SERMON 154    GOD CREATED THE STARS

    The Bible is the word of God.  God has told us about the creation of the universe in His word, the Bible.  This is a matter of history.  We read in the first book of the Bible:
    Genesis 1:14-19:  Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
     to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for  
    days and years;  and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give 
    light on the earth”; and it was so.  Then God made two great lights:  the greater light
    to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.  He made the stars also. 
    God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule
    over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness.  And God saw that it was 
    good.  So the evening and the morning were the fouth day.  Genesis 1:14-19.
Yes, God created the heavens and the earth.  God made the sun, the moon and the stars.  Notice that God made the sun, the moon and the stars on the fourth day.    The earth was created on the first day.  The sun, moon and stars were created after the earth had been created.  These are historical facts revealed to us by God.   God knows.  He was there when He created the heavens and the earth.  He has told us about it. 
    We should not worship the sun, moon and stars.  They were made by God.  We need to worship God who made them.  We should worship the creator rather than the creation.  It is sinful idolatry to worship the sun, moon and stars.   There is only one God and He has revealed Himself to you in the Bible.  You need to read the Bible.
    Who put the stars in the sky?  Where did all the energy come from that was used to make the stars?  Listen to the word of God:
    Psalm 33:6 :  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
    And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.   Psalm 33:6.
The energy that constructed the stars was by the word of the LORD, the word of God.
Yes, God made the stars by the power of His word.  How do we know  this?  God has told us in His word the Bible.  He was there when He did it.  He knows.  No human was present.  The origin of the universe is outside our scientific knowledge.  The experiment is not repeatable so the scientific method does not apply.  The so called “big bang”  theory is just speculation.  You should notice that the “big bang” theory does account for the origin of all the energy in the ficticious explosion.  Also you can understand that an explosion cannot account for the order in the cosmos.  Explosions cause disorder not order.  We need to understand that “By the word of the LORD
the heavens were made,  And all the host of them by the  breath of His mouth.”
   When David was young, he was a shepherd of His father Jesse’s sheep.  He looked 
at night at the stars above the hills of Bethlehem, Israel.  Listen to what David  wrote:
    Psalm 8:3:  When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
    The moon and the stars, which you have ordained,    Psalm 8:3.
We also need to look at the stars and consider the work and design of God who ordained and created them.  The stars tell us about God.  They show the intelligence of God, and the power of God.  When we study and learn about the stars we learn about the works of God.  The stars speak to us.  They tell us about the glory of God.
    Psalm 19:1-4:  The heavens declare the glory of God;
    And the expanse shows His handiwork.
    Day unto day utters speech,
    And night unto night reveals knowledge.
    There is no speech nor language 
    Where their voice is not heard.
    Their line has gone out through all the earth,
    And their words to the end of the world.  . . .  Psalm 19:1-4.
Yes, we can go out on a dark, clear night and look at the stars.  They speak to us about the glory of God who ordained and created them.    It is written in:
    Psalm 147:4,5:  He (God) counts the number of the stars;  He calls them by name.
    Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
    His understanding is infinte.  Psalm 147:4,5.
About 4,000 years ago, God asked Job some questions about the star constellations.
How would you answer these question?  God asked in:
    Job 38:31:  Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
    Or loose the belt of Orion?
    Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
    Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?
    Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you set their  dominion over the earth?  Job 38:31-33.
No, we cannot bind the cluster of the Pleiades.  We cannot looose the belt of Orion.
We cannot bring out Mazzaroth in its season.  We cannot guide the Great Bear with its cubs.  We did not set the laws of the heavens over the earth.  God is so much greater than all the knowledge, power and works of mankind.   Listen to:
    Amos 5:8:  He (God) made the Pleiades and Orion;
    He turns the shadow of death into morning
    And makes the day dark as night;
    He calls for the waters of the sea
    And pours them out on the face of the earth;
    The LORD (YEHOWAH) is His name.  Amos 5:8.
Yes, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Listen to:
    Jeremiah 10:12:  He has made the earth by His power,
    He has established the world by His wisdom,
    And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.  Jeremiah 10:12.
    Jeremiah 31:35:  Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day,
    And the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, . . .  Jer. 31:35.  3.
    God gave a special star to lead the magi of the east to Israel to worship Messiah  Jesus  after  He was born.  Matthew 2.   In Jerusalem the Magi were told that  the Bible prophesied that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem according to Micah 5:2.
    Matthew 2:9 . . . they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the 
    East went before them,  till it  came and stood over where the young Child was. 
Yes, when Messiah Jesus was born,  a star led the wise men to Him.  Will you come to Jesus?  If you are wise, you will seek Messiah Jesus as the Magi wise men did.  He is the promised Messiah, Yeshua  Mashiach in Hebrew.  He is now the king and savior.
    Hebrews 9:12:  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood
    He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
    The good news is that Messiah Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures,
He was buried.  Jesus Messiah rose the third day according to the scriptures.  You can have the forgiveness of your sins in Jesus Messiah.  You can have a good life, eternal life in Him.  Put your faith, your trust in Messiah Jesus the Son of God.  Turn from sin  to  
righteousness, repent.  Confess your faith in Messiah Jesus,  the savior.      Then be baptized into Messiah Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.  Listen to:
    Romans 6:3,4:  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ
   Jesus  were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through
    baptism  into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
    Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  Romans 6:3,4.
Yes, through your own faith in Messiah Jesus, you need to be baptized,  buried under the water with Jesus Messiah into death from sin, and then raised up out of the water to live in newness of life, serving Messiah Jesus your king and savior. 
   John 3:5:  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless on is born of water and
    the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  John 3:5.
    Acts 2:38:  . . . “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus 
    Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.