The Privileged Planet

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 7:1 "Of God's Covenant with Man".

"The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition [enjoyment] of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which He has been pleased to express by way of covenant".

Recently, a Christian friend of mine recommended a documentary DVD called "The Privileged Planet". What a great DVD it is and I am so thankful that I have now watched it twice. It is also available in book format.

Hollywood's movies have made the quest for extra-terrestrial life a given that such life exists. Not only do they assume it exists, but that it is abundant in the universe. Since the 1960's millions and millions of dollars have been spent on monitoring the airwaves coming into earth and there has been no sign of complex life that can communicate thus far.

The scientists in this DVD explore what factors are necessary for complex life to exist on any planet in the universe. There are many factors, of which earth fits them perfectly and obviously. However, the statistical chance of all these factors coming together to make this happen are virtually impossible. We know it is not by chance, but this DVD reinforces for us, that the fingerprints of the God of the Bible are all over this universe. From the mathematical laws to the force of gravity, to solar eclipses to the place of the earth in the Milky Way, it is all orchestrated by the Living God.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:1-5).

Day Four of Creation:

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. Genesis 1:14-19.

In closing, did you note the tiny part of the sentence in 1:16 "and the stars". There are billions of them, but for the LORD God it is a single work of his fingers in one single day. This God sent his son, who took the name Jesus to save sinners from sin. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!