by David J. Stewart
Isaiah 40:22, "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in."
God's greatness is truly unsearchable. God is awesome!!! Isaiah 40:22 proclaims that God stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, as a tent to dwell in. Astronomers have determined that there are at least billions of trillions of stars, having no idea of the total number of stars. Billions of trillions!!! That number would have this many zeros behind it... 000,000,000,000,000,000,000!!! No one knows how many stars there are!!!
Even more amazing is that the Bible says God knows the exact number of stars and has a name for each and every one of them, calling them all by name...
Psalms 147:4-5, "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite."
On a clear night, as viewed from earth, the human eye can see only about 4,000 stars. Our atmosphere prevents many of the stars from shining through. The earth has a thin layer of air that is only 50-miles thick, which causes the stars to twinkle as viewed from ground.
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in the year 1990 and has since sent back tens-of-thousands of striking images of the universe. The images are nothing less than breathtaking, further testifying to God's omnipotence and creativity. Just look at how beautiful the picture below is of the M1 Galaxy...
It's exciting that the James Webb Telescope will be launched in 2018, travel 1,000,000 miles away, and then look deep into the depths of the universe and take pictures. If the Lord tarries His return, the images will no doubt be unbelievable and open man's understanding further into how God's universe works.
Just to give you an idea of how enormous the universe is in comparison to our tiny earth, take a look at the following images. Notice how giant the planet Jupiter is in comparison to our earth. You can see the storms on Jupiter, where wind speeds average over 700 miles per hour! An average storm on Jupiter is bigger than the area of the United States! The image below represents the smallest planet in our solar system, Pluto, as compared to Earth and our solar system's largest planet Jupiter.
This following image represents the size of Earth as compared to Jupiter and our brilliant Sun. Earth could fit inside Jupiter approximately 1,300 times. Jupiter could fit inside the Sun more than 900 times. Approximately 1,200,000 Earths could fit inside the Sun! Wow!!! Our sun is 93,000,000 miles away from Earth, the perfect distance. God knew exactly what He was doing my friend when He spoke the universe into existence by the very Word of His mouth.
Now prepare to be amazed my friend! The image below represents the size of our Sun compared to the giant star Arcturus and the biggest known Sun VY Canis Majoris. These huge stars are several hundred million times larger than our Sun. Remember, you could fit 1,200,000 Earth's inside the sun, and now look at how big VY Canis Majoris is in comparison!!!
This image represents the size of our Sun compared to the giant Sun Arcturus and the biggest known Sun VY Canis Majoris. These huge stars are several hundred million times larger than our Sun. The Bible mentions the star Arcturus, and star constellations Orion and Pleiades. God is the ultimate astronomer, for He created the universe...
Job 9:2 and 8-9, "I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? ...Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south."
Job asks the question... How can a mortal man be justified with such an immortal, omnipotent and fearful God? It is impossible with man. Ah, but God in His love (Who created the stars for man and not man for the stars), promised the gift of eternal life before the world even began (Titus 1:2). God's plan of redemption for mankind was already laid out, ready to go before God even spoke the universe into existence.
God's plan of redemption for mankind is nothing less than breathtaking. God Himself (the Godhead, Colossians 2:9--King James Bible) became incarnate upon the Earth in the flesh of the man Christ Jesus. Jesus lived a sinless, perfect life in every sense (1st Peter 2:22). Jesus was despised and rejected of men, betrayed by one of His own Apostles, and crucified as a common criminal for simply telling the truth.
John 1:12-13, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Thank God for the gift of His dear Son (Ephesians 2:8-9), Jesus, the Christ; Who came to earth in the flesh and died for our sins, and He was buried, and rose again triumphant three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4); Jesus ascended into Heaven (Acts 1:9)and is now seated on the right-hand of the heavenly Father; interceding as High Priest for every born-again Christian believer (Colossians 3:1-2; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:15-16).
1st Peter 2:24, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
I believe God created these massive heavenly bodies to impress mankind, I really do. God made a giraffe's neck long so we could admire it, and the beauty of a peacock's feathers, and the glow of the firefly... God wants to be admired and praised. God created mankind in His own image. Thus, we like to have our work admired and to be praised for our accomplishments in life.
God made men to desire praise, which to a humble degree is acceptable and proper. If someone compliments our music or our cooking, that is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, for He hath made us in His image to desire praise, love and admiration for our works. The important thing is that we redirect any praises given to us to the Lord, Who giveth to men all good things. A man or woman who receives praises and fails to return them to God is sinfully proud and arrogant. It is wrong to seek the praises of men more than the praises of God (John 12:43). God must come first! Does God praise our works? Does God praise our attitude, our spirit, our intentions, our ways? Seek God's praises!!!
The Bible teaches that God created the stars for mankind, as lights in the night sky, and to show us the seasons and signs (Genesis 1:14).
Can you imagine a Being so powerful, that He could simply speak and a universe could come into existence? And so it is...
2nd Peter 3:4-9, “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
What precious Scriptures! The New Testament Epistle of 2nd Peter addresses the question of "WHEN" will Jesus Christ return as He so promised? There are numerous passages of Scriptures, two such passages are John 14:1-2 and John 16:22. There are many more where the Lord promised to return for His saints. The Apostle Peter, speaking under inspiration as God's pen, tells us that God is waiting for men to repent (Verse 9).
I believe the Lord is going to return when the gospel is no longer being preached and the world, as it was in the days of Noah, will not listen anymore (Matthew 24:37-39). The people ate, drank, married and partied; but forgot about God entirely. Noah preached Christ's righteousness for 120-years but no one listened to the gospel. Only Noah and his immediate family (8 souls) stepped onto the ark. The world perished and went to Hell.
As more corrupt Bibles are published, and as homosexuals and wicked people corrupt the truth of God into a lie, and as men sell their souls to the New World Order... Jesus said...
“...Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).
