Traveling at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), you would circle the earth seven times in one second and pass the moon in two seconds. At this speed, it would take you 4.3 years to reach our nearest star and 100,000 years to cross our galaxy.There are thought to be at least 100,000,000,000 galaxies in the universe. It would take 2,000,000 light years to reach the next closest galaxy and 20,000,000 to reach the next cluster of galaxies. And God is so great that He marks off the heavens with the breadth of His hand (Isaiah 40:12)!
In light of all this, is it not simply breathtaking that this God takes thought of you and me?
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4)
Thanks, Larry. I love your astronomical posts!
ReplyDeleteThe question posed by the psalmist is the same question that Richard Dawkins asks: "What is man that this interventionist God who created the whole universe would care about us?"
In fact, he goes further, and says: "This whole notion of a God who created the vast cosmos would give a rip about a tiny rock of a planet?....And more than that, He could find no other way to solve our 'sin problem' than to come down to earth Himself and die? I find that petty."
Yes, Dawkins calls it petty.
It's not petty. It's salvation.
Yes, sin is the problem we have. The loving Savior Jesus Christ is the solution -- incarnated as the God/Man, lived a sin-free life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice to pay our sin-debt by His agonizing death on a cross, rising again (documented historically) to prove the truth of every one of His claims and promises, ascended back to the heavens, and now there arises a church through the centuries of time, those He has redeemed to reconcile our relationship with God, and to spread this good news of the gospel to all who will hear.
That's not petty. It's the truth. It's the most important thing EVER.
Jim W