Lately, I have been having some overwhelming moments thinking about how big God is. What he is capable of. Who he is. And it takes my breath away to know I will be seeing him face to face one day. It takes my breath away just knowing that I am actually carrying on a pretty intense relationship with him these days right here on earth. At times, it actually makes me shudder. But in a good way. Just as my fear of the Lord is in a good way.

I am very big on believing in God based on creation alone. Just thinking that among hundreds of billions of galaxies, we are situated in just one — the Milky Way — which has over 200 billion stars alone. We are spinning around at 1,000 miles per hour each day while rotating around the sun, which is a mere 93 million miles away. However, you’d never know it because we are spinning and moving right along with it. And with the help of (miraculous) gravity, our feet are planted on solid, steady ground. We are so very unphased at the magnitude of energy taking place all around us. The sun is so large, over one million of our earths could fit inside of it. And even though so far away, with the speed of light travelling at 186,287 miles per second, it only takes a little over eight minutes for sunlight to awaken us at dawn. To me, that’s just mind-blowing.

God’s Word on creation, documented in the very first verse of the Bible, is the first remarkable evidence of supernatural authorship. The universe:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

In the beginning (TIME) God created the heavens (SPACE) and the earth (MATTER).

For thousands of years scientists speculated about the components of the universe.  It wasn’t until the 20th century that physicists confirmed the universe and it’s foundation consist of none other than time, space and matter. A scientifically-accepted fact not understood until the 20th century was clearly foreseen in the very first verse of the Bible. How could the writer of Genesis have known about this scientific evidence that couldn’t even be confirmed until two thousand years later?

Then, there is earth itself — the only planet circling our sun on which life as we know it could (and does) exist. Some form of life is virtually in every single ecological niche on the earth’s surface. If we were any further from the sun, all life would cease to exist.  If we were any closer to the sun, again, all life would cease to exist. And no matter how hard scientists have tried to find it, to this day there is no evidence of life found on any other planet. Telescope, after bigger and better telescope, after bigger and better, more powerful telescope, etc. The latest Hubble can see up to 15 billion light years away. Among all of those trillions of orbs, I’d say we are a very special and spectacular planet.

On earth, we have about 8.7 million species — the human being as one of those species. The population of the human race has just recently reached 7 billion.

Who are we in light of all this?  Every single one of us in our extreme uniqueness — why did God create us? We seem so small and microscopic to be blessed with such enormous, cosmic beauty and mystery surrounding us. This is where I get knocked out by God’s power.  And more so, where I get knocked out by his love.  And then realizing his story of love literally begins in the very first verse of the Bible.

So, why did he create us? God created us for his pleasure and so that we, as his creation, would have the pleasure of knowing him.

You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased. (Revelation 4:11)

For those who don’t know, you may wonder where Jesus was at the beginning. Rest assured, he too has always been there from the start; before the beginning of creation.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” (Genesis 1:26)

And another passage (one of my very favorites), explains it even better starting with the first verse in the book of John:

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1-5)

In closing, God is love (1 John 4:8) and because of that love and his wonderful creativity, he made us so we can enjoy all that he is and all that he’s done. And though a mystery, God created us to fulfill his eternal plan. In his infinite wisdom, he chose to make each and every one of us a part of that eternal plan.

Knowing this puts my life into perspective.

Holding fast,

Lori

This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

 

^{Photography by Grant McIver}