In early June I taught at our Sunday service a prelude to a Pentecost teaching. In lead up to the wonder and awe that God would come to dwell in His children I felt led to showcase first the size and majesty and power of God that is a part of what makes such indwelling so incredible.
For me the heavens are the place I turn to bring things back to perspective when I am overwhelmed. To look up at night and to start to grasp a fraction of the size and beauty of what I am seeing is, for me, a way to remind myself how big the God is who loves me, lives in me, and never leaves me. So, I spent a Sunday teaching on the size of the universe. When I was done I had shared so many breathtaking facts and ways of seeing the size of it all that I ended up making it into a handout. My hope is to have a website in the near future when I can upload both the handout and the paper I am working on about why I became a Young Earth Creationist, and why I believe the issue really matters. Then, anyone interested can simply download either in a PDF format and either read them onscreen or print them.
Until that website is up, I have decided to print excerpts from the handout in the next few blog posts. Since it is already written the will probably come fairly frequently over the next week. I think that you will be blessed and encouraged by the facts as you reflect on your God. I wish I could credit all the facts and examples in the handout, but I drew them from so many sources I just lost track. I apologize in advance to anyone not credited, and I thank them all for their internet postings from which I drew the information. Following this series I may post some excerpts from the paper I am finishing on my journey to Young Earth Creationist, and some thoughts I why I believe this is a truly critical subject for individual Christians and society as a whole. Of course, I reserve the right to insert some blog posts in between all this as God might lead me, that have nothing to do with either (smile!).
To begin, this morning I will share the introduction to the handout. The next blog post will look at our earth and Sun, and then we'll just start moving farther out post by post. I encourage you to reflect on each one not just academically, but by asking yourself what it means to you to have a God so huge who loves you personally, and who dwells within you as a believer.
Introduction
These “facts” and illustrative examples came from various internet sources in May 2012 for a teaching I gave. I can’t verify them, and not everyone agrees with them. Because we have such a limited observation of the universe, so many are based on speculation and theories. But, even if they’re only close to reality, I am struck by the magnitude of what some scientist expect us to accept about how an “accident” with no Creator, designer, director, or agent of origin created these massive objects and sent them flying such inconceivable distances. As you reflect on this may God not be robbed of His glory, but may you be in awe as you get a sense of the heavens above and around us, and remember,“The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Many times, when problems seem huge and hard, I look to the stars and reflect on some of the following facts, and find things coming back into perspective as I am reminded how big and how glorious my God is. May these things help you, too, be in wonder and awe and peace as you reflect on your Creator.
If, as you follow this series, you want to share it, there are buttons at the bottom of each post to share them on various platforms, as well as a "Print Friendly" button to make them easier to print without all the other blog sidebars, header, etc. If you are reading this and are not subscribed by email to this blog and you don't want to check back over and over you can subscribe to it by email on the sidebar. If you are reading this in an email format you'll need to click into the actual blog to use the features I described. May God bless you and His Spirit pour out on you a deep, deep awareness of His love, power, size, and presence. —Erick
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