EARTH
The earth is God’s special creation. God spent four out of the six days of creation creating the earth and all that it contains. By comparison, He only took two days to create the entire universe. God specifically created the earth for life, which it has in abundance. The earth supports a myriad of different kinds of birds, fish, animals, creeping things, plants, vegetation, trees, fruit, flowers, microorganisms, etc., in an endless variety of shapes, markings, colors and sounds. Some form of life is found in virtually every ecological niche on the earth’s surface. Above all, the earth was especially created for man who was created in the image of God and given dominion over the earth. The earth is a place where we can see first hand God’s glory (Psalm 19:1) and witness His wisdom in creation. As we are told in Proverbs 3:19, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth.”
Part of God’s wisdom, as He founded the earth, was to place it perfectly in our solar system to support life. In Isaiah 45:18, we are told, “For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), I am the LORD, and there is none else.” On average, the earth is 93 million miles from the sun. If the earth was further away from the sun, it would be to cold and life could not exist. If the earth was closer to the sun, it would be to hot for life to exist. If the yearly average temperature on the earth’s surface changed by only a few degrees, life would either roast or freeze. However, God, in His wisdom, created the earth and positioned the earth in our solar system to be inhabited.
In addition, the Creator tilted the earth’s axis of rotation 23½ degrees. This allows for the four seasons that supports life all over the planet. The Lord also gave us a large moon, one quarter the size of the earth, which stabilizes the earth’s tilt and climate. The earth’s tilt and speed of rotation, rotating once every 24 hours, are perfectly calibrated so each side of the planet receives just the right amount of light, which is the ongoing source of warmth, energy and food necessary for life. We all benefit from God’s wisdom as He created the earth.
God’s creation of earth included an abundance of liquid water, an essential ingredient to all life. The earth’s surface is covered by 70% water. Our planet, like no other in the universe, possesses approximately 340 million cubic miles of liquid water. One of the most remarkable qualities of water is its ability to stabilize the earth's temperatures by absorbing enormous amounts of heat during the day keeping the earth cool and releases that heat at night preventing the earth from freezing. The large oceans on earth are vital for life to exist. They absorb most of our planet’s carbon dioxide and serve as a reservoir for many important chemicals necessary for life to flourish.
Of course, there is the air that we breath. Too often we take this for granted. The earth’s atmosphere is composed of four important gases (78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and 0.03% carbon dioxide). These gases are set in balance to support life. If there were 17% instead of 21% oxygen, too little carbon dioxide, etc., or the atmospheric pressure was much higher or lower, life on earth would cease to exist. In wisdom God created the earth to be inhabited. All we need to do is open our eyes and observe. We need to open our heart and mind and let God’s creation be our teacher. As we are told in Job 12:8-10, 13, “...speak to the earth, and let it teach you...that the hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind...with Him are wisdom and might.”
The earth was also created as a place for us to worship and fellowship with God. As the psalmist wrote in Psalm 95:3-6, “For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hand formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” In wisdom God created our home and we should expressed our thankfulness to Him for His wisdom in creation. We should give Him all the praise He rightfully deserves.
