Genesis 1:14-19 “Creation: Day Four!”

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, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse 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—and the stars. ¹⁷ And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on 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, the fourth day.”

On day four, God created the Sun, Moon, and Stars. As with all of HIS Creation, God did this with the good of HIS people in mind! By way of introduction to the passage, we need to think about two key issues: What was the “means” by which God created the universe; and, what was HIS “motive” for doing so?

Of course, HIS means was HIS Word!

Verse 14  begins with the words, “And God said…” Over and over again we are told that God literally “spoke” Creation into existence! This is affirmed by such passages as Psalm 33:6, 9; 148:3-6; and Hebrews 11:3 (NKJV).

The locus classicus for this doctrine is found in John 1:1-3, ¹ “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Jesus Christ is, Himself, the eternal and incarnate Word of God and it was HE who was the primary Agent of Creation!

The motive for God creating the Universe is best expressed in the three-part formula I have been repeating each sermon… “God created the world to create His people; and, He created His people to save His people; and, He saves His people to glorify Himself!”

According to Romans 8:28, God does all that He does for the good of His people!

Verses 14-15 clearly demonstrate this fact: the purpose for which God created the Sun, Moon, and Stars was to facilitate the creation of His people. Take careful note that God made the ecosystems of the Universe to allow for the existence and well-being of His people.

With a slightly different take on the idea, verses 16-18 further reveal that God did what He did for the good of His people! He reveals this in the five specific purposes seen in these verses:

(1) He created the sun, moon, and stars to serve Him and us as “light bearers.” He had previously created light itself on day one, but now He creates these interstellar bodies to serve as secondary sources, or, (as in the case of the Moon) as reflectors of that light for the good of mankind.

(2) He separated the light from the darkness. In doing so, he prepared the world for His people whom He designed to have time of activity and times of inactivity. (BTW, His plan was for us to work in the day and rest in the night.)

(3) He gave the interstellar bodies as signs. They serve both as natural signs and supernatural signs.

(4) He created the Sun. Moon, and Stars as a cause for worship. All of us have experienced the wonder of looking up at the heavens and crying out as David did in Psalm 8,

¹ “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. ² Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. ³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, ⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? ⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. ⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, ⁷ all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, ⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. ⁹ O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

(5) He created them for seasons, and days, and years! The stars are God’s celestial clock! By them we keep time and base our knowledge of direction. We call one rotation of the earth on its axis a day and one rotation around the Sun a year. Ever since the Egyptians invented the sundial, we have broken years and days down in to smaller parts whereby we manage our time!

Finally, God reminds us in verse 19 that these had to be literal, 24 Hour Days! Since He created vegetation on day three and the Sun on day four, if these were days of years or eons… it would not be possible for vegetation to exist that long without sunlight!

I am breathlessly excited about this series in Genesis 1 – 11, and I hope you will be as well. As always, I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face; your Bible in your hand; and, your family and friends by your side!