“To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
(Isaiah 40:25-26 NIV)
Why is the universe so big and what’s the purpose of our huge universe, some of which lies beyond our exploration?
How Big Is the Universe?
The reigning scientific paradigm for the universe’s existence is that it popped into being at the Big Bang, and from that initial explosion, the materials produced have been impelled far away. How far? Scientists currently estimate that the edge of the universe is over 46 billion light years from earth in any direction, or roughly 93 billion light years in diameter. And it is growing larger every day.
Where Did the Universe Come From?
Contrary to the idea that the universe popped into being by itself, the Bible teaches that God made the universe by speaking it into existence through his powerful word. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth . . . And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:1, 3 NIV).
The universe exists because God made it. The finite universe exists because an infinite God created it. And if an intelligent Designer created it, then it must have purpose and meaning.
Why Did God Make the Universe?
The Bible tells us that we also have meaning and purpose, not just as participants in God’s created universe, but uniquely, as image bearers of God (Genesis 1:27). But why would God place us humans on a tiny planet in a vast, expansive universe? The Bible gives us an answer to that question, too.
Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV) says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
The psalmist writes that the purpose of the universe is to bring God glory. When we look at what God has made, his creation reveals something about him. Everywhere we look, we see the fingerprints of God. God made the universe as one means among many to reveal to us his awesomeness.
Counting the Stars
The stars are just one part of our universe that help us grasp its incredible expansiveness. One evening try to get away from city lights and look into the sky on a clear night. You’ll only be able to see about 3 to 4,000 stars with a naked eye. Life on earth was that way up until 1609 when Galileo perfected the telescope and we could then see roughly 30,000 stars. But as scientific research progressed, we were able to see more and more stars in space.
Today, scientists estimate there are 1025 stars in the universe. That number looks like this: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. If we had a supercomputer that could count 10 billion stars per second, it would take the computer over 30 million years to count that many stars!
What does a universe so expansive say about the One who made it? This brings us to our opening verses from Isaiah. The prophet tells us that the universe reveals God’s “great power and mighty strength” (Isaiah 40:26 NIV). Not only does the universe tell us that God is great enough to create it, but it also speaks of his incredible intelligence and ingenuity.
The apostle Paul says something similar about creation: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 NIV).
You Can Know This Creator
Incredibly, we can all know this Creator in a personal way. Not only did God reveal himself through his creation, but he also revealed himself through his Word, the Scriptures, and through the Living Word, his Son, Jesus Christ. Incredibly, Jesus says that through faith in him we can know our Maker as our Father and share a loving relationship with him (John 1:14).
Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3 NIV). We can know the God who lives in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16 NIV). God’s Son revealed to us how to have a relationship with his Father, and through his death and resurrection made it possible for us to have a loving relationship with God.
So, the next time you look up into the sky and out into that vast, massive space, think about the powerful God who made it. And consider how that powerful God condescended to become man in Jesus Christ, and to die for your sins, so that if you believe in him, you might be saved from his judgment, reconciled to him and have the hope of spending eternity with him in the new heavens and new earth (John 3:16).