Every Artiste Needs Atmosphere!

We left off with our Creator bringing forth light for this world that He was creating. And we noted that all that dwell here on earth from the tiniest plant to the mightiest animal need light to function an grow. Let us continue our journey through the event that began all events.

Now, when God beheld the light that He had created, He saw that it was good, beautiful, sweet, best, bountiful, or perfect. So it pleased God and He set it apart from the darkness by calling the light day and the darkness night. Then it says: "And evening and morning were the first day." God here does two very important things for us. First, he defines His terms. Light equals Day and Darkness equals Night; and that one full day requires an evening and a morning. Why evening first? Let me suggest to you that it is because the darkness was here first (see verse two). Second, God establishes the first boundaries of time. He sets forth that evening and morning were the first day. I refer to this because there are those who disagree as to the definition day in this verse claiming it is possible that the days could have lasted several thousand years so that man and all life could all evolve (this is the theory of theistic evolution). You and I know that a day is 24 hours. Since God recorded His word in terms that man could comprehend: day is a literal 24 hours and therefore not an abstract 24 eon period of time. Back on topic: God records that evening and morning was a day and the first one ended with the heavens and the earth being formed and light being created and separated from the darkness. What an eventful first day!!

Notice that it does not say that God stopped creating and took a nap. No, He continued His work. For now it was time for another aspect of this wonderful creation, Atmosphere!! And no, we are not talking about mood. God kept to His plan for a habitable place for man. Another block of the foundation that is required for all things on this earth to function and grow is atmosphere. Without atmosphere the earth would simply be a ball devoid of life floating through space. So God said "Let there be a firmament (expanse) in the midst (middle) of the waters and let it divide the waters form the waters." Imagine a dam which separates the water of the lake from the water of the river. This expanse was not a vertical one but a horizontal one, for the next verse shows the location of the expanse. "God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under (location) the firmament (expanse) from the waters which were above (location) the firmament: and it was so." Now we have atmosphere. Some believe that the waters above the expanse created a tropical rainforest effect. But I digress.

Remember that we talked in the last paragraph about how God defined His terms? Well the next verse does exactly that again. "And God (creator) called (named) the firmament (expanse) Heaven (sky). And the evening and the morning were the second day." There is that time line again. I want you to also notice that it was God, not man, that named these items: Light, Darkness, Day, Night, Heaven, and more to come.

So at this time we have three parts of the foundation required for man to live. They are: 1.) a place to live, 2.) Light for functioning and growing, and 3.) atmosphere also for living, functioning and growing. How awesome is our Creator who by His power causes things to appear from nothing, by His thought worlds are formed in their smallest detail, and by His presence things are provided for man.

Christian