Year 3, Day 001: “–and the Stars” (Genesis 1:16)

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. Genesis 1:16

Through the Bible: Genesis 1-3

In the 1997 movie Contact, based on the book by astronomer and outspoken atheist Carl Sagan, a father and daughter are star gazing together. They have discussing the size of the universe, and how there are more galaxies on the universe than there are stars in our own galaxy. The girl asks her father, “Dad, do you think there’s people on other planets?” Her father responds, “I don’t know, Sparks. But I guess I’d say if it is just us… seems like an awful waste of space.”

Certainly there’s logic to that. Out of the 100 billion stars in our own galaxy, let alone the billions upon billions of other galaxies in the Universe, certainly there are other planets capable of sustaining life.

That, of course, is assuming the purpose of the universe is to sustain life. But what does Genesis 1 reveal about the purpose of creation? What are we to make of the casual, almost throwaway mention of the stars in 1:16? After Moses described the sun and the moon as the “greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night,” these hundred billion times one hundred billion stars don’t even get a complete sentence:

“–and the stars.”

The purpose of creation is to glorify God. Psalm 19:1 tells us that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” In Genesis 1:14-17, God decreed that the sun, moon, and stars were to give light to the earth and to “be for signs and for seasons.” Another translation reads, “for the appointed times, which is how the Old Testament refers to the required feasts for the Jews, such as Sabbath, Passover, Tabernacles, and The Day of Atonement. So as far as God is concerned, the sun, moon and stars exist to remind us of when to plant, when to harvest, and when to worship.

Maybe there is life on other planets. But it doesn’t make a mustard seed’s difference to life on earth. And while contemplating the vastness of the universe can make one feel insignificant, don’t miss the fact that the stars get three words and a hyphen in the creation account. The creation of man and woman gets nearly five hundred in Genesis 1-2. You need not feel insignificant when you consider how vast is the Universe. Instead, the Universe ought to feel insignificant when you consider how God thinks of you.

Go back to that quote from Contact. If the purpose of the Universe is to sustain life, then yeah, it’s a waste of space if we’re the only ones here.

But if the purpose of the universe is to glorify God, then a hundred billion galaxies aren’t nearly enough.

Related content:

• Day 001: Formless and Empty (2023)
• Day 001: How We Make Satan’s Job Easier (2024)
• Day 112: The Most Perfect Lyric (Psalm 19)

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