The universe is amazing. Its overall vastness is overwhelming. Think about it: if a person travelled at the speed of light (671,000,000 miles per hr), then they could cross our galaxy, the Milky Way, in 100,000 years. What is even more incomprehensible is the fact the universe contains a minimum of a billion other galaxies. The scale of space and time within the cosmos is really unfathomable.
On the other hand, there is Earth. The rock planet we human beings call home is a mere speck in our galaxy; not even visible once you get to the outer region of our “small” solar system. In comparison to the universe as a whole, the planet seems rather insignificant. However, it is anything but ordinary. Rather it is the most remarkable celestial body within the entire universe. Why?
Did you realize NASA has been searching for the existence of life in space for over 100 years. There has been zero, nada, and zilch findings to suggest life has ever existed anywhere else. There are so many forces required to merge at precisely the correct degrees in order for life to, not only exist, but survive, that it seems exceedingly unlikely, if not impossible, to have it by chance alone. This is what scientists refer to as the Fine Tuning Theory (sometimes called the Goldilocks principle). As Freeman Dyson commented, “…the Universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” For life to exist at all in the universe seems, scientifically, nothing short of a miracle.
Now let’s look at the dominant life form in the universe, human beings. From the 125,000 hairs (or inactive hair follicles for our bald friends) on our heads to the billion neurons in our brains which make software of iPhones seem simple, the human being is a complex species. From just a biological standpoint, we are, similar to the universe, pretty amazing. Human beings are amazing creatures, but are we significant? Are we miraculously evolved lifeforms within a universe seemingly hostile to life, or are we special?
Dr. Stephen Hawking once stated “Many people find the universe confusing – it’s not.” Despite our different beliefs, I agree with the late-physicist’s comment. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). “So God made man in His own image…He created them male and female” (Gen 1:27). This is the truth; it’s what we observe here on Earth and out in the heavens. God is what connects the dots of the vast universe to the existence of life on Earth to the morality and justice of humanity. God is what gives mankind meaning and significance. Without God, the dots do not connect; it all just falls apart.
Voltaire famously said of mankind, “Tormented atoms in a bed of mud, devoured by death, a mockery of fate.” To see the world as he did, with the denial of God, leads not to freedom or peace, but to hopelessness and meaninglessness of life. In contrast, Jesus Christ said “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life“ (John 3:16). This is why Jesus was born, died, and was raised back to life: love and hope and meaning in life.
What I find most awesome of all is that God cares for both the big stuff and the smaller stuff. He not only “determines the number of the stars and calls them by name” (Psalm 147:4), but loves to know each of us well enough to have numbered the hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30). God is the key to finding meaning and understanding in both the cosmos and the hairs of your head.
“For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).
