The Sun, Moon & Stars
God created the universe we live in to his exact specifications. Nothing is arbitrary, or frivolous, or unexpected. That we live on a planet that spins, and revolves around a great ball of light and energy, is no mistake. Everything is exactly what God wanted.
People sometimes ponder the immense size of the universe and wonder why it is so big. Frequently scientists consider the mathematical probability of life on other planets. They reason that if life evolved here, surely on one of the potentially millions of other planets that circle some of the millions of other "suns", life would also have evolved. Well I am not going to say what God can and cannot do, so who knows?--God knows. I will say that life did not spontaneously form here on earth, by mathematical chance, but by the exact will of God. So what if God did it in a way that prevents us from finding him through our own efforts, that is, we must come to the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, the Word of God.
God could have made the universe anyway he wanted. It didn't have to be a material universe with stars and planets and such. God did make things exactly as he did, so that we can come to understand some things about him through the creation that he made.
1 John 1:5
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (NIV)
What does this Scripture mean? Does it mean that God is made out of electromagnetic radiation?, that is, literal light? What color of light? White, you say?
No, God is not made out of energy. He is not made out of anything. He IS.
The Spirit is using light as an analogy. What would life be like if suddenly the sun stopped shining? What would our long range prospects be? How would we get along without God?
Psalm 104:24-30
O Lord, how many are Thy works! In wisdom Thou hast made them all; the earth is full of Thy possessions. There is the sea, great and broad. In which are swarms without number, animals both small and great. There the ships move along, and Leviathan, which thou hast formed to sport in it. They all wait for Thee, to give them their food in due season. Thou dost give to them, they gather it up; Thou dost open Thy hand, they are satisfied with good. Thou dost hide Thy face, they are dismayed; Thou dost take away their spirit, they expire, and return to their dust. Thou dost send forth Thy Spirit, they are created; and Thou dost renew the face of the ground. (NASB)
If God were to withdraw his sustaining power the entire universe would simply wink out of existence.
God is light. God is the life sustaining power. God is the revealer of mysteries. God is the source.
Genesis 1:16-18
God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. (NIV)
As with most things in the Bible, there is a physical truth and a spiritual truth. This account in Genesis has a literal interpretation, and there is a spiritual truth as well. The sun is the source of light in our solar system. It is the source of life. We can also say that the sun is light, so for teaching purposes we can think of the sun as a type of God. I am not saying that the sun is God or that the sun should be revered in anyway. It is just a big ball of fire, but think of it as representing God.
Now the lesser light, the Moon, rules the night. Now the Sun, in this analogy, represents God the Father, it is evident that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is represented by the Moon. There are some very interesting aspects to this. The Moon gives off no light of itself, but rather reflects the light of the Sun, to illuminate the night, so that man can see.
John 12:49
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. (NIV)
Speaking of Jesus' never ending reign:
Psalm 89:35-37
'Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness- and I will not lie to David- 36 that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; 37 it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.' Selah (NIV)
So we see that the Moon, God's faithful witness in the sky, is symbolic in the analogy for Jesus. It is interesting that when viewed from the Earth, that the Sun and the Moon are the exact same size. Now God could have made the Moon ten times bigger than it is, or ten times smaller, but being the size it is, we can understand that it is a smaller version, and a closer version of the source of light for the earth, that is, it is like God, only closer and dim enough that we can look closely at it and not go blind. Jesus perfectly reflects the glory of God to us who live in darkness. Jesus is our source of light, but his light is not really his own, but what he received from his Father--God.
Speaking of the Moon, we saw that it is the lesser light that governs the night. Let us examine this "night" business.
Romans 13:11-14
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (NIV)
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. This is speaking of the Day of salvation that is coming. The Day that we will be caught-up in glory to be with the Lord forever. Now we live in the night. Now, the Moon is our source of light, but then, we shall exist in the Day and God will be with his people.
Revelation 21:3, 23-25
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. (NIV)
When we are living in the Day, we will be able to see clearly, but now we seen only a shadow of what is.
1 Corinthians 13:8-12
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (NIV)
The perfection that is coming is the new Jerusalem that comes down out of Heaven. When we enter into eternity we will see clearly what we can now only dimly perceive.
It is interesting that the Jewish day began at sunset, and therefore started with a night and ended with the day. This is another revelation of how man starts in the night and ends with the day.
During Jesus' earthly walk he shone with the brilliance of the day.
Colossians 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (NIV)
Colossians 2:9
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, (NIV)
John 9:1-5
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (NIV)
During Jesus' earthly walk he spoke the words of God, and did the deeds of God. His entire existence was a perfect revelation of the truth, that is, the light.
We have seen that the Sun is representative of God the Father, and the Moon symbolically represents Jesus Christ the Son of God, now let us examine the symbolic aspect of the stars.
Revelation 1:12-13, 16, 20
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (NIV)
In this passage we are told that the stars represent angels.
Revelation 12:3-4
Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. (NIV)
We are told in verse three that this is a sign, so we know that it is a symbolic representation of something else. The next passage, which quickly follows the first, is an explanation of what it means.
Revelation 12:9
The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (NIV)
We see again that the stars represent angels. Now, I want you to think about trying to walk about outside, at night, on a moonless night. Without the sun and the moon you really cannot see anything. During the day, when the sun is out, can you see the stars? Please consider what this means. All of the angels, combined, constitute virtually nothing when compared to God. I mention this because, to hear some people talk, you would think that Satan was some kind of problem for God. Some people teach that Jesus Christ and Satan are, more or less, equals but opposites. This is ridiculous. Satan is a speck. God is a blazing and consuming ball of fire. Even the light that Satan once had is lost forever to him. All power and authority is in God's hand and with this power and authority he upholds the Church.
In the doctrine of the trinity we see that the Father represents God complete. The Son represents God the man we can see, that is, the perfect reflection of God the Father in the face of a man. And we see the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit symbolized God working invisibly, but purposely.
John 3:8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (NIV)
You can see the Sun; you can see the Moon, and you can see the stars, but like the wind, the Spirit is invisible through the Scriptures. Invisible, but discernable, by what he does.
Please understand that when thinking on the trinity, that God is One. He has spoken of himself in the ways that we can see him, that is, through the written Word and by the leading of his Spirit, but God is not three separate entities, but One. God, in Christ, is acting out the perfect relationship of a man to his God. Jesus Christ is God made visible in human form, but the soul of Jesus Christ is God.