit around the Sun.

The sun provides:

The warmth that gives the proper temperature for everything to exist.

The light allows plants to perform the process of photosynthesis.

The process of turning Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen.

The gravity is necessary for performing our daily actions.

Transition:

The sun is a sign and functions in our solar system so that all of life relies upon it.

Just as our galaxy revolves around the sun.

- We need to center our lives around Jesus, rely on Him, since we cannot provide for all our needs without Him.

The Sun is amazing ;but let’s not diminish the lesser light:

B. The Moon.

Genesis 1:16 “And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.”

? What would happen to the World if the Moon didn’t rule the night?

Tides would be less.

That would mean that the ocean currents would be dramatically weakened.

“Ocean currents play an important role in controlling climate around the world. These currents act like a giant conveyor belt, warming and cooling parts of the Earth as water circulates.” - Sciencing.com

There would be problems with the circulation of the oceans which means it would be stagnant water.

- The temperatures wouldn’t change as much, if at all.

Illustration:

Do you know what people in a little airplane use for an air conditioner?

They use a fan blowing across an block of ice. (I am not sure if they still use that but it has been something they have done.)

If you light a candle in a cold garage it will warm the room up.

Point:

The heat from the warm water blowing onto land can really change the temperature quickly.

No warm water = cold land!

Transition:

The Sun and Moon are signs; but also have specific functions to their existence. To create the way of making the:

III. Darkness Flee.

Genesis 1:17-18 “And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

Transition:

The light upon the Earth makes nor room for darkness. It can only be from a long distance and that position is from:

A. The Heavens.

Genesis 1:17 “And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,”

The location of the sun compared to Earth is perfect; but It can’t always shine on the same side.

Due to the rotating of the Earth on it’s own axis compounded with the consistent orbiting of planets around the Sun it is impossible for light from the sun to stay on one part of the planet.

Think about this:

What if the sunlight stayed on one side?

Illustration:

When we came to Bad Axe we had purchased some flowers, I have no idea what kind they are, and if you want a flower dead; bring it to me i’m pretty good at accomplishing that task.

Well a few days after purchasing $30-$40 worth of flowers I look at them on the back porch (where I left them) and they were in direct heat and sunlight.

Which apparently isn’t always a good thing. The flowers drooping, the stems look like sticks and the soil dryer then sand...

I was in trouble! I ruined 2 flowers in a few days.

I learned that not all flowers really like direct sun all the time, even if you could keep them hydrated.

The leaves singed on the edges.

(I panicked and watered the heck out of the plants and set them in the shade, they were making a come back)

Transition:

God wouldn’t want sunlight on the same spot all the time. Plants need some time for the process of photosynthesis to work. The rotating of the Earth allows time for the plants to be hidden from the sunlight.

They aren’t hidden entirely from the light, God placed a way for them to collect the light reflecting off of:

B. The Moon.

Genesis 1:18 “to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

In His wisdom God placed the moon where it would reflect the sun’s energy onto the dark side of the Earth.

It seems that there may be benefits for plants to have moonlight instead of sunlight all the time.

“…Scientists now believe that the lunar cycle also affects plant growth and development.

Farmers plant crops at different times of the day based on when they think the moon will be full or new. They also use the moon to help them with timing their planting seasons.

When the moon is full, farmers plant early in the morning. This allows the sun to warm the ground quickly and allows the seeds to germinate more easily.

Additionally, seeds sown just before or around the full moon have a higher rate and speed of germination than those sown at the new moon because seeds are able to absorb more water at the full moon.

In fact, researchers found that plants grown during the full moon were taller and had larger roots than those grown during the new moon.” - Flourishing Plants.com

The moonlight is also very amazing.

Illustration:

When I lived in Utah I had the privilege of mountain climbing 3x a week.

Explain the schedule of meeting and how we would climb, and then repel back down.

Sometimes by head lamps and the awesome moments when we could do it by moonlight.

We could see everything. It was so bright that the moon would even cast shadows of the trees on the trail as we hiked back down.

Transition:

The moon reflects to us the perfection of God Himself and His provisioning for us, It was good!

He consistently is pointing out to us how important we are to Him. He is always doing everything:

C. For Us.

Genesis 1:18-19 “to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

He separated the light from darkness and it was good.

It isn’t difficult to recognize the constant works of God since sin entered the world.

He continues making ways for darkness to be displaced by the Light; His light.

Illustration:

Everything that we are looking into this morning:

The Sun, Moon, and Stars.

We are told in God’s word that He created them for us and handed out specific purposes.

But also He provide these for us in ways that we may not ever fully understand.

The cosmos are amazing and glorious. Since they reflect God’s perfection people have worshipped them. There are some who believe that each part of the heavens that we can see are individual deities.

The Sun:

“The sun was worshipped as a god-like body (or perhaps even a god itself) by numerous civilizations and religions across the globe. It has the ultimate power: to bring light and life to the world. Without the sun, survival would not be possible, and ancient cultures worshipped it as if their lives quite literally depended on its existence. For this reason, the symbol of the sun was often used on ancient warrior armor, such as shields, and sacrifices were often made to it.”

The Stars:

“Stars symbolize spirit and the essence of hope within the darkness.”

The Moon:

“The Moon is shrouded in mystery. It casts light on the things that can't clearly be seen or fully understood, illuminating them with an eerie, halo-like glow. Because of its complex and mysterious nature, it plays a big part in horror and fantasy genres - think of the famous notion of the werewolf emerging by the light of a full moon.”

These celestial bodies have been deified to the world.

Point:

God created the lights in the heavens for our benefit.

Their beauty

Their functionality

Their ability for making a fixed point to chart a clock and calendar.

For the times and seasons

To make signs that declare His majesty, wisdom, love and grace.

Conclusion:

What He created He called good!

We have been given:

The Sun as a providing light.

The Moon as the reflecting light.

The Stars to remind us that there the Sun is always there even though we don’t see its So even though we don’t see Jesus we know He is there because we can see His reflection shining through one another. It gives us hope And courage.

The Celestial bodies are the timekeepers for each day, month, and year to our lives, we can follow them.

We need to get back into the worshipping of He who created it all instead of lowering our standards for a God by worshiping His creation.

Idols will never be worthy of our honor

God always has been and always will be.

? What are the idols we have in our lives?

They will be those things that are most important. If it isn’t God and His will

Whether a revealed will or general will.

Then confess it and repent!

Burn the idols and worship Him and Him alone!

Pray!