And as vast as our galaxy is, to say nothing of the universe itself, we must ponder the question, “Is it really the final frontier?” Once this entire creation and known reality is swept away, GOD is going to create a new heavens and a new earth (REV 21; ISA 66:22)! Think of the excitement we will have in exploring these heretofore unknown frontiers!
But even if one discounts all of that - there is the limitless exploration and discoveries of the mysteries of GOD! You see, what we know of GOD is limited to the inspired canon. That’s not to say that the Holy Scriptures in conjunction with the Holy Spirit doesn’t provide us an astounding amount of revelation about our Creator and Redeemer, it’s simply as the acronym suggests: B.I.B.L.E. – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
We have all the basics that we need to live godly in Christ Jesus (2 PET 1:3-4); we’re blessed with plenty of knowledge to enjoy a full and rich relationship with the LORD. But once we enter into eternity with glorified bodies and minds, the LORD will be able for the first time, to reveal His nature and all of the Truth that’s personified in His Person with no limitations on our part to grasp it all.
That being said, since He is eternal in His nature, the wealth of knowledge available to us One Day as glorified saints will also be eternal. In other words, we won’t ever stop learning of our glorious GOD. We will be continuously afforded more and more Truth that will in no way contradict the canon of Scripture we have now but will expand upon and exemplify the Holy Scripture with deeper, more profound Truth.
ISAIAH 40:12
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
GOD doesn’t have the whole world in His hand: He has the entirety of creation, from the farthest galaxy in the universe to your very breath to every sub-atomic particle in His Holy, Almighty hand. Like you and I could hold a Swiss watch in our hand and then put it back in our pocket, so is all of this universe to GOD! He has it all “well in hand” and is LORD over all He created.
Note: In GENESIS 1 we see Him identified simply as “GOD” Who created all things. In GENESIS 2 however, He is identified as “LORD GOD” because He is sovereign over all that He created. Notice then how in GENESIS 3 Satan doesn’t refer to Him as “LORD GOD” but simply as “GOD” and in his subtle, rebellious way, denying His Lordship!
To get some idea of the scale of all we’re talking about, check out this video that examines the smallest moons of our solar system to only some of the humungous stars and black holes whose size boggles the mind!
GENESIS 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… was the Epic of all epic beginnings when GOD created not just space (heavens) and matter (earth, [and energy as well because matter is energy at rest, and energy is matter in motion]); but also time (In the beginning). This makes “Where did GOD come from?” or “Who made GOD?” nonviable questions. Before creation there was no locality in space or time because there was only eternity. GOD always was, and ever will be, without beginning or end.
We know nothing of this initialization of creation apart from what Scripture tells us. Scientists say things like “billions of years” to account for creation – everything including mankind that ‘evolved’ from the most simplistic of life forms to reality today. “The universe must be billions of years old in order for the star’s light to reach us”, agnostic astronomers say. “It couldn’t possibly be only several thousands of years old!”
GOD could have taken billions of years to create everything, or six billion nanoseconds (the equivalent of six seconds), but as it happens, He took six days (in the Hebrew the word for “day” can mean an epoch of time, or a time period, but where it’s connected with a numeric value (as in “the first day… the second day…” etc.) it means nothing other than a twenty four hour period of time.
GOD Himself verifies that He created all things In Six Days:
EXODUS 20:9-11
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
People ridicule and mock this idea of a Six Day creation because they discount the abilities of an eternal GOD, going so far as discounting the incredible complexities that require a Mind in order to create the Design of this phenomenal world!
Regarding the millions of years requirement for starlight to travel at lightspeed in order for us to see them shining in the night sky, let me say this:
When GOD created Adam, was he a small infant? No, he was a man; obviously an adult. When GOD created the animals, they were also full grown, as were the trees and shrubbery. It would be nothing for GOD to create the stars and their accompanying starlight to be of a certain “age” so that we could see those lights in the night sky from the beginning of time.
Let’s look how GOD engineered this solar system and how He tailored it to be entirely suitable for our planet and for human life to thrive on this globe.
Our sun is of a specific size, exerting just the right amount of gravity and light to sustain life on planet Earth. He also created our atmosphere with its many layers to block out the harmful radiation from the sun, while at the same time, letting that range of light necessary for life to shine through.
If the sun was brighter, or exerted more gravity, life couldn’t exist here. If we were closer or farther away from the sun, life couldn’t exist here. There are all sorts of astronomical bodies zipping through our solar system: asteroids, meteors, meteorites, bolides and comets. Those of a specific smaller size are burned up harmlessly in our atmosphere. Or they are burned up sufficiently so as to impact the Earth with little or no measurable damage (for the most part).
