Recently, I was reading the creation account in Genesis 1, and I pondered more than I had before about this passage:
“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. 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. 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. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”
Genesis 1:14-19 (ESV)
This passage records God’s work on the fourth day of creation—the day he made the “sun and moon and stars galore,” as the children’s song goes. What came to mind as I read this passage again is how the creation of so much is so understated. As I thought about this, I began to write this poem:
God made the two great lights
The greater, to rule the day
The lesser light to rule the night
And He made the stars.
–
Billions and Trillions of radiant stars
Shining in the dark
Billions and Trillions of galaxies
In their vastness, appearing as countless lights
Like grains of sand
Inspiring awe.
–
He made the Sun.
He made the Moon.
–
And the stars.
“And the Stars” by Andrew Robison
I tried to capture the feeling one might have when reading the simple phrase “and the stars.” The purpose of the creation account is to relay how God made our world and everything in it. There is no need for God to go into detail here about the vastness of the universe, but with all we know through modern science about it, we stand in awe—just as much as those who knew hardly anything about the cosmos a few thousand years ago.
Another passage that comes to mind is Psalm 19:1.
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Psalm 19:1 (ESV)
We have an amazing display of God’s power every clear night when we see the stars fill the sky. This, along with every wonder on earth in even the smallest detail should give us no doubt that an awesome God created it all.
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20 (ESV)
This verse comes in a context of Paul writing about people who do not follow God. He writes here that there is no excuse for not knowing God, because creation itself cries out in favor of its creator. We need only to listen.
God has given us a beautiful universe at which to marvel. We see His hand and His power everywhere. Do you see it? Will you follow the almighty Creator?
V
Comment on this post and share something in creation that you have marveled at that people seem to overlook, or that seems understated.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay