Our Superb Sun

On the fourth day of creation, God made a great light to rule the day (Genesis 1:16). We call this light our Sun. Scientists have discovered that the Sun is a star. It is not the biggest star, or even the brightest star, but it is theclosest star to Earth. The Sun is 93 million miles away.

God merely spoke the Sun into existence and set it in its place in space. He created it out of nothing. People used to believe that the Earth was in the center of our solar system. We now know that all planets in our system (even the Earth) go around the Sun.

The Sun is made up of many of the natural elementsthat are in the Earth. An element is matter made up of only one kind of substance. Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight. Matter comes in three forms: solid (like ice), liquid (like water), gas (like steam). All matter is made up of atoms. An atom is a tiny bit of matter. It is the smallest part of an element that is still that element. The main elements which make up the Sun are two gases: hydrogen and helium.

Most scientists believe that the process known as fusion (FYOO-shun) is responsible for the Sun's energy. Fusion is the joining together of atoms. In the Sun, hydrogen atoms join helium atoms. This fusion causes the heat and light that we depend upon for life as we know it.

Sometimes we take our Sun for granted, not realizing how much we depend on it. But, we should always be thankful to God for the Sun, for without it, life could not exist!

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