What is more awesome than the 4th of July fireworks? I submit, the stars and galaxies on display on any clear night. Are you a star gazer or known as a junior astronomer? I’m not but I am a star amazer! I don’t have a telescope yet or even a big pair of binoculars, but I am amazed by how big the starry space is. I did go to an observatory once where I saw the stars up close for the first time and I saw the actual craters on the moon! The craters look like the Rocky Mountains that got hit by big balls causing round pits in the rocks. Let me share some awesome star facts.
What is the biggest number you can imagine? Is it a thousand, million, billion, trillion! How about this one: There are 300 sextillion stars. That’s a 3 with 23 zeroes behind it. Take a paper and put a 3 with 23 zeroes behind it and you will get a cramp! That is the number of stars in what is called “the observable universe.” We have no idea how vast the entire “universe” is since we have not found the end of it!
The distance planet Earth is from the edge of the visible universe is about 45.7 gigalight-years in every direction. One gigalight-year, abbreviation “GLY,” is one billion light-years in any direction. One single light-year is 6 trillion miles in any direction. That means the distance to the edge of the visible universe is about 274.2 billion trillion miles in every diection! Psalms 19:1 declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handywork.”
Another amazing fact is walls of galaxies too dense to even count even with our most advanced star gazing equipment. TOO MANY STARS TO COUNT! We used to know only of the CfA2 Great Wall Supercluster of galaxies, which contain several galactic superclusters. Then we discovered the Sloan Great Wall (SGW) which is 2.74 times longer or bigger than CfA2 and is formed by a giant wall of star galaxies measuring 1.38 billion light-years in length. It is located approximately one billion light-years from Earth.
Is your mind boggled yet? Has this stuff blown your socks off? The heavens “declare the glory of God,” yet man tries to minimize the majesty which belongs to God by theories of creation that exclude Him, but God just continues to show His glory to man anyway. I don’t have time to share on reverse spinning galaxies and other facts that fly in the face of a big bang theory but a couple more star facts will astound you.
The newest super star cluster is the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall Complex discovered in November 2013. It is an immense superstructure of galaxies that measures more than 10 billion light-years in length (4 times bigger than SGW) and is the most massive structure known in the observable universe. Astronomers realize a typical galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars each (not 100 billion), and there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe that were able to be counted. Many galaxy clusters are so massive and close, we can’t divide them enough to count them! A 2010 star count estimate was 300 sextillion (3 × 1023) in the observable universe but there are so many more, they are beyond numbering because we are not to the end of the stars yet.
The question that begs for an answer is: “Where did all these new stars come from?” Well, they were always there since spoken into existence by God. However, they were beyond our ability to know about them and see them until now! With all this in mind, how can we be sure of all facts about space and its Creator; since it is beyond our understanding? We must go to the author of space, time, and us for the answer! Here are a few facts to consider:
1). With the number of verifiable stars and the vast expanse of the universe; the existence of a God, greater than the stars and creation itself, is irrefutable. Isaiah 40:26 says, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their starry host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; not one is missing.”
2). The largest measuring device known to mankind, the gigalightyear is minor to the vastness of space and awesomeness of the Creator.
3). We have limited abilities; and the more we learn, the more we discover more of our world. But God already knows about the things we are just discovering because He created them for us. Why did God make the vastness of space? To show His majesty and so we could say, “Wow, awesome, unbelievable!
4). Man’s inability to even see all of space and grasp it all is similar to our inability to “measure up” to what God expects of us. It is impossible without God’s help. Impossible.
How do we “measure up” and become right in God’s family? God’s Word, in whatever form, is God’s only guaranteed standard. The form it comes in may be the printed page, electronic, cinematic, audio, or shared verbally by people from memory. No matter. God’s Word has the same impact. Whether it is the Written Word (Holy Bible) or the Living Word (Jesus Christ), we are accountable to God in whatever form He reveals Himself; because He is the spiritual measuring stick.
It is by God’s grace the penalty of sin is paid in full by Christ on the cross. The promise in 1 Peter 3:18 states, “Christ suffered and died once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (the entire world of people including YOU specifically)! Our part is “to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we shall be saved” (Acts 16:31, John 1:12). That is very easy for us, though Christ’s completed work on the cross for us was not easy for Him. It was made easy enough so all people, including you, can enter His kingdom. John 3:16, the most recognized and memorized verse in the Bible, “For God so loved the world (of people) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:17-18 is an example of God’s awesome grace and mercy when God declares, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not stands condemned already because they did not believe in the name of God’s one and only Son.” To “measure up” to God’s standard is to personally believe in the finished work of Christ.
MEMORY HOOK EDUCATION uses everyday items as well as awesome ventriloquist puppetry and mind boggling interactive sleight of hand magic to share biblical and life skill lessons. Due to space limitations, check out MandMTeam.com and MemoryHookEducation.com web sites for more information on this and other trainings. Your comments, added illustrations and applications would be appreciated as well!
