By Van Yandell
Job 26:7 “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.”
When hearing the word “glory,” many of us immediately think of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
In Romans 6:23, glory refers to God’s righteousness. We, being human captives-of-the-flesh beings, cannot be righteous on our own. Only by the blood of our precious Savior Jesus can we become righteous in a spiritual sense.
1 John 1:7 “We are cleansed by His blood.” Eternal salvation is a faith based (Ephesians 2:8-9) belief in Christ Jesus crucified (Matthew 27:35), for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38) and resurrected (Matthew 28:6).
Glory can only be His. Jesus on earth was God in the flesh (John 1:14). All things are by Him and for Him. He was/is the Creator (John 1:3).
There are many ways in which we may appreciate the glory of God. To observe His creation (Genesis 1:1) is one of those ways. To witness His creation is many times seen in a picture or painting. To view a mountain scene, the ocean or a landscape is a first-hand witnessing of God’s glory.
One of my favorite observations is a clear night sky. The moon and the stars are indeed a demonstration of His greatest handiwork. To see the moon move, to watch the sun rise over an ocean and to see stars that are hundreds of light years away tell me He is alive and all is well.
Seeing a satellite pass over is to observe God’s glory in the genius of His great creation (Genesis 1:27), that of mankind. A “falling star (meteorite) proves He is in control of the universe (Jeremiah 33:22).
Matthew 10:30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” God knows every molecule, every atom and every speck of knowledge lodged within our minds. His magnitude is without comprehension. Yet millions try to match wits with Him and they are destined to miserably fail.
To consider Him and His universe is beyond understanding. The enormity of His masterpiece is beyond words and human comprehension.
We, however, also fail to realize that His work is in constant motion. He created the universe in motion. Galaxies are constantly swirling. The stars and their solar systems are in orbit around the center of the galaxies.
Astronomers tell us the universe is continually expanding. The outer galaxies are speeding away from the center. Many believe this proves the universe began by what is called The Big Bang. In one-billionth of a second (at the big bang), the universe became billions of light years across but nothing theoretically can travel faster than the speed of light.Instantaneous creation by a Creator has been verified (Genesis 1:1).
Spontaneous generation can only be possible by a higher spiritual power; a Creator (Colossians 1:16). The second law of thermodynamics states order always devolves into chaos and chaos can never evolve into order. To expect a junk pile to turn into a new car would be considered foolish. Science actually verifies intelligent design and creation.
We live in the Milky Way galaxy. It is 100,000 light years across. If we could travel at the speed of light, 186,282 miles per second, it would take 100,000 years to cross this one galaxy. Astronomers estimate after the placing of the Hubble and James Webb telescopes in space, there are over 200 billion galaxies in the universe and some are even stating numbers in trillions.
At creation, God set the movements of the moons, planets, suns/stars, and galaxies in motion. The exacting speeds and spins determine gravity which holds them in place. The size of the celestial bodies is also a determining factor in gravitational forces and those also were surely established by a higher power.
Our solar system (sun and the planets) is in a perfect balanced orbit around the galaxy. We are traveling through the Milky Way at a speed of 800,000 kilometers per hour (514,000 miles per hour). At that speed, it takes 230 million years for our sun and planets to make one orbit of the galaxy.
The moon at an average of 240,000 miles from earth is perfectly timed at the speed of 2288 miles per hour to sustain its orbit. Changing the distance from the earth or slowing it down would cause it to fall. This perfect timing has been maintained for millions of years.
It amazes me that millions of people believe these perfect speeds, distances and sizes that are so precisely balanced happened by accident or coincidentally. Could perfect synchronization happens by chance?
Our earth is also constantly in motion (Isaiah 40:22). The orbit around the sun and the rotational factor that determines day from night is obvious. There is also an inner turmoil that is constantly redesigning the planet under our feet. Earthquakes and volcanoes around the world are reshaping our world both on the surface and underneath.
In addition our atmosphere is also in constant motion (Ecclesiastes 1:6). The winds provide a cooling breeze, provide power for generating electricity, bring us rain, move and reshape the clouds. The beauty of the clouds is one of the greatest visible effects of our God in motion. The shapes and colors are the envy of every artist that has taken a brush to canvas.
Even the blood flowing through our veins is God’s creation in motion (Leviticus 17:11). Our blood pumps through our bodies in thirty to forty-five seconds. We have over 60,000 miles of veins, arteries and capillaries that feed oxygen and nutrients to our thirty-trillion cells.
Our hearts will beat two and one-half billion beats in an average lifetime and pump enough blood to fill a super tanker.
Our bodies have a central nervous system that is in motion. We have 15 billion brain cells that store every bit of knowledge we have ever been exposed to. They store our experiences, emotions and preferences.
Electrical connections between our brain cells are constantly moving. These connections and disconnections called synapses join the eighty-six billion neurons and electrically connect and disconnect at a speed nearing light’s speed. We wonder why our brains won’t let us sleep some nights. Maybe those synapses do not want to turn off.
From the movement of growing grass and other plants to the speed of light, God’s universe is constantly in motion. The moving clouds, birds in flight and the flow of the world’s rivers are clearly a demonstration of His glory.
The last words spoken by our Jesus before ascending into Heaven provided us with a commandment. “Go ye therefore,” requires movement and was not a suggestion.
We are HIS hands, feet and voices here on earth (Isaiah 52:7). Telling others about the amazing power of God and salvation by a faith based belief in Christ Jesus is a privilege. When we miss the blessing of sharing the gospel we are cheating ourselves and missing one of the greatest gifts from God (Acts 1:8).
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary, from Fredonia.
