Spreading Forth the Earth and What Springs Up from It
God spread forth not only the earth but also all the things that spring up from the earth (Isa. 42:5b). What was His purpose in doing this? Isaiah 45:18 says that God created the earth to be inhabited by man. The globe is a fitting place for man to live on. When man landed on the moon over twenty years ago, we found out how different from the earth things are there. There is no air on the moon, so we cannot live there. There are no living things on the moon. The moon is not a fitting place for us to live. Genesis 1 speaks of the expanse. That is the air. From the expanse rain comes, and in the winter the snow comes. These make the earth a fitting place for us to live.
The Morning Stars Sang Together and All the Angels,
the Sons of God, Shouted for Joy
at God’s Beautiful Building of the Earth
At the time when God was spreading forth the earth, the morning stars sang together and all the angels, the sons of God, shouted for joy at God’s beautiful building of the earth (Job 38:7). The earth is really beautiful. This is why so many people enjoy sightseeing. In places like Yosemite or Yellowstone, you can see how beautiful the earth is. Everything is beautiful, even the flowers. If you go to a zoo, you can see beautiful animals: bears, tigers, lions, leopards, and all kinds of birds. God created the earth in this way for us. God is a God of good pleasure, and He made us as men of good pleasure. Because of this, man seeks amusement. Today’s amusements, however, are terrible because they are full of Satan. But in the beginning there was real amusement. In Genesis 2 there is such a phrase: every tree that is pleasant to the sight (v. 9). All the trees are pleasant to the sight. How do we know that God loves beauty? We need only look at the earth that He created for us. Furthermore, on a clear night we can see how beautiful all the stars are. All these prove that God is a God of beauty.
God’s Initial Creation of the Universe
before Satan’s Rebellion
The foregoing matters are all related to God’s initial creation of the universe, which occurred before Satan’s rebellion.