THE WONDER OF THE UNIVERSE
We live in a beautiful world with stunning views, mighty sounds, unique creatures, and complex order for thriving, and reproducible life. A young child sees the world and is wowed by the littlest of things. For adults, we stand in awe of the grander display of creation.
Before David was a king, he was a shepherd, and this meant many nights under the stars. Since there were no phones to steal his focus, David would lean back against a rock, look up, and be in awe and wonder. At some point, he penned this song,
Psalm 19:1-4 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
God testified of his own power through the Prophet Isaiah and said:
Isaiah 40:25-26 “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.
Isaiah 40:22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them.
Awe
We once believed Earth was at the center of the universe, a model called the geocentric model. This view began to change in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Copernicus proposed a heliocentric, or sun-centered, system. Galileo provided support for the heliocentric model through his telescope observations of 4 moons orbiting Jupiter and Venus orbiting the Sun. In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble discovered that our galaxy is just one of many and that the universe is expanding, confirming that Earth is not the center. This discovery also led scientists to conclude that the expanding universe likely had a beginning. As special as we are and we truly are, Earth is not the center of the universe. In fact, we exist as a speck in a galaxy called the Milky Way.
https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy/Copernicus
The Vastness of the Universe
The universe is so vast that we have to measure the distance between stars and planets by using light time.
Light travels roughly 186,000 miles per second in an open space or vacuum.
A light-year is approximately 5.88 trillion miles.
To give some context, the distance between the Earth and the Sun is approximately 93,000 million miles.
The distance from the sun to the closest star is roughly 4.25 light-years.
Recent numbers suggest that our galaxy has approximately 250 billion stars.
The Milky Way galaxy is estimated to be 100,000 to 120,000 light-years in diameter
Recent estimates using Hubble Deep Field data, the observable universe contains approximately 2 trillion galaxies!
If you collected all the oceans on earth together and scooped one 12oz glass of water from them, that's how much of our galaxy we've explored so far.
According to Richard A Meserve, President of the Carnegie Institution for Science, “The stars and galaxies and the conventional matter we observe all around us really only compose 5 percent of what constitutes our universe." The "known" or ordinary matter (atoms, stars, planets, and us) makes up approximately 5% of the universe. The remaining 95% is composed of Dark Matter (25%) and Dark Energy (70%). https://www.amacad.org/news/universe-stranger-we-thought
Expanding out from Earth Video
Wonder - The Origin of Everything
To be in awe and wonder of creation is to be amazed and, at times, without words. Not only do words fall short, so do explanations. When our logical and critical minds fire up, we ask how the world has come to exist. Scientists, Christian and secular, tackle the question of the origin of the universe or everything through telescopes, at universities, and on chalkboards around the world.
While most people won’t admit it, we tend to look at the world with our biases. This is no different in the sciences of cosmology and biology. You have those who focus their research on the origin of life and the universe from the assumption that God is the creator because they hold to a Biblical worldview. Then you have agnostic and atheist scientists who focus their research on the origin of life and the universe from the assumption that God was not involved. These scientists tend to explain this question with theories of materialism, naturalism, and evolution as their best explanation for everything. Then some scientists have approached the origin of life and the universe with an open mind by following the evidence that gives the best explanation. If we approach the question of the origin of everything like an investigation that follows the evidence, we have found there was a beginning, physical constants and laws at work, astonishing order, habitable conditions for life, and a complex code of information, such as that found in DNA. This points to an intelligent mind or designer. Consider the argument of the Fine-Tuned Universe.
Secular View (Materialists, Naturalists, Evolutionists):
The most widely accepted explanation among materialist scientists is the Big Bang Theory. This theory suggests that about 13.8 billion years ago, the universe started when all matter, energy, space, and time expanded from an extremely hot and dense point (singularity), often described as a natural event. This event has been expanding ever since, with space itself stretching rather than matter exploding outward from one point. As the universe expanded, it cooled and formed particles, atoms, stars, galaxies, and eventually planets. The materialist believes the origin of life began with non-living matter (life from non-life) through natural, chemical self-organization, a process often called abiogenesis or chemical evolution. The development of life is viewed as an undirected (no supernatural or God-like assistance), naturalistic process (naturalism). However, the Big Bang theory does not explain what caused the Big Bang, what existed before it, or why the laws of physics exist the way they do.