Those space bodies that are larger in size are drawn to our Moon which absorbs the majority of intermediate sized objects. Those that are larger, are inevitably drawn into the far more powerful gravitational fields of Jupiter and Saturn – and to a lesser degree Uranus and Neptune. They are ‘GOD’s vacuum cleaners’ that suck up the debris that would otherwise bombard our planet. Then there is our asteroid belt which can impede space objects from venturing into our orbit.
All it would take for an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event) is a sizeable comet or rogue asteroid five miles long. Such a thing was proposed in the film DEEP IMPACT. GOD has ensured that this won’t happen – yet (During the tribulation ELE won’t happen, but cataclysmic events certainly will)!
We find that the way the universe is engineered is intentional for the purpose of supporting life on planet Earth. This is GOD’s intended design that is truly “Beyond Coincidence” (click the link and listen to the late Dr. Chuck Missler’s teachings in PART 1 and PART 2!)!
Whenever GOD addresses the heavens where stars are concerned (and their accompanying planets and moons), these are considered “the second heaven” – which is far more than a simple bubble of some solid substance that encases planet Earth (which I believe actually existed prior to the Flood, that by its very nature, increased the oxygen levels in our atmosphere as well as the barometric pressure (two essentials in any hyperbaric chamber that is used to expedite the process of healing)).
Man was given dominion over the Earth, but did GOD give us dominion over the Moon as well? What about Mars and the other planets? Were man allowed to advance to the point where Star Trek became a reality, would we have GOD’s blessing in “going boldly where no man has gone before”? One could make a case from the Scriptures against such an ideology (sorry Gene Roddenberry!).
What about the angels? We know that they occasionally visibly manifest in our world. We know that since Satan is “the god of this world” – its current manager so to speak, that his principalities and powers and demonic spirits are also quite present (and active!) in our world.
Do they travel throughout outer space for their own purposes? All of these UFOs and UAPs seem to be local to our planet, but there is no argument that insists that they can’t travel the throughout the Second Heaven. These aerial phenomenon in my view are not EBEs (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities) from another planet – rather these are fallen angels masquerading as aliens, but are part of a very nefarious, diabolical, last days deception!
Am I saying that there is no life elsewhere in the universe? What about intelligent life? I used to at least suspect that there might be life “out there” simply given the sheer magnitude of our universe.
Our Milky Way galaxy is over 100,000 lightyears across (a lightyear is a unit of measure in space – the amount of time it takes for light to travel at 186,000 miles per second or almost 6 trillion miles in one year. Multiply that by 100,000! And that’s just measuring its length, not its entire mass that contains over 100 billion stars. Then there is our nearest neighbor, the galaxy called Andromeda (which is twice the size of the Milky Way!) among more than 800 billion galaxies in the universe – and these are just the ones we can detect!
Surely, somewhere in that incredibly vast cosmos there must be life, right?
My current opinion on this matter is, no – there are no other examples of life, particularly corporeal intelligent life anywhere else other than planet Earth!
I recall the film based on the novel by Carl Sagan Contact where one of the lead actors, Jodie Foster, who plays the part of a scientist was asked by a school kid, “Is there life on other planets?”I don’t think it would be: I think knowledge of our exclusive claim as the only physical sentient species would point to how special we are, and how special this Earth is!
“That’s a good question!” she said. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know,” the student shrugged.
The astronomer chuckled and said, “That’s a good answer! It could just be us in the universe, but if it is, seems like an awful waste of space!”
Imagine if every person on the planet had a diamond all their own in their pocket. Compared to all the substances in this planet, they would still be relatively rare. Beautiful, precious and rare – but then imagine if of all the eight billion people on Earth, only one of us had the only diamond that there is!
That would make it all the more rare, precious, and in a greater way, all the more beautiful. I think GOD is making the statement concerning humanity! We are precious in His sight, comparatively rare in the universe, and not at all inconsequential (not “a meaningless speck in an indifferent universe” as it was once said), and the focus on His Divine attention.
But there is intelligent life elsewhere – a race of noncorporeal entities of vast intellect, capable of moving at incredible speeds and has access to other dimensions, wielding abilities that we would deem supernatural. The Bible calls them angels – and there are two classes of them: holy and evil.
It would seem that both classes have access to the Third Heaven and the Throne of GOD (at least we know that Satan does (JOB 1 & 2; REV 12:10) – not sure about those under his command…?).
Where does the Second Heaven end and the Third Heaven begin?
Considering that our atmospheric heaven and the celestial heaven are still within our space/time domain, when one reaches the outer limits of the plasmasphere, that is where our First Heaven ends and the Second begins.
