“And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”
God has already made light, but now he assigns light to the stars, sun, and moon. He has already made Day and Night, but now he deepens the system into seasons and years. The intricacy level is rising as broad strokes turn to fine strokes, as “natural order” systems are put in place by the Creator himself—planetary rotation, tides, calendars, pattern. But we dare not lessen the immensity of God’s “fine strokes.” As stars are placed, galaxies are placed. Each galaxy holds its own set of planets. The sheer distance between these galaxies and planets prove that word immensity. And yet, this is nothing compared to the immense love God has for his soon-to-be creation of humanity. God’s assignment of all of these things are meant to reveal himself to his people—to establish himself for his people. Because God is God, he already knew his promise to Abraham when he set so many stars in the sky. He set up the night sky heavens on the fourth day of the world for more than light for the eyes. He set them up for a light to our very souls.
“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”
“Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
On the fourth day (and, indeed, before), God knew. God knew the patterns he wanted for creation. He knew humanity would have a need so great that only he could provide. He knew what he would promise Abraham, Abraham’s children, and, indeed, “the nations.” He knew he would send his own son, Jesus Christ. He knew, and he created accordingly, that we might see and believe, that his powerful and merciful work in creation would draw us to his powerful and merciful work in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel on the “fourth day.”