The photograph above - voted by scientists as the best among the thousands of space photographs taken by the Hubble telescope - pictures The Sombrero Galaxy. This galaxy, also called M104, is 28 million light years from Earth. That means if you began today traveling toward the galaxy at the speed of light, it would take you 28 million years to reach it. Though the photograph makes Sombrero seem small, it actually has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across, which means it has eight times more stars than our own Milky Way galaxy and stretches half the distance across space than that of the Milky Way (which is approximately 100,000 light years across).
When one considers that M104 is only one of 500 billion galaxies in the known universe (we are not sure about that which we do not know), it makes earth seem quite small. And from a scientific standpoint, our world is tiny. In fact, for anyone in our modern day to call the earth the center of the universe would be a statement that invites ridicule.
But in a very real sense the earth is the center of the universe. It is the very spot upon which God chose to create man. It is upon Earth that God condescended and walked among His creation and revealed Himself to those who otherwise would be unable to comprehend Him. It is upon this planet we call Earth - in this comparatively small galaxy we call Milky Way - that the God-man chose to die, and rise again. In the salvation of those who have sinned against Him, God brings glory to Himself. These soteriological events convince me that earth is, in reality, the center of God's universe.
I wish each of my friends in the center of the universe a wonderful Lord's Day as we celebrate our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In His Grace,
Wade
12 comments:
So Copernicus did get it wrong! Or did he? After all the universe does revolve around the Son..right? :-)
Blessing on this Easter Sunday.
"This galaxy, also called M104, is 28 million light years from Earth. That means if you began today traveling toward the galaxy at the speed of light, it would take you 28 million years to reach it."
Kinda makes a case for a very old earth, does it not?
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/index.shtml#young_earth_vs_old_earth
http://www.amazon.com/Biblical-Case-Old-Earth/dp/0801066190
Happy Easter!
Anonymous,
When God said "Light" there is the very real possiblity he created light in transition as well as light propelled. In other words, when He created the chicken He created it mature, so too, the universe, the stars, the galaxies, etc . . .
It's a possibility, and if it is, then the universe is not necessarily old.
I agree with your argument. Doesn't the Bible say that God uses the simple things to confound the wise? If you had met Adam and Eve three days after they were created, and asked them how old they were, they would have said, "three days." You would say, "No way! You've got to be at least 35 years old." Sometimes, appearances can be deceiving.
Anyway, my kids are the center of the universe. I know, because they told me.
Jasonk,
You’re right on! I think I read this somewhere, (but if not; paraphrased by me) when Eve was 3 minutes old, he said, Wow!
Rex Ray
O how vast the mind of God
And unsearchable His ways
Merely man, small and frail
Yet fully in His grace
what? you mean that tn is not the center of the universe? of course, you would all be wrong to say different! tn is definitely the center of the universe. i travelled from one end of the state to the other last week on vacation. what a beautiful state! :)
also, i agree with wade and the others who said that God could have made things already as they are. i believe wade called the light already in transition as well as propelled. adam and eve were created full grown as well....adam looked at her and said, "wow, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!" or, put into tn language, "goodness gracious, that looks good!"
so, the earth is probably no older than 8,000 years...really no need to think that it's any older.
we had a great resurrection sunday.....we will be observing the Lord's Supper tonite. hope you all had a great day of worship.
david
Wade Burleson said
"When God said "Light" there is the very real possiblity he created light in transition as well as light propelled. In other words, when He created the chicken He created it mature, so too, the universe, the stars, the galaxies, etc . . .It's a possibility, and if it is, then the universe is not necessarily old."
I don’t necessarily disagree, but for what purpose other than to make man think the Universe is old when in reality it isn’t? To me an “apparent age” theory is a sort of deception. Did God create Adam with a memory of a non existent past?
If a “literal” approach to Genesis is a must then how can you have mornings and evenings or 24 hour days if the sun isn’t created till the fourth day? In order to have a literal morning or a literal 24 hour day don’t you have to have a literal sun?
Genesis is a fascinating book with multiple possibilities that I believe modern Christianity has overlooked. Could God have created the universe in the traditional 7 day view? Yes! Could God have created the Universe over a 13 billion year process? Yes! I think Hugh Ross has made an excellent case for this in his book “The Genesis Question”. I’m just concerned modern Theologians and pastors have ruled out the latter and will someday regret the decision. They will look like the Church of yester-year who said the Earth was the center of the Universe and flat because scripture seemed to indicate the Earth was fixed and had four corners. The God of scripture is also the God of astro-physics, geology, biology and all the sciences. Someday far in the future I believe they will all fit harmoniously.
jasonk said...
"I agree with your argument. Doesn't the Bible say that God uses the simple things to confound the wise? If you had met Adam and Eve three days after they were created, and asked them how old they were, they would have said, "three days." You would say, "No way! You've got to be at least 35 years old." Sometimes, appearances can be deceiving."
But would their skin cells be 35 years old or 3 days old? Would their biological make-up also show “apparent age”? Perhaps a cavity or 2?
Many questions so few answers. That’s what I love about Genesis.
I agree with Brother Wade that Earth, for mankind, is the center of the Universe.
Earth was created especially for us and will always be the abode of the human race. In fact, even after this sin-wracked earth passes away, God will create a new Heaven, Earth (without oceans) and Holy City (the new Jerusalem) so that we can fellowship with Him. Because Jesus died at Calvary, conquered death and is our Risen Lord and Savior, we can have peace with God and everlasting life. Its hard to comprehend and imagine that we, as blood-bought saints, will actually be able to go into the presence of the One who calls every star by name.
Thank you Jesus!
Please explain: "real possiblity he created light in transition as well as light propelled" with some relevant scientific terms, if in fact you are purporting to speak intelligently about "intelligent design". there are some very interesting quantum laws at play here and significant evidence that our earth and our universe are surely to be much older than 8K years. Don't be confounded with the simplicity of the implementation of the universe.
Anon: if it's true that if we left today at light speed ("Engage, Number One") and it took us 28 million years to reach M104, how long would it take one quantum of light from M104 to reach earth? I'd say (on average) 28M years... That is of course, unless it was "magically propelled". I'd say, factually (and physically) speaking, you're right on, bruther.
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