Another theory is the multiverse theory, which says that our universe may be just one of many universes that exist, possibly with different physical laws or conditions. In this view, the fact that our universe supports life may simply be because, among many universes, some will naturally have the right conditions. Proponents of this theory call our universe the "Goldilocks" universe, meaning the laws of physics are "just right" or by chance or luck to allow stars, planets, and life to emerge. However, the theory is highly speculative, has no direct evidence, and it does not explain why a multiverse would exist, how it ultimately began, or why any physical laws exist at all. (This is known as the Anthropic Principle and is used to try to solve the “Fine-Tuning” argument from creationists. In other words, the multiverse is a proposal of fine-tuning, but not by God but by the eventual necessity that a universe will perfectly support the means of life. This theory actually strengthens the case for a fine-tuned universe by design.)
Both of these theories serve only as theories and remain unproven. Scientists agree there was a beginning, but they cannot explain how the universe came from nothing. One video by National Geographic said a “mysterious energy” or “super force” may be at play. Hmmmmm, I wonder who that may be?!
The problem with all of the popular theories mentioned and not mentioned is that they begin their theories using pre-existing laws and conditions, such as space, energy, and matter. But where did the so-called “non-life” materials or physical laws come from to produce said hot and dense singularity (point) that expanded? If it were a multiverse, who made the multiverse generator? Something can't come from absolutely nothing, and the universe is a creation that can't create itself, so a timeless first cause is necessary. At some point, we have to surrender our finite minds and insatiable desire to know the answer to everything and conclude that not everything can be explained. Perhaps the reasonable explanation is that the incomprehensible, infinite, and eternal Creator, God, is the origin of everything. We know God should be a reasonable theory presented, but He is blatantly avoided.
The Creation View (Christian)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth - Genesis 1:1
Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
The Christian creation view teaches that God is the author of everything that exists, creating the universe and life out of nothing (creation ex nihilo) by His power and will. God is the eternal, infinite, transcendent, outside of time and space, the cause for the beginning.
God did not use pre‑existing material; everything was made through Him and in particular through His son: Colossians 1:15-16 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
According to Genesis, creation was intentional, ordered, valuable, and purposeful, not accidental. God not only created the world but continues to sustain and govern it.
But this question is brought up…Well then, who created God?
"This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” -Isaac Newton, General Scholium of Principia Mathematica (1713, 2nd edition)
Robert Jastrow (1925–2008), an agnostic and prominent American astronomer, physicist, cosmologist and founder of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies humbled himself and admitted in his book God and the Astronmers:
“Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” -Robert Jastrow
“At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” -Robert Jastrow
Conclusion:
God is the origin of everything
Psalm 8:3-9 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you set in place, what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority, the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
We live in a vast and seemingly infinite universe, and yet we are uniquely made and known by the infinite, eternal, and immanent God. We are not a primordial soup. We are not the result of cosmic debris, organisms on a comet from a distant galaxy. We are not the result of chance, luck, or the winner of a lottery from a multiverse generator. You were created by God on purpose, for a purpose. The Son of God came to earth to save us from our sin and restore what he intended for us in the beginning.
In this series, we will see that creation is speaking and proclaiming of a good and faithful Creator. In this series, we will see that creation doesn’t just show that God exists, but it is pointing us to know Him.
Discussion
Why do you think people, including Christians, sometimes lose a sense of awe when they see creation?
Why do you think the question “What caused the universe to begin?” is so significant in discussions about God?
What stood out to you most about the size and scale of the universe? Did anything surprise you?
What difference does it make in daily life if someone believes the universe is random versus created with purpose?
Psalm 8 talks about God caring for human beings even in a massive universe. What does that reveal about God’s relationship with people?
What additional notes did you make during the sermon?
How can we pray together for you today?
The most important decision you will ever make!
If you’re ready to trust in Jesus for salvation and eternal life, we encourage you to process this decision with a strong believer and, when you’re ready, say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I acknowledge and admit I have sinned. I see my need for Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe I am forgiven and cleansed of my sin by His death. I also believe I have eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead. I repent, I turn away from my old ways, and I choose to live my life to worship you and follow Jesus, Amen!
We would love to know if you decided to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hope you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!
