Ever Heard of It?

[Philip]

I was just musing over the stunning array of what God has created across our universe. So I thought I'd post some fascinating reminders of it. When we look up at the night sky, it's an extraordinary sight. But our eyes alone can't really do the view justice, or fathom the scale of the universe. Gazing at it, I'm always reminded of Psalm 19:

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above[a] proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard."

Ever hear of UY Scuti - well, that's probably because she needs a better PR agent. It's currently considered the largest star in our Milky Way Galaxy - it's 1,000 times bigger than our Sun (also a star), is 1,700 times greater in diameter, and over 100,000 times more luminous than it! The Milky Way itself has a radius of a staggering 129,000 light-years! The Milky Way is currently thought to contain 200 to 400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets. And the entire universe is thought to contain 100 to 200 billion galaxies. So, how small do you feel now???!!!






Our galaxy, The Milky Way:







Look at just a "few" of the galaxies in a composite image of just one section of the sky, taken by the Hubble Telescope!

[Philip]

As a followup, it occurs to me that many Christians may not realize that their are TWO key revelations about God - Scripture is the most descriptive and the revelation from the Creation (or the "General Revelation") is a second one, which brings us an endless array of new knowledge every year, through the many scientific studies and observation of its components. But what most may not realize is, the revelation God gave us from what He has created across the universe and world are SO powerful and important, that the Apostle Paul tells us to deny God's existence while having this second testimony means they are "without excuse" / Romans 1:18-20) for denying Him (in other words, will be separated from Him for all eternity!) - EVEN IF they never (pre-Christ) had the Old Testament teachings or (post Christ) the New Testament. And, God's two revelations of Himself are in perfect sync - they show His truths in non-contradictory ways, but via different types of testimony (one written, the other from nature / the heavens). Of course, we don't always perfectly understand the revelation God gave us from the Creation.

Consider the ongoing time span and breath of God's revelation of Himself to mankind through the "knowledge" Psalm 19 tells us it sends:

ALL over the earth God's creation gives evidence of Himself: "Their voice goes out through all the earth...'

And they will do so until the present earth and time end: "...and their words to the end of the world."