Greater Evidence
The world has always been too small for the likes of mankind. We have always been seekers of the truth, always looking for that which we cannot see. We want to know everything, to be like God.
In the beginning, this was precisely why the first man and woman succumbed to Satan’s tempting.
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5
As a result of this continually wanting to know more, we are never satisfied with what we can perceive. We are constantly searching beyond our means for validation in our existence. In our hearts, all men—Christians and non-Christians alike—do believe in God, since he has placed “eternity in the hearts of men,” but spend their entire lives trying to prove God’s existence and the feeling in their hearts by trying to disprove his existence.
Like sonar, we can fire questions and concerns at God (not to him) and when they don’t bounce back, it kind of “proves” that he’s not there. When doubt already exists, any non-response will reinforce that doubt.
It’s the same with any potential relationship we pursue. If I don’t really think a girl is interested in me, but I take a chance and ask her to the dance—when she says no, it simply reinforces what I believed about myself: I’m not good enough.
But if I already believe in myself, then when I take the opportunity to ask her to the dance—if she says no, I simply learn that there’s an opportunity for me to ask someone else.
But I digress. The point is that we’re constantly seeking validation from God, but because we’re not really expecting a loving response, we’re not really listening or watching for the validation that he does give us.
Anyway, as a result of all this searching for the truth, mankind has tried to burst the bubble of the universe. In biblical times, the world was perceived to be only the European continent. Eventually, ships found the other continents, and the world was no longer flat.
Over time, we discovered that the Earth was the “center of the universe.” Though untrue, at least we could now comprehend the universe. But never satisfied (and this is a gift from God), we learned that we were not, in fact, the center of the universe, but rather floating on the outer rim of what was just a mark on the fabric of the universe.
So, we find that the “universe is expanding”. You see, each time we push the boundaries, God resets them. He is revealing more and more of the universe to us as we gain understanding. The larger universe would have been meaningless to us in our more ancient state. He gives us the ability to investigate beyond our understanding — allowing us to stretch and grow. Our world would never have advanced if he did not:
- Give us the desire to know more
- Give us the ability to imagine more
- Give us the strength to do more
But instead, we have imagined rocket ships, and so built them. We dream, and then we do. He gives us this. Not so that we would think so much of ourselves, but to prepare us for the final reality that the whole universe is for us…
God created the universe to show us that it is just for us. We “seek out new life and new civilizations”, but there is nothing else. He wants us to understand that while we are so small and seemingly insignificant in the scheme of the cosmos, that we are, in fact, very special indeed. So special that God decided to create the entire universe just for our enjoyment and his glory.
We’ve always lived in a bubble, it just keeps growing.
There is always more, but God demonstrates his love for us by showing us the whole universe. It’s so big and growing that we can know there really is nothing else.
In fact, the universe itself gives even greater evidence of his glory and abounding love.
