We speak of the sun rising and setting, but is this really correct? It wasn’t so far back in history when people thought the world was flat, and they were afraid to go in boats on the ocean for fear they would fall off the edge! Many considered the earth to be the center of the universe and that all the stars, including the sun, traveled around it.
Now we know that the earth is round, and by its revolving every 24 hours the sun comes into view in the morning and disappears at night. So actually, it isn’t sunrise and sunset after all, but what we might call “earthrise” and “earthset.” We also now know the earth is not the center of everything, but just a speck in God’s universe.
Perhaps you have thought that the stars only “come out” at night. Actually they are there day and night and don’t “come out” at all. Of course, we only see them at night when the brightness of the sun and city lights are gone and when there are no clouds to block the view.
When looking into a starry sky, you might think that they are very close together. Yet, astronomers know that most of them are trillions of miles apart. No one but the Creator knows the actual number of stars, but it is estimated there are more than 100 billion, billion (100, 000,000,000,000,000,000) of them! Man’s mind cannot begin to understand such numbers, but the Bible tells us “He [the Lord] telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.” Psalms 147:44He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. (Psalm 147:4). Among the untold billions our earth is very small. By comparison, the diameter of the sun is 100 times greater than the earth, and yet one of the really great stars, Antares, is 330 times greater than the sun! It is so huge that, if it were hollow, most of our solar system (the sun and the planets and their moons which orbit around them) could orbit inside of it! The sun is the nearest star to us — 93 million miles away. The next nearest is Proxima Centauri, 25 trillion miles away, and if you could travel 1000 miles per second it would take 790 years to reach it.
Yet, in spite of our smallness in God’s vast creation, it was on this world that we call Earth, and in no other place, that He placed man and other forms of life to accompany him. And it was to this world, when men rebelled against their Creator, that God sent His beloved Son to die on Calvary’s cross. There He was punished for the sins of those who would accept Him as their Saviour. Now, because of what He has done, those who know Him as their Saviour have forgiveness of their sins and the wonderful gift of everlasting life in the glories of heaven.
The Bible asks a very serious question: “Despisest thou the riches of His goodness... and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Romans 2:44Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Romans 2:4). For you to be saved, you must accept His simple and wonderful way of salvation this very day with “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:2121Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21).
ML-08/21/1983