God's Creation Day Two:
God
Creates The Firmament
"And God
said, Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters. And
God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the
firmament: and it was so. And God
called the firmament Heaven. And the
evening and the morning were the second day." - Genesis
1:6-8
On
day two God put some of the water that was on the earth above the
atmosphere. This made a layer of water very high above the earth.
Many creation scientists believe that the water layer around the
earth made a vapor canopy that sheltered or protected it from harmful
radiation. The rays from the sun that cause you to get sunburn are an
example of harmful radiation. The vapor canopy would have made the
earth like a beautiful greenhouse. This may be one reason why the
people before Noah's flood lived to be hundreds of years old, and why
even animals, such as dinosaurs, lived for a very long time. However,
the vapor canopy collapsed at the time of the flood, therefore it
caused a genetic breakdown within our own bodies which has effected
our health and shortened our lifespan.
God also made the
atmosphere when He separated the waters. The atmosphere is the open
space all around us with air that people and animals can breathe. The
earth is the only planet with an atmosphere that we can breathe. The
most important thing that we need in our atmosphere is oxygen. We
can't see oxygen; it is something that is invisible in the air we
breathe, but we can't live without it. Most other living things on
our planet need oxygen, too.
God didn't put just any amount of
oxygen in our atmosphere -- He put exactly the right amount. If we
had less oxygen in our atmosphere, our bodies would have to work much
harder, and we would be gasping for air all the time. There would
also be less oxygen in the water, so living things in the water
wouldn't survive. Also, oxygen is what makes things burn. So if there
were less oxygen in our atmosphere, things wouldn't burn. But if we
had more oxygen, things would be catching on fire too easily, and our
earth would be a dangerous place to live.
To help us have just
the right amount of oxygen, God also put nitrogen -- another
invisible thing -- in the atmosphere. Nitrogen doesn't like to make
things burn up like oxygen does, so nitrogen makes the oxygen more
stable.
Creation-
Day Three
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