Isn't the sky a marvel? The variety that is present there is mind-boggling. The shades of color, the cloud formations, the "feel" it has - these factors are always changing in seemingly infinite designs. And then there's the wonder of the things we see in the sky: sun, moon, stars, planets. I don't know much about all of that; astronomy never held my interest for too long. But now I'm thinking in particular about what I do know about the sun and the moon and the way they are perfectly created to allow for life here on earth. This is what commentary in my new Bible (The Case for Christ Study Bible which I bought with my birthday money last month) has to say about that:
As astronomers are now discovering, our sun and moon are much more exceptional than once thought. Our sun is far from ordinary; it has exactly the right mass and composition and is the ideal distance from Earth to enable life on our planet. If it were much smaller, its luminosity would not allow high efficiency photosynthesis in plants; if it were much closer, the water would boil away from the planet's surface. Similarly, our moon is just far enough away and just the right size to stabilize Earth's tilt. Without the moon's stabilizing presence, Earth would experience wild temperature swings, with devastating consequences for life.So, yes, the factors that contribute to life on our planet are unusual - unusually ideal. The sun and the moon are only two among innumerable variables that have aligned perfectly since the beginning of the universe to set the stage for human life on Earth.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
~ Isaiah 40:26
