Biblical Concept: God’s Universe

Prologue: ^NASRomans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ^NASEcclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

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(Underlines and parentheses are mine.)

^NASPsalm 19:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

^NASPsalm 97:6 The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory. (The size and diverse beauty of the heavens demonstrate that God is good / righteous. See Genesis 1:31.)

^NASGenesis 1:16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.

^NASGenesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.

^NASColossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (See SHOW ME GOD, pp. 196-197 and 200-202.)

^NAS2 Peter 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

^NASHebrews 1:10 And, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands;

^NASPsalm 8:3 When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

^NASPsalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.

^NASPsalm 50:6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.

^NASPsalm 89:11 The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; The world and all it contains, Thou hast founded them.

^NASPsalm 96:5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.

^NASPsalm 102:25 "Of old Thou didst found the earth; And the heavens are the work of Thy hands.

^NASPsalm 136:5 To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

^NAS1 Chronicles 16:26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.

^NASNehemiah 9:6 "Thou alone art the LORD. Thou hast made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. Thou dost give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before Thee.

^NASPsalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.

^NASPsalm 148:3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.

^NASProverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens.

^NASIsaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance, And the hills in a pair of scales?

^NASIsaiah 40:22 It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

^NASIsaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power Not one of them is missing.

^NASIsaiah 42:5 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk in it,

^NASIsaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone,

^NASIsaiah 45:12 "It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, And I ordained all their host.

^NASIsaiah 45:18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, But formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.

^NASIsaiah 48:13 "Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.

^NASIsaiah 51:13 That you have forgotten the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens, And laid the foundations of the earth; That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, As he makes ready to destroy? But where is the fury of the oppressor?

^NASIsaiah 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.

^NASIsaiah 66:22 "For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "So your offspring and your name will endure.

^NASJeremiah 10:12 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

^NASJeremiah 32:17 'Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee,

^NASJeremiah 51:15 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.

^NASZechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him,

^NASRevelation 10:6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there shall be delay no longer,

^NAS1 Corinthians 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^NASJob 22:12 "Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!

^NASJob 38:33 "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

^NAS2 Peter 3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

^NAS2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

^NAS2 Peter 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

^NAS2 Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Universe Scientific Observations:

The universe is 13.7 billion years old (based on observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation), composed of 73 percent dark energy, 23 percent cold dark matter, and only 4 percent atoms, is currently expanding at the rate of 71 km/sec/Mpc

(accurate to 5 percent), underwent episodes of rapid expansion called inflation, and will expand forever.

Our Sun is revolving around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at a speed of half a million miles per hour, yet it will still take 200 million years for it to go around once.

The Andromeda galaxy, closest to earth, is 2.5 million light years from earth. One light year is calculated by traveling 186,262 miles per second for a year.

Our Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light years across.

The Local Group is the group of galaxies that includes our galaxy, the Milky Way. The group comprises over 35 galaxies, with its gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxies of the Local Group cover a 10 million light-year diameter. The group itself is one of many within the Virgo Supercluster (i.e. the Local Supercluster). The two most massive members of the group are the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. These two barred spirals each have a system of satellite galaxies.

There appear to be more than 100 billion (10¹¹) galaxies in the observable universe. NASA: We believe that there are on the order of 10²¹ stars in our Universe. If you write that number out, it looks like this: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. This is a lot of stars!

Observational data suggests that super massive black holes may exist at the center of many, if not all, galaxies.

Observable matter (there is probably more matter we cannot see) suggests that the universe’s diameter is at least 93 billion light years, or 880 ×10²⁴ (that is to say, 880 followed by twenty-four zeroes) meters.

Scientists theorize that space stretches to account for the apparent paradox that two galaxies can be 40 billion light years apart, although they started from the same point 13.7 billion years ago and never moved faster than the speed of light.

Science has observed a fine tuned universe: See THE CREATOR AND THE COSMOS, chapter: A “JUST RIGHT” UNIVERSE, pp. 118ff.