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South Bay SDA Church

Genesis

Jeremy Arnall

02 Day 2 of Creation: Under Heaven’s Quilt

01 The Creation Account: Let There Be Light

I enjoy summer, but I must say I enjoy going to bed in the winter better.

You see, in the summer, often a sheet or light cover is adequate for warmth.

In fact, sometimes you don't want anything.

But in the winter, there is absolutely nothing better than a cool, almost crisp house and a warm bed.

Of course you have to warm it up first, don't you?

But that's part of the piece that makes it sort of cozy.

You're in your pajamas, I hope I don't lose you now, you're in your pajamas and you crawl into a soft bed for some fall.

As you slide under the sheets you pull a small stack of heavy blankets and quilts up over you.

Now, I'll say, I kind of remember when I was young, and I still think it's probably the best.

I like those thick quilts that Granny made.

It's not really thick this way, but there's something they put inside that quilt that's heavy.

And I mean, this batting stuff that you get at the fabric store is not what Granny seemed to do.

And under that heaviness, that heavy kind, you cover up and you pull it up tight around your chin, and if you're like me, you turn over on your side, you curl up into a fetal position, and with a few shivers, you nestle in.

A few shivers seem to get things accelerated and you rest in that haven of rest there in the bed.

It's safe, it's secure between the sheets.

This morning we would like to discover what God did on day 2.

God was preparing the ultimate covering for his children.

In some ways God did the same thing for us on the second day of creation.

Though mankind hadn't been created yet, God, in a sense, prepared something akin to what I just described, a place for us to dwell where there could be warmth and security.

The Bible simply says that he separated the waters and created the firmament.

But this thick blanket of space served as a haven for life.

Last week, we began a 7 or a series on the book of Genesis, specifically beginning with the 7 days of creation.

Last week, we took a thoughtful look at the, at how God said, let there be light.

We noted how it's light elusiveness that makes it all the more beautiful.

And it's how God's, and that's how it is with God's presence.

That just as with light, we don't see it, but we see everything it touches.

Today we want to begin a new day, the second day of creation when God created the sky.

And so the title of our message is under heaven's quilt let us pray dear Lord I pray this morning that you would please speak to each 1 of us through the ministry of your Holy Spirit wash us cleanse us that we might partake of the beauty of heaven.

This morning, I want to look at this in 3 steps, 3 phases.

First, I want to look at how God created our haven of protection in the first place.

Then, I would like for us to look at what heaven teaches us about his character.

And thirdly, I want to look and consider how we can live confidently under this covering today.

Notice Genesis chapter 2, or 1, verses 6 through 8.

Then God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And thus God made the firmament and he divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.

And so the evening and the morning were the second day.

According to scientists, the average mass of the atmosphere is about 5, 000 trillion metric tons or 1 to the 1, how do you say it, 1, that's 1 heavy blanket, right?

Indeed, the atmosphere is vast, yet it can be difficult to define its boundaries.

But the creation story is recounted in a non-scientific manner, which in some ways suggests that it's not necessary to figure it all out to appreciate.

It simply says that God spoke and it was, and let's appreciate it for that.

Sometimes the beauty is in the simplicity.

I'm not saying it's simple or a small thing, not at all.

Lest you think that he just somehow did these 2 things and spent the rest of the day just looking at it.

No, This science can tell us just a glimpse of what we can appreciate with regards to day 2 of creation.

Job 26 verse 8 described it like this, He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it.

God separated the waters and placed a quilt of water over us.

And in between, he created expanse or atmosphere, we might call it, or firmament.

A place for us to dwell, a place for us to live.

The Hebrew word for firmament is rakia, which literally means something hammered out or spread thin, like a metal worker beating metal into a protective dome.

Job 37 verse 18 says with him have you spread out the skies strong as a cast metal mirror God took the chaotic waters and He created separation.

The text says that on the second day God separated the waters and the water on top called heaven and the firmament or as we might say in modern terms the the atmosphere separated the 2 waters.

And so it appears that based on the Bible's record that God took some of the water from below and he painted it across the sky if you will, leaving as it were white brushstrokes of wispy clouds behind.

And it's, of course, I don't know if and how many clouds existed before the flood, but all the same, we enjoy watching them move lazily across the sky today.

On day 4, it says that he hung the moon and the sun in the firmament of the heavens.

Though today we know that the sun is literally thousands and thousands of miles from those clouds.

But again, from man's perspective here on earth, it would appear that the sun is peering out from behind those clouds, like as if it was right behind them.

Indeed, sometimes I prefer to just appreciate the beauty of creation as recounted by the prophets of old.

It's simple, it's eloquent, and it's true.

As any painter knows, as any artist understands, When painting a landscape, you first need a horizon.

No, first you splash light on the canvas if you don't have any light.

For whenever you're painting a landscape, you need to quickly determine from the get-go what will be the heavens and what will be the earth.

He having created light already, having splashed it upon the canvas of creation, it then became time to create the horizon and above and below an area for which light to play And so it is that he takes some water.

He spreads it out over the earth as a canopy a shelter He calls heaven and yes, it is as though he's pulling a heavy quilt over us and he pulls the firmament over earth, creating a haven for our rest.

By doing this, he allows the light to play and entertain us by touching the heavens.

As light touches the water vapor in the sky, the full spectrum of light is shown.

In fact, clouds are white because the full spectrum of color is allowed to display itself for all to witness.

And so as God creates and prepares a place for us.

He prepares heaven's quilt to cover us, a blanket of protection that serves as a dome, as it were, over us.

That is an idyllic atmosphere prepared to receive what will come forth in the remaining days of creation.

I want us to now look a little bit more closely at heaven's quilt, as quilts often contain stories, do they not?

Psalm 19, verse 1 puts it well as it describes heaven's quilt and God's character.

It says, the heavens declare the glory of God.

Maybe you've gone to some of these craft shows that you see, especially here in the South, And you'll see these ladies who have their quilts on display because quilts often tell stories.

So as we examine this pattern from heaven, we see the story of God's love.

Let me share with you a few ways in which this quilt of heaven displays the love and the character of God.

First, I want you to consider the threads of the rainbow that go through the quilt.

Ponder for a moment how God uses the first 2 ingredients of creation to create his rainbow.

You'll recall that in Genesis, we are told of how God sent a flood to destroy the earth, but how afterward, God set a colorful bow in the sky to illustrate his promise that God would never allow a flood to destroy the entire earth again.

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Series

Genesis

02 Day 2 of Creation: Under Heaven’s Quilt

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

The Heavens Declare His Glory

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The Relevance of Revelation 4 and 5

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Finishing Their Story

The Law

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Evening Worship: Revelation

Revelation, Part 4

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Sound Doctrine