When last have you looked up at the stars and taken in the beauty and wonder that they hold?
As a city dweller I must admit that I dont really see the stars much these days, what with all the light pollution and not to mention all the time spent behind the computer or in front of the TV.
I remember from my youth going on hikes in the mountains near Ceres in the Western Cape and being impressed at the boundless beauty with which God had created nature. One of my fondest activities was watching the millions of stars that littered the heavens while lying on my back in our campsite. I spent hours out there just gazing up at the night sky in absolute awe of the tiny little corner of the universe that I could see with the naked eye.
King David put it so eloquently in Psalms 19:1-4 when he wrote The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
Many people today however dont share King Davids sentiments. They believe that the universe is not a testament to Gods glory, but rather an accident. Some people recognize that the universe appears to be incredibly complex and works to a high degree of precision, yet for them, the universe came about without any supernatural intervention.
But is that the case? To answer these questions and to reignite our wonder for our awesome creator I thought it best to look at a couple of examples of how special our solar system and planet really is. There are many more that we could cover, but these three are a good place to start.
Our Sun
Have you ever got the impression that our sun is just another one of billions of stars out there and that there is nothing special about it. Well thats not really true; our sun is very special for several reasons. For one, the type of sun we have is relatively rare. It is a yellow dwarf star with just the right mass and size and produces enough of the right radiation a balance of the red and blue spectrum to help produce oxygen efficiently. It is also stable when compared with other stars and ranks in the top 10% of the largest stars in the Milky Way. Most of the other stars in the Milky Way are red dwarfs that produce the wrong radiation for efficient oxygen production.
If our sun was smaller and emitted less heat, the earth would also have had to be closer to get enough solar radiation necessary for life. This however would cause problems because smaller red dwarfs tend to have violent solar flares that kill life. Also the closer we get to a red dwarf, the more its tidal force would affect the spin of the earth. It would eventually stop the earth from spinning. That would leave us with a desert waste land on the half that gets sun and an ice wasteland on the side that does not. Incidentally our solar system is located in a section of the Milky Way that classified as a safe zone. Close to the centre of the Milky Way there is a massive black hole and closer to the outer spirals we find active star formations both of which are very dangerous.
Our moon
The moon is not just a pretty light in the night sky. It has an enormous impact on life as we know it. For one it acts as a stabilizer that keeps the tilt of the earth at a constant angle. Due to this consistent tilt, we are able to experience seasons as we travel around the sun and are not subjected to severe temperature fluctuations (although I am sure some South Africans would beg to differ with the winter being so cold this year).
The moon is also responsible for about 60% of the tidal activity on the planet, which is vital for nutrients from the continents to get flushed into the ocean. It also affects ocean currents, that are essential for distributing heat across the planet efficiently.
The earth
The earths position in our solar system is very fortuitous. We exist in an area of space sometimes referred to as the Goldilocks zone, which is where our relative position to the sun is not too close nor too far away to inhibit the formation of water in its liquid form.
We are also very fortunate that the outer planets such as Jupiter and Saturn act as shields that protect us from many of the larger meteors that have come our way. Due to their sizes their gravitational fields attract the larger meteors which then collide with them and not with us.
The earth is also large enough to maintain an atmosphere, without which all the oxygen would escape into space, and small enough that the gravitational forces dont crush us all. If the earth was much larger, lets say the size of Saturn, our atmosphere would retain harmful gasses and we would eventually be poisoned by them.
The fact that we have running water makes us very special too. Although there are planets that have water on them, most of the water is in either frozen or in gas form which is not conducive to life as we know it. Water has very unique properties that make it essential for life. For one, it is the only substance that becomes less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. Without this feature of water, all our oceans would have been frozen from the seabed upwards, making life as we know it impossible.
Conclusion
The more you delve into the subject the more you will find that the earth was at the right place at the right time, made of the right materials and of the right size. It is also positioned the right distance away from the right type of star, which itself is located in the right place in the galaxy. That star is also the right size, is stable and produces the right type of radiation necessary for life.
This is no coincidence, and neither are you. The universe is not an accident. It was purpose-built by an enormously powerful Creator. And what is even more awe inspiring, is that that Creator wants a relationship with you. David said in Psalm 8:3-4: When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers the moon and stars that you set in place, what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them (NLT)? Do you realize that the great Creator is mindful of you? His mind is full of you.
So when you have the opportunity again to look into the night sky, see how it declares the glory of God and how it proclaims the works of his hands.
Remember, it is not the heavens that are Gods greatest creation, it is you!