Our Incredible World

Introduction:

Dr. Jason Lisle wrote:  “When the Voyager I spacecraft reached the edge of our solar system in 1990, it turned its camera around and photographed Earth.  From such a tremendous distance, the Earth appears as a tiny bluish-white grain of sand lost in an ocean of black.  This famous image of Earth is named the Pale Blue Dot.  From a secular perspective, that is all Earth is – a tiny bit of rock and water in a vast and meaningless universe of chance.  But in the Christian worldview, this pale blue dot is the most important planet in the universe.

We will now look at a few of the incredible designs we see in our world, so that life can exist.

Body:

I. The Milky Way Galaxy

·   Our planet Earth is located in the Milky Way galaxy.  If the galaxy were larger or smaller, life could not exist within it.

·   If our galaxy were of a different type [different shape], life could not exist.

·   Our galaxy is located at the right spot for life to exist.

·   If the sun was closer or farther away from the center of the Milky Way, life could not exist.  We see incredible design in our galaxy.  (Psalm 19:1-6, Psalm 148:3-6)

II.  The Earth   (Psalm 24:1-2)

·   The Earth has a large natural satellite – the moon.  It is over ¼ the size of Earth in diameter.  No other planet has a moon this large in proportion to the size of the planet.  The moon aids life on Earth by causing tides.  Tides are important because they keep the oceans from becoming stagnant and they also help clean the shorelines.  It also provides light at night.  (Genesis 1:16) 

·   Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water.  Water is essential for all known life forms.  No other known planet has this abundance of water.  The Earth orbits the sun at just the right distance to have liquid water.  If closer to the sun, it would have all vaporized because Earth would be too hot.  If further away from the sun, water would have turned to ice. It revolves around the sun at just the right distance.

·   The Earth’s atmosphere has a protective layer of ozone that partially blocks ultraviolet radiation.  This radiation can be very damaging to human tissue.  But some UV radiation is necessary for life.  Earth also has a strong magnetic field that deflects harmful solar and stellar radiation [Van Allen radiation shield].  But if the magnetic field was too strong, the electromagnetic storms would be too severe.

·   The Earth is tilted on its axis at an angle of about 23½ degrees.  This is important, because it accounts for the different seasons.  If the Earth were tilted less, there would be a much smaller habitable area.  If tilted more, the plant-growing seasons would be greatly reduced.  Also, if The Earth’s rotation period [now about 24 hours] was longer, the temperature extremes would be too great for life.  If shorter, winds of 500 mph would be common.

Conclusion:

We have seen that the Earth is uniquely designed for life.  Secular scientists have written in the book Rare Earth that all of this was due to “good luck and chance.”  God chose to spend five of the six days of creation working on the Earth, making it just right.  Our planet is the one God chose to send His son in human form to die for us and to then be raised.  This truly is an incredible world!

Bobby Stafford     

November 10, 2013

Download This Sermon Outline