200,000,000,000 Galaxies

I have visited the Adler Planetarium in Chicago on several occasions. Each time I visit, I am more and more amazed at the complexity and awesomeness of God's handiwork in creation. I distinctly remember watching one of the space shows and learning that there are an estimated mind-boggling 50,000,000,000 galaxies in the universe (that number as of 2016 is now 200,000,000,000 galaxies). Scientists so far have discovered 500 solar systems just within our own Milky Way galaxy.^[1] 

In the year 2018 the James Webb telescope is scheduled to launch, which will travel 1,000,000 miles from earth, operate in temperatures of absolute zero (-459.6 Fahrenheit) and then transmit images back to NASA. Astronomers are anticipating that over 1,000,000,000,000 galaxies will be discovered! Wow! God is truly amazing!!!

The Bible says that God created the heavens and the stars on the forth day of creation. To think that a being could merely speak so many galaxies into existence in one day is a scary thought. Who is this being? Do you mean to tell me that a being called "God" merely SPOKE the universe into existence? Yes, that is exactly right!

"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:" (2 Peter 3:5). 

God, by the Word of His own mouth, spoke the universe into existence.  

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:1-3). 

Jesus Christ is the Word that spoke the universe into existence.  All things were created by Jesus Christ, Who is God Almighty.  Jesus merely SPOKE 50,000,000,000 galaxies into existence.  

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also" (Genesis 1:14-16).

I was amazed to learn that so many galaxies are in existence. Even more amazing is just how big the universe is... no one knows! Our own Milky-Way galaxy is so gigantic that it would take 1,000 lifetimes traveling at the speed of light to cross it one time. That's 186,282 miles per second for 70,000 years (that's 70,000 light years). Can you comprehend such a truth?  Now try to realize that there are an estimated 49,999,999,999 galaxies more remaining. These truths are so far beyond the human scope of thought that one would be a complete fool not to believe in God.  Psalm 14:1 says that only a fool denies God's existence.

Did you know that the nearest star to the earth is 4.6 light years away? Traveling at the speed of light (186,282 miles per second), one light-year is exactly equal to 5,874,589,152,000 miles! That's a lot of traveling in just ONE YEAR! So with the nearest star to our earth being a mere 4.6 light years away, it amounts to just a tad over 27 trillion miles away. Wow!!! How often have you looked up in the night sky and saw multitudes of stars?  Probably more than you could ever possibly count (unless you live in the city). Did you ever stop to realize that the nearest star (Alpha Centauri) is 27,000,000,000,000 miles away? Do you know that there are ONLY 20 stars within 70 trillion miles of the earth? (not including our own sun of course). That's astounding to say the least. Out of the 100,000,000,000 stars just within our own Milky-Way galaxy alone, there are only 20 stars within 12 light-years of our earth (within 70,000,000,000,000 miles).  

I saw another display at the planetarium that really made me appreciate God's handiwork and omnipotence. There was a little model of our solar system with the sun and planets. It was an interactive display where you had to set the course of the sun and planets. You simply would click and drag the planets one at a time to where you thought they should be and then let go. You had the task of properly balancing the sun and planets. The larger planets, having the larger masses, needed to be placed farther from the sun or else gravity would suck them right into a crash course. Smaller planets, such as mercury, had to be placed nearer the sun to avoid spinning out of the solar system. Sound easy? I couldn't do it! You also had to be careful to place the appropriately sized planets on the opposite sides of the sun. If you didn't, they collided very quickly. 

If the planets were placed improperly, the sun left it's orbit. Everything had to be balanced perfectly or else all the different strength gravities would cause havoc. I realized from that small model of the universe that many, many forces were at work and needed to be balanced for everything to work.  Could all this just happen? There is no way possible friend. The universe has a logical order to it. If you saw a beautiful clock and asked who made it, you'd think me insane if I said, "It just happened." The universe has an order to it, it rotates. You'd be a dumb fool to deny the existence of a divine Creator.  

Think about it, where did all this come from? Do you really believe the BIG BANG theory? It is just a theory you know. Do you really believe that everything in the universe started with a super-compressed particle of mass the size of a pin-head? Ok, then where did that particle come from?  There is no logical answer other than God. 

How big is the universe? Where does it end? If it's ever-expanding, then what lies beyond the outer limits? Again, the only logical answer is God. Can the universe have an end? If so, can "nothing" exist beyond that point?  How can "nothing" exist? There is only one answer friend, God.

If you believe in God, then you must ask yourself, "Has this being (God) tried to communicate with humanity?" If so, do you think God would trust corrupt religion to do so? There are thousands of religions; do you think God would leave us at the mercy of trying to figure out which one is telling us the truth? Only a complete fool would believe that all religions lead to God. The Catholics teach that Baptists are going to hell. The Baptists teach that the Catholics are going to hell. Islamic Muslims teach that Baptist and Catholics are going to Hell. Who is right? Do you think God relies upon sinful humans to reveal Himself to the rest of humanity? Friend, you had better look to God's Word! 

Then again, there are hundreds of perverted bibles available throughout the world today; Which Bible is God's True Word? The answer is the 1611 King James Bible. How do I know? Because of have searched high and low for the truth. I have analyzed religion for over 20 years of my life. The main reason I know is because I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when I was 13 years old. I became a born-again believer. I placed my trust in Jesus because of the precious blood that He shed and applied to the mercy-seat in heaven for my sins. My faith is 100% in Christ alone, apart from ALL good works. This is how I know that I have found the truth, because Jesus is the Truth and He lives within my heart.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). 

If you want to find the truth, then you need Jesus Christ, for He is the Truth.  He is the one Who spoke 50,000,000,000 galaxies into existence. It is Jesus alone Who can cleanse your heart of all sin and write your name in heaven. It is Jesus alone Who can give you the peace of God and the riches of heaven. All you need to do is call upon Jesus in prayer and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and save you. Make the decision now to trust Christ 100%, apart from all else for salvation.  Admit your a sinner, deserving of hell-fire. Believing that Jesus is Almighty God, Who came in the flesh to die on a cross, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, Who was buried and rose again 3 days later for your sins and mine... trust him alone to save you. 

In Jesus' precious name, David