Earth’s Placement in the Universe

“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 firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and 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 fourth day.” Genesis 1:16-19 NKJV

While the moon is about 400 times smaller than the sun it is also 400 times closer. Therefore, our view from earth indeed makes these “two great lights” appear the same size but with different intensities. God’s design of the universe was now in place to support His creations and demonstrate His majesty to us. Earth is not a random planet in the solar system (big), galaxy (bigger) or universe (biggest) but rather a carefully placed planet.

In order to have liquid water, the building block of life, the earth was placed the correct distance from our sun. Our sun is just the right size allowing the earth to rotate as it orbits the sun. The earth’s moon is very large for the earth’s size when compared to other planets. A large orbiting moon is required to stabilize the axis orientation of the earth and help circulate the oceans.

Despite their enormous size, galaxies have only a few places that support life since most of the galaxy is not friendly (black holes, super nova stars, asteroids, etc.). God, of course, placed our solar system and planet within our galaxy safe zone. This location in the galaxy also has an interesting feature other than safety. The earth was placed within the Milky Way Galaxy in the small region that would allow humans to see our galaxy AND the rest of the universe. Despite our earth’s perfect placement to observe the universe, humans would not have been able to study the universe without earth’s dark nights and non-common transparent atmosphere.

“Why did God not just create the earth,” you might ask? Despite the amazing complexity of the universe, it follows the same basic mathematical equations as our earth. The universe is not an example of random motion or chance. The universe is a precision ordered system far greater than anything man has ever designed or even conceived. God placed the earth so we could see the universe and gain an understanding of Him by observing His creative powers. “Is not God in the height of heaven? And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!” Job 22:12 NKJV. What an awesome God we serve that created the heavens, the earth and us!