But the Third Heaven is not at all a part of our physical universe, because it’s eternal in nature and is distinct from our space/time domain. It’s not merely in a different dimension, but perhaps exists in an entire network of alternate dimensions. Even in our physical reality, cosmologists and quantum physicists believe we live in 10 dimensions – four are knowable (length, height, width and time), while the other six (involving string theory) are only detectable by inferential equations.
So when it comes to the eternal dwelling of GOD, who knows how many dimensions that employs! Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Your guess is as good as mine!
I’ve often contemplated about the new creation: the new earth and the new heavens. The Greek word “new” implies something both new and different! The Star Trek geek in me who was always jazzed about the idea of exploring another planet rejoices in this forthcoming opportunity to do just that, courtesy of the LORD Jesus Christ!
But how different will this new earth actually be? And the heavens?? Will there be stars there? Habitable worlds? Perhaps sinless races created by GOD that we can go visit and befriend? Scripture is silent, so then, must I be – but I can make some fun guesses and opinions!
ISAIAH 40:22
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
PSALM 19:1-6
1The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. 6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
In geocentric astronomy, the Earth is the center of our solar system, and this was the prevailing view for centuries. Then came the heliocentric view and that’s held universally (every pun intended) by all but a relative few.
These heliocentric people would disparage PSALM 19:5-6, which seems to suggest a geocentric perspective, yet we understand that the sun itself revolves in its place around the galaxy the way our planets do in our solar system “…from one end of the heaven and its circuit to the other end”.
In fact, our sun’s position in the Milky Way galaxy affords our astronomers the most ideal view of the creation! Were our sun and system deeper in the Milky Way with its higher concentration of stars, we wouldn’t be able to see the intricacies of the universe! GOD positioned us just right so that we would have “a front row seat” to stand in awe of His handiwork!
I understand that there are many in the FLAT EARTH Camp that see the Second Heaven as the shell that encases the Earth, dotted with stars and heavenly bodies imbedded into it and that any talk of extraterrestrial reality is a lie: that there are no planets, stars, galaxies, etc. Only the Earth, the sky and the domain of GOD that we call “heaven”.
Check out Mike Winger’s presentation on the use of Scripture to prove a flat earth.
It would seem that such a view would drastically reduce the glory of GOD down to a single planet, with nothing other to demonstrate His creative power and glory! This is not to say that this world isn’t wealthy in demonstrative of the creative glory of GOD; rather it’s simply stating that if a little is good, then a whole lot is a lot better!
But if one acknowledges the entirety of the universe, knowing that Scripture states that it all came into being by the power of GOD’s Word and nothing else – that’s astonishing! Awe-inspiring indeed!
This reveals the infinite knowledge and power and glory of GOD observable to all who care to consider them! The word “created” in GENESIS 1:1 in the original Hebrew is barah, which means to create from nothing. GOD doesn’t need to use preexisting materials to make things like we do. All He requires is to speak it into existence! Can we say, WOW?! (ROM 4:17; 1 COR 1:28)
ROMANS 1:19-20
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
His invisible attributes:
To create all things GOD would have to possess all knowledge; to get it all working properly as He intended He would need all wisdom (omniscience). Thinking on the unfathomable power contained in all the universe (just the power generated by our own relatively small star (3.8 x 1026 watts every second: 384.6 septillion watts a second!), GOD would need to possess more power than exists in our physical reality in order to create it all! Thus He is Almighty – omnipotent.
To supervise it all, GOD would have to exist everywhere inside as well as outside of creation, and for all time – omnipresence. Because of the fact He can exist outside of time reveals that He is eternal.
He has a love for order, beauty, balance, coordination and a love for His creation, most especially for us human beings!
Yet today people deny GOD and challenge saints for “proof” of His existence when it’s all around them. When I present the logical facts as outlined above to them, they scoff, ridicule and laugh and label it nonsense with no further rebuttal than that. They find that the effect (the universe) is possible without a First Cause (GOD) which is necessary in order to acquire all of the initial effects.
ROMANS 1:21-22,25
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
To illustrate the arrogance of man who would sit in judgment of GOD and his truly human but futile endeavors we have the following:
A group of scientists appreciated the fact that they have amassed incredibly vast quantities of knowledge, to the point that they realized they no longer needed GOD. They sent one of their group to GOD and explained it all to Him.
“How about a little contest, to see which of us is the Supreme Power?” asked GOD.Next time in the fourth and last article, we will get into examining the eternal realm of GOD, the Third Heaven!
“You’re on!” retorted the scientist brashly. What do you have in mind?”
“How about a repeat of what I did in GENESIS 1? The making of man from the dust of the earth?”
“Easy!” replied the scientist who then reached down to grab a fistful of dirt, but GOD said, “Oh, no you don’t! You get your own dirt!”
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