A couple of weeks ago, a celestial phenomenon appeared in the sky making national news and creating quite a stir in the Christian community. Jupiter and Venus merged together creating what astronomers referred to as a super-star. However, most Christians and even many experts will tell you that what was a glow in the sky that night was the Star of Bethlehem.
The same celestial being the wise men followed over 2000 years ago to the birthplace of Jesus was now visible to mankind all these years later in 2015. In fact, the Star of Bethlehem had not been that visible since the birth of Christ. Jupiter and Venus had been coming together throughout the month of June culminating in proximity with a separation of only a third of a degree. On that night these two planets moved closer to each other than the moon is wide.
The cosmos or the universe is quite a fascinating study. The solar system in which the earth and all other planets function and exist speaks to a Creator. Surely what we know and how things work are not by chance or by accident. If a person looks at a building, he surmises that there must have been a builder. Likewise, when a person looks at creation, certainly there must have been a Creator.
The Moon and Sun
In Psalm 8, David says of God, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?” The creation of God in just our solar system alone is mind-boggling. The moon is about 2,100 miles in diameter and it orbits the earth monthly from start to finish.
The sun is a hot glowing ball of hydrogen gas and despite what we see it is four hundred times more distant than the moon. It is also four hundred times the size. The sun is also ninety-three million miles away from the surface of the earth. How far is that? It would take a person one hundred and sixty three years driving at 65mph to travel that distance.
The Planets and Galaxies
The planet Neptune is believed to be nearly three billion miles from the earth. However, the solar system cannot be contained to that distance. Scientists have stated that there are star systems more than twenty-five trillion miles from the earth.
Then there is this: the galaxy we know as the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years in diameter and it contains over a hundred billion stars. Had this been the only galaxy God created it would have been impressive enough. However, some experts will tell you that more than three-hundred and fifty billion galaxies exist in all. And what the psalmist reveals to us in Psalm 147:4 should really blow our minds as we consider the Creator God. The psalmist writes, “He counts the number of the stars and He calls them all by name.”
Creation
The Book of Genesis tells us that God created the heavens and the earth. He created light. He created animals. He created land, the oceans and mountains. He created the sun, the moon and the stars. He even breathed into a handful of dirt and created a man.
Therefore, to look at creation and reject that there was and is a Creator is unimaginable. When we consider David the shepherd boy, we must understand that he spent many hours sitting on a hillside, tending sheep and staring up into the vastness of the night sky and God’s creation. David makes his feelings known in Psalm 14:1 as it pertains to the Creator God he writes, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” Yet as vast and as big as creation is, God is bigger!
The prophet Jeremiah reveals this biblical truth in the book that bears his name. Jeremiah writes; “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too difficult for You.” (32:17) Yet in all His glory, in all His power and in all His creation, David tells us something very important about the Creator, He is mindful of us!
The Creator Loves His Creation
In light of all God has created and the vastness of that creation, man is but a speck in comparison, yet God values every one of us. James Draper once said; “The God of the telescope is the God of the microscope. The God of the vastness of space is also the God of the specific reaches of my spirit.” It is amazing to think that God is more interested in people than He is in planets. He is more interested in souls than He is in stars. While the universe holds great value, in God’s eyes mankind is even more valuable.
In fact, God gave mankind dominion over the work of His hands. (Psalm 8:6) Yet man was not faithful to God as sin entered in and with sin came separation from God. However, God desired to have a relationship with His creation. He longed for mankind to turn to Him with a repentant heart and surrender to His grace and love. The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) This was the only way to redeem mankind from the sin that separated him from God.
In the end, God sees great value in the very people He has created and He longs to save them. The problem is mankind does not always reciprocate by seeing great value in the Creator.
Application:
We live in a world whereby people value a lot of things. It seems that people are always looking for the next “BIG THING”. The more gadgets and gizmos a person possesses the better. And when a new device comes out faster and more functional than the one you have, then people value the opportunity to lay hold of one.
Many people today believe their new game system, cell phone, computer or applications are the greatest things in the world, until the next new thing comes along. It seems as though society always leaves us wanting more, discontent because something better is coming. How sad that most people see great value in their possessions, in the things that are temporary and place no value in a relationship with God.
The very One who made a way for the wise men to travel to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus longed to make a way for mankind to travel to the throne of grace and receive His Son as Savior and Lord. He is a “BIG GOD!” He is a Creator God who sees great value in mankind and desires a personal relationship with all of us. How excellent is His name in all the earth, that He would be mindful of us!
