This question has been running through my mind recently. Just how is it that the Creator of the Universe is not only aware of us individually but also cares about us and wants to have us spend eternity with Him? For me, the magnitude of this idea is almost overwhelming.
Question.
Think about it. It is estimated that there are over two-hundred billion galaxies in the universe and that each of those galaxies holds billions of suns! There is no way to know the number of planets that circle those suns, but the number would be, well beyond even “astronomical.” It is a number that is beyond our comprehension.
To look at it another way, the Milky Way (one galaxy among billions) is roughly 625,000,000,000,000,000 miles across. NASA estimates that it would take over 200,000 years to cross our galaxy moving at the speed of light. My feeble mind boggles!
Our Christian Faith tells us that the Being who created a universe of such magnitude and majesty wants to have a relationship with each of the nearly eight billion people currently living on our small, insignificant Earth, which is only part of a relatively small solar system on the edge of the Milky Way.
When considered in comparison to these cosmic proportions, an individual human is infinitesimally small and insignificant.
Indeed, in this light, the question of “…what is man that You are mindful of him…” seems a bit quaint. A more understandable question would be, “How could God even know that we are here?!?” Much less, “How could He want to know me?”
Answer.
And yet, we are assured that not only is God aware of us, but that cares for and about each one of us, and has done so since the first human (Adam) arrived on the scene. In Jeremiah 29:12-13, the Lord says, “…you will pray to me, and I will hear you…” Would God listen to someone He didn’t want to know or care about?
In the same section of scripture, the Lord also says (paraphrasing), “…I have plans for you…to give you a future…” Here, the Lord of Creation is telling us that not only is He aware of us, but that He is also planning for our future.
So the Entity who created the billions upon billions of galaxies and the billions upon billions of suns and planets within them is thinking about you and me. Allow the enormity of that to sink in for a moment.
Valuable.
How valuable must each of us be to Him that God chooses to know and care about each one of the billions of people who are (or ever have) walking the Earth?
The answer is that we are so valuable to Him that God incarnated Himself here on Earth as Jesus the Christ. He came to dwell among us in person so that we might see Him, hear Him, and learn from Him His desires for us. He wanted us to know and love Him while we are here, and to look forward to spending eternity in blissful communion with Him in Heaven. [John 3:16]
Wonder.
What wonderful and humbling thoughts! God made the Universe for His enjoyment. And He made mankind to be His caretakers of that Creation (including one another). In Genesis, God says, “Let us make man in our image…and let them have dominion over the…earth.” [Genesis 1:26]
This is an amazing heritage! What a wonderful a reason for being! To take care of God’s Creation and to live in relationship and communion with Him while we do so?!? And then, after we die, to live with Him in Heaven for eternity. Hallelujah!!
Stewardship.
So, how are we doing with that responsibility and that opportunity?
I’ll leave it to you to answer that question for yourself. But I submit that the poverty, the suffering we inflict on each other, the color that lingers in the skies above our largest cities, and the undeniable degradation of the Earth’s oceans speak volumes about the quality of our stewardship.
When viewed through the lens of the cosmos, the preciousness of our Home and of each and every human life is too great to calculate. The God of Creation made each of us and desires a relationship and eternal communion with us, and we respond to these gifts…well, the way we have and continue to.
I don’t know about you, but I feel ashamed. I know that I haven’t done all I could to help protect and preserve our Home. At this pace, I cringe to think of how we’ll handle the Moon, Mars, and the rest of the planets we’re undoubtedly going to visit.
And I know that I haven’t done all I could to value and appreciate my brothers and sisters in Christ. My preoccupation with myself and my own concerns has allowed me to be callous, uncaring, and even disdainful of others I could have (and should have) valued and helped.
I know that I have not been the caretaker that He wanted me to be.
Hope.
Jesus is our hope for becoming the caretakers that God wants us to be. Only when we view God’s creation and each other as Jesus does, do we have the capacity to apply our time, our talents, and our treasure as God intends. Only through the eyes (and in the example of) Jesus may we see each other as God sees us and value one another as the incredible miracle we each are.
Prayer.
These things I pray. That we step back from ourselves and try to see the world and others as Jesus did; that we begin to respect God’s Creation and one another as Jesus did; and that we ask God for forgiveness for all the times that we did not. I pray that we may each come to know God better, to see His way for us more clearly, and to be for each other the angels He intends us to be. And, I pray that we each find a relationship with Jesus that leads us, through Him, to eternal life. Amen.
We may have regrets about our past, but those shouldn’t stop us from holding hope for our future.
God’s Blessings on you all.
Richard
February 21, 2020
Richard, this is another GREAT blog. Very well written and concise.
In my imagination (and my own experience) I see the psalmist contemplating the heavens at night because he speaks only of the moon and stars. The vastness of what he sees deepens his sense of God’s immeasurable worth and humanity’s “insignificance” before God and God’s creation. There’s a great contrast between humanity’s nature (self-centeredness and pride as well as a desire to control) and God’s nature (pure love, grace and forgiveness). Fortunately for humanity’s sake Jesus came to bridge the gap between us and God (the doctrine of atonement: at-one-ment” with God).
Can you imagine the psalmist looking at the night sky and, instead of saying “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1), the Psalmist says “The heavens declare the glory of science”?? Of course not. For God created ALL that is and humanity is the crown jewel of God’s creation. Too bad we don’t recognize that and realize that God, who governs an infinite universe, is mindful of us and how screwed up we are and can be. If God knows the number of the stars and calls them all by their names and if God knows the number of hairs on our head God loves us beyond understanding.
I believe as you that God has placed us as stewards of God’s creation. In effect, God, at the end of creation as recorded in Genesis, says to Adam and Eve, “Now, go and enjoy all I have created and don’t mess it up!” (Kent’s phrasing of course.) But we have and God still loves us. God has given us dominion over the works of God.
Which brings us to this realization and this question: Who are we as an enemy of God that God should think of humanity as the crown jewel of creation and should be mindful of humanity? To quote Joseph Caryl: Will a prince exalt a traitor, or give him honour who attempts to take away his life? The sinful nature of (humanity) is an enemy to the nature of God; yet God even at that time is raising (humanity) to heaven: sin would lessen the great God, and yet God magnifies sinful man.” God’s love is as infinite as the universe God created. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.” 1 Corinthians 13:12
Richard the following from your blog causes me to pause:
My preoccupation with myself and my own concerns has allowed me to be callous, uncaring, and even disdainful of others I could have (and should have) valued and helped.
You are none of these adjectives. I consider you just the opposite as well as a friend.
Have a good week.
Your Brother in Christ,
Kent
Kent:
Thanks again for your faithful readership and your cogent and insightful comments. Frankly, I’m unsure which was best, my post or your comments!! Thank you for sharing. Your comment regarding my self-deprecation was also appreciated. I’m glad to hear that these tendencies don’t “show through,” but I assure you that they are there!
Richard
Excellent post my friend, yes how great and mighty is our wonderful God!