We proceed to the fifth requirement for generating life: separating the waters of death by making an expanse. The waters which are above the expanse must be divided from the waters which are under the expanse. To divide light from darkness is rather objective; to divide the waters above the expanse from the waters under the expanse is more subjective. We need the second separation—dividing the heavenly things from the earthly things (Col. 3:1-3). The waters under the expanse represent the earthly things, while the waters above the expanse represent heavenly things. Some things may not be dark, but they are earthly, not heavenly.
Suppose, as I am speaking, I wear a cowboy hat, cowboy outfit, and boots. That is not something dark, but it is earthly. Suppose I wear a wide necktie, eight inches wide, colored with green, red, blue, purple, and bright yellow. If I were to wear this, it would prove that I am lacking the expanse.
What is this expanse? The expanse is simply the atmosphere, the air surrounding the earth. Without the atmosphere no life could ever be generated upon the earth. There is no life on the moon because there is no expanse around the moon. God created the expanse surrounding the earth so that the earth may produce life. After being saved, we not only have the light within us, but also the air, the expanse. Something has come into us to separate the heavenly things from the earthly things, the things above which are acceptable to God from the things below which are not acceptable to Him. What is this? This is the dividing work of the cross. After we have been saved and have gone on with the Lord, we will experience the cross. The cross divides. It divides the natural things from the spiritual things, it divides the holy things from the common things, and it divides the heavenly things from the earthly things. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the living Word can separate us to such an extent that our soul is divided from our spirit. I may say or do something good; yet that good word or deed does not have its source in the spirit, but in the soul. Morally speaking, ethically speaking, or humanly speaking, there is nothing wrong. But spiritually speaking, the source is not of God, not of the heavens. It is not of the spirit, but of the soul, of the earth. Thus, we need a further division: not only a separation between light and darkness, but also a discernment between the spirit (the things above) and the soul (the things beneath).
Have you ever noticed in Genesis 1 that on every day, except the second, after God had accomplished something He looked at it and it was good. But on the second day there is no such record. Genesis doesn't say that God saw the waters and the air and said that they were good. Why? Because the air is full of fallen angels and the waters full of demons. Remember that the demons have their dwelling place in the waters. On the second day, there was something which really was not good: in the air were the fallen angels and in the waters were the demons. We must realize that whatever is of us, even once the cross has divided it, is nevertheless not good. Whatever is of us is not good. God cannot say that it is good.