Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/47

 God made  the  atmosphere  on  the  second  day,  because  neither plants, nor  animals,  nor  men  can  live  without  air. Sound also  is  impossible without  air,  so  that  without  it  there  could  have  been  neither speech  nor  hearings.

On the  third  day  God  made  the  earth  to  be  dry,  and  plants  to grow  on  it. But plants,  to  live  and  thrive,  require  something  besides light  and  air,  therefore  it  was  that  God  had  already  on  the  second day caused  part  of  the  water  to  remain  in  the  air,  to  supply  the  plants with moisture  from  above,  either  by  means  of  dew  or  rain.

The works  of  the  first  three  days,  and  those  of  the  last  three,  are thus related  to  each  other  as  the  general  to  the  particular,  or  as  the place and  its  furniture.

1st day. The light.

2nd day. The atmosphere  which divided the  waters.

3rd day. The dry  land.

4th day. The bodies  of  light.

5th day. The inhabitants  of  the air and  water: the  birds  and  fishes.

6th day. The inhabitants  of  the dry land:  the  beasts  and  man.

Time began  with  the  world.  Once  nothing  existed  but  the  Eternal God alone. “Before the  mountains  were  made,  or  the  earth  and  the world was  formed,  from  eternity  and  to  eternity  Thou  art,  God” (Ps. 89,  2). Why does  not  the  Psalmist  say,  ‘Thou  wast,  God’,  instead of 'Thou  art,  God ?’  Because  God  is  Eternal. He is  not  subject  to  the changes of  time,  for  with  God  there  is  no  past,  no  future,  nothing but an  everlasting  present. “I am  who  am”,  God  said  to  Moses (Exod. 3,  14). God exists  of  and  by  Himself. Everything else  is made  by  God.

God is  Almighty.  God  created  the  whole  world,  visible  and  invisible, material  and  spiritual,  out  of  nothing  by  His  almighty  will. His almighty power  is  manifested  to  us  in  creation. By His  word,  that  is, by  His  will,  He  called  into  existence  the  earth,  moon,  and  the  whole, to  us  immeasurable  universe,  with  its  millions  and  millions  of  heavenly bodies. “God spoke,  and  they  were  made;  He  commanded,  and  they were created”  (Ps.  32,  9).

God works  unceasingly.  What  then  do  the  words,  ‘He  rested  on the  seventh  day’,  mean? They mean  that  God  rested  from  this  particular work,  i.e.  from  creating,  because  the  universe  was  finished  and complete; but God  does  not  cease  from  the  work  of  conservation  and of natural  and  supernatural  providence. Our Lord  says:  “My  Father works till  now  and  I work”  (New  Test.  XXVI). God is  continually working for  the  good  of  His  creatures,  for  only  He  who  called  the world into  existence  can  sustain  and  govern  it. If Almighty  God  were to withdraw  His  hand  from  the  world,  at  that  moment  it  would  collapse and fail  into  ruin. Every day,  every  hour  of  life  is  a gift  of  Almighty God.