It’s fascinating to think that the universe as we know it had a beginning. It actually came from nothing!
Yes, let me say it again. Out of nothing, came all of the mountains you see around you, the world in all its magnificence and all the stars you see in the evening sky, and galaxies beyond. Therefore, it means the universe had a starting point.
Mainstream cosmologists and astrophysicists alike are largely totally in agreement with this scientific fact. Just do a google search right now as I did. Type in ‘did the universe come from nothing’ and straight away prominent, reputed publications will appear from the scientific community confirming that everything began with a big bang.
Now do a Wikipedia search on ‘Arno Allan Penzias,’ who in 1965 used his device to pick up lingering cosmic background radiation from the universe again proving the big bang account. The universe began from a singular point from nothing!
Did you know that God’s word in Genesis in the bible has been saying this all along?
The bible confirms scientific discovery that ‘something came from nothing’
Interestingly, what took science till the twentieth century to prove, the bible confirmed thousands of years prior, in Genesis chapter 1. It says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” There plainly was a beginning point.
And in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, it plainly says the universe came from nothing in the eleventh chapter saying, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
Interestingly, earlier in the nineteenth century the great mathematician Albert Einstein had struggled to accept his own ground-breaking theory of ‘general relativity’ when it appeared to confirm a finite universe. This was because a finite universe pointed to a creator; his atheism blinded his progress!
Einstein famously proved that E = mC2. In other words, “Energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared.” So, for mass or the universe to come into existence there must have been a vast amount energy released. The astrophysicist is confronted with the question where did the energy come from to produce the mass?
Again, God’s word in Jeremiah gives light: “But God made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding, he stretched out the heavens.” God’s word states that God created all by his power. God released the energy.
Interestingly, this verse also captures the big bang, expanding universe phenomenon saying, God ‘stretched’ out the heavens!
Wouldn’t it be better if we believed the divinely inspired word of God first, so it aided the pursuit of profitable scientific discovery rather than suppressing the truth? I believe Sir Isaac Newton, a devout Christian, and greatest scientist in history, would say Amen to that!
There are implications in believing a created universe
Importantly, when we accept the foundational story of creation in the bible, especially from Genesis chapters 1 - 3 many things about life and existence become clear:
1/ Imagine the impact on wars, greed and exploitation if all people realised, we are accountable to our creator, Genesis says, “In the image of God he created them…”
2/ Consider the ease to which global warming could be addressed and solved given we received God command in Genesis, “tend and cultivate,” care for your land.
3/ Imagine the impact on human suffering and injustice, given people embrace Genesis; we realise we are all called to be our “brother’s keeper.”
4/ What if the trend to exceed the human and become transhuman was curbed, since people were simply contented with themselves knowing Genesis says, “in the image of God he created them.”
5/ How about the impact on our sense of identity, mental well-being, and social order if we believed our maker from Genesis which says, “male and he created them…be fruitful and multiply.”
6/ Imagine a renewed social order without impoverishment if humanity accepted that human life far exceeds the value of any animal or other part of creation; in Genesis God created man saying, “it is very good.”
7/ What if we all saw work as something good that God gives for human beings to thrive and be productive, so we can bless others. In Genesis, God commanded and empowered man to “work the ground” in the newly formed, perfect world.
8/ What if people were not so obsessed with sex for gratification, but primarily to enable a blessed committed union in marriage, to raise a strong family. Genesis says, “a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they become one flesh.”
9/ Now imagine multiple professions like psychology and others accepting Genesis as truth, leading to positive reforms for the great betterment of humanity?
God’s word has the answers
Given the immense value of Genesis, why don’t more people see the possibilities?
Instead of becoming philosophical trying to explain what we can’t fully understand, let’s return to faith in God’s word which has the answers!
Jesus is God’s word in the flesh; he said, “I am the way.” The gospel of John records, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind...He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”