October 8, 2024
Benefits abound living in rural America. Having the beauty of the countryside surround you on all sides certainly is one; another is being able to stare into the endless sky above unmasked by the constraints of light pollution.
Traveling home the other night, after having taken the boys for a car ride and the obligatory “pup cup,” we noticed the skies were simply majestic.
Without warning, I pulled the car over a few miles outside of town and I swerved the wheel into the Faith cemetery parking lot. I lowered the windows, turned off the lights and ignition, and invited my wife to join me in gazing upon the eternal canopy overheard. Instantly, the milky popped into view — the grandeur of which can’t be seen even from within the town’s limits.
I find it fascinating how immense the cosmos truly is. For when we look up, we’re not just peering into our Milky Way galaxy, but seeing countless other galaxies and nebulae beyond our own. I know I touched on this in Week 1, but one of my favorite scriptures comes from the book of Amos. It’s one sentence that seems (upon first glance) to be out of place. Consider what Amos wrote:
The Pleiades a grouping of stars, that you can see with your naked on a very clear evening (with little to no light pollution). The Pleiades are also known as the “seven sisters” and are roughly some 439 light years away from Earth. That means, if we could travel at the speed of light, it would take longer for humanity to travel there, than Israel lived in the land of Egypt (which was 430 years according to Exodus 12:40).
The distance to the seven sisters is so vast that it would look like this in a mathematical equation: 439(5.879e+12). I don’t math, but that’s a LONG WAY from our earthly home. Only God could have designed the laws of physics and put into place the precise mathematical equations for the universe to function as it does – and for the creative, human brain to discover the math that tells us the distance between the Pleiades and our home planet.
Now, to geek out just a bit more, we can see the Pleiades by looking at Orion (the hunter), and looking over his left shoulder (or to his right from our viewing angle) and strait over into the constellation Taurus (the bull). The Pleiades look blue, which is b/c of the gasses in the nebulae.
Now about Orion, some of its stars – like Bealltrix, Rigel, and Betalguese, are the largest in our viewable scope – so large in fact they make our own sun look miniscule. And from within Orion, is a nebula named the same; and that nebula is some 1,350 light years from earth. These are but just two constellations and star formations within our night sky. Wowzers!
Amos said the LORD made these. This is Yahweh we’re talking about. This is Jesus, through whom all things were created, that we’re talking about.
Today, we’re going to look at the scripture to back up the church father’s claims, and all the ramifications of what “all things”… is. We touched on a couple of these scriptures in the last two weeks, but let’s revisit them and add a couple more.
– John 1:3, 10
– Hebrews 1:1–2, 10
– Isaiah 40:22–26
– Isaiah 44:24
The author of Hebrews and the Prophet Isaiah tell us that Christ (Yahweh in the flesh) was the one who formed the universe with his hand…. How do you envision he did this?
What do you think it means that the Lord “stretched out the heavens”? (as Isaiah wrote).
A couple weeks ago we skimmed over one more passage that we cannot overlook: Colossians 1:16–17. The Apostle Paul wrote this:
The opening phrase suggests that God just isn’t the creator of all that is, and ever was, but that Jesus is the instrument of God’s creation. Read, consider, and discuss this passage from Proverbs 8:22–30.
How do you see Jesus as a “master workman” / “the architect” at his side” ?
Let’s touch on a subject that can be seen as… a touchy one for not just Christians, but all people the world over. When Paul said “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities…” we know he’s speaking of angelic beings, and of an organized dominion in the spirit world.
Most believers don’t doubt that God is the creator of all things, visible and invisible, including the angelic realm. But we also know a large percentage of those “rulers and authorities” don’t have our well being in mind.
Consider this warning the Apostle Paul gave to the church Ephesus:
I know we’ll never answer this question; yet it’s often asked—perhaps you’ve asked it too.: “Why would have Jesus created Satan and demons (before they rebelled and fell), if he knew beforehand they’d revolt and cause so much human suffering?
Ultimately, we’ll never know the answer to such a profound and inexplicable question. Yet, Jesus created them too. And the question is worth pondering.
But here’s something worth pondering…. The Apostles Peter and Paul said that God put into place his plan of salvation before He ever created the world – we might just before he created the universe. Consider what they wrote.
Paul also wrote this:
In like manner, St. Peter wrote,
Revelation 13.8 states that Chrsit, the Lamb of God, was slain before the creation of the world, yet Jesus’ sacrifice happened in real time, earth time, almost 2000 years ago in our linear time and space.
All this is to say, that while God created Satan (aka Lucifer) and his army before they rebelled and fell, yet knowing that they’d do so, put into place the plan of salvation before even they were created.
That’s so… deep. This is the creator, our Lord and Savior we’re talking about. He created you and me and everything we can, and even those things we cannot. He created us in his likeness, and part of that means that we too were created to be creative beings…
You were created by our creator to be a creative yourself in the way he designed you – all for his glory and for his kingdom. That’s something. That’s our creator Jesus Christ in action. That’s something worth pondering a bit more.
Take some time over the next few weeks when the skies are clear, drive out into the country, and just gaze upon the stars. Think about Jesus creating all that you can see with the work of his hands.
Journal your thoughts afterwards:
AND also, journal your thoughts about what it means that God created you in his likeness…
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