Like most believers, do you believe that God created the universe? If so, fair warning: if you read this and take the trouble to authenticate these outlandish facts, you will have to enlarge your personal image of God's greatness a million times.
Here are a few facts about this utterly fantastic universe that he created. Light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second. At that speed, it can circle the earth 7 1/2 times in one second. Our fastest rockets can travel at 38,000 miles per hour. It would take 80,000 years to reach our closest neighbor star at that speed. (So much for interstellar travel.) All the other stars are much further away. Astronomers measure the distance between celestial objects in light years (the distance that light travels in one year). The closest star to us, scientists refer to this star as being in our own backyard, is only four light years away. Our supertelescopes can detect light that left its source 13 billion years ago. If the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, how far is 13 billion light years? Our Milky Way Galaxy has about 200 billion stars. It takes 100 light-years to cross it.
The books say that there are probably a trillion galaxies. In the middle of each galaxy, there is a black hole. This is the biggest mystery in astronomy. The gravity in these holes is so intense that not even light can escape. These monstrous "things" devour giant stars. One of the great mysteries is where all this matter goes. It goes back to its maker. The telescopes show that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing speed in all directions. How big can it get?
All these mysteries, and what does this layman know about the heavens and how they were created? Nothing. But going back to my opening question, how great is our God?
I'm a School of Business graduate. I've lived a long, long time. I wish I had kept a ledger with all the times that this all-knowing, all-mighty, all-powerful God has heard and answered the prayers of a sinful man like me. As a business major, I know that if I had kept such a ledger, a scholarly statistician could conclude that God answers prayer. But without the assistance of a statistician, I know, with all certainty, that God answers prayers. This incredible, all-mighty, great God who made this enormous, incredibly complex universe sometimes answers even petty prayers from an even more petty man like me. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. These must be the most encompassing descriptive words ever spoken by a mortal man.
Gen1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:3 Then God said. "Let there be light".
And we have seen and walked in the light ever since. How great is your God?
Ben V. Rodriguez
Here are a few facts about this utterly fantastic universe that he created. Light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second. At that speed, it can circle the earth 7 1/2 times in one second. Our fastest rockets can travel at 38,000 miles per hour. It would take 80,000 years to reach our closest neighbor star at that speed. (So much for interstellar travel.) All the other stars are much further away. Astronomers measure the distance between celestial objects in light years (the distance that light travels in one year). The closest star to us, scientists refer to this star as being in our own backyard, is only four light years away. Our supertelescopes can detect light that left its source 13 billion years ago. If the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, how far is 13 billion light years? Our Milky Way Galaxy has about 200 billion stars. It takes 100 light-years to cross it.
The books say that there are probably a trillion galaxies. In the middle of each galaxy, there is a black hole. This is the biggest mystery in astronomy. The gravity in these holes is so intense that not even light can escape. These monstrous "things" devour giant stars. One of the great mysteries is where all this matter goes. It goes back to its maker. The telescopes show that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing speed in all directions. How big can it get?
All these mysteries, and what does this layman know about the heavens and how they were created? Nothing. But going back to my opening question, how great is our God?
I'm a School of Business graduate. I've lived a long, long time. I wish I had kept a ledger with all the times that this all-knowing, all-mighty, all-powerful God has heard and answered the prayers of a sinful man like me. As a business major, I know that if I had kept such a ledger, a scholarly statistician could conclude that God answers prayer. But without the assistance of a statistician, I know, with all certainty, that God answers prayers. This incredible, all-mighty, great God who made this enormous, incredibly complex universe sometimes answers even petty prayers from an even more petty man like me. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. These must be the most encompassing descriptive words ever spoken by a mortal man.
Gen1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:3 Then God said. "Let there be light".
And we have seen and walked in the light ever since. How great is your God?
Ben V. Rodriguez
