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What if God created the universe?
What if God created the universe?
Describe the image.
Describe the image.
The Andromeda galaxy is the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. It is possible to see it on a clear night even though it is 2.537 million light-years away.
What do you like about this photo?
What about the “Big Bang?”
What about the “Big Bang?”
According to NASA’s Space Place team, “The Big Bang is how astronomers explain the way the universe began. It is the idea that the universe began as just a single point, and expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now and may still be stretching” (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/big-bang/en/).
NASA/WMAP Science Team. Timeline of the Universe. 2006, NASA.
Explain the above diagram as best you can.
What caused the universe to begin expanding?
What caused the universe to begin expanding?
There is no real evidence as to what things were like before the Big Bang or what caused it. Yet, people are curious and wonder about it. Some suggest the beginning and expansion of the universe is not a topic worthy of investigation. Philosopher David Hume writes, “It were better never to look beyond the present material world” (www.goodreads.com/quotes/660458-how-can-we-satisfy-ourselves-without-going-on-in-infinitum). Yet, people persist in looking for something beyond or adjacent to our material world.
Do you feel compelled to look for something beyond our material world, perhaps a spiritual reality beyond what we see and touch?
Is there a purpose to the universe?
Is there a purpose to the universe?
From Aristotle to Einstein, the world’s greatest minds have pondered what caused the heavens and the Earth. According to Genesis (believed by Muslims, Christians, and Jews) God spoke the universe into existence.
Do you see the Genesis description and the scientific description of the Big Bang as incompatible? Why or why not?
Going a step further, the Bible also speaks to “why” God created the universe. According to Romans 1:20, the beauty, magnificence, and power of the universe demonstrates God’s existence, eternal power, and divine nature. Could it be that the purpose of the universe is to display the beauty, magnificence, and power of God who created it for the delight of those He created?
When you stare up at a blanket of stars, stand in front of the endless ocean, gaze down from a high mountain vista, or admire a newborn baby, do your thoughts ever turn to God?
What about purpose?
What about purpose?
The Greek word for describing something’s purpose—its final cause—is Teleos. Teleology seeks to understand the world by investigating the purpose of things—the end for which they are made. The teleos of an acorn, for example, is an oak tree. People, of course, are way more complicated. We may desire things like money, a fancy car, or the perfect house, but the purpose of having these things is probably something deeper like comfort, prestige, or power. Most people look for purpose in their lives.
How would you describe your purpose in life?
If God created the universe, would that change your sense of purpose in life? If so, how?
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