Have you ever been to a planetarium where they project thousands of stars on the planetarium dome? I can remember as a young person being enthralled by the beauty of the night sky and these points of light every time I visited the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. But to me it was just an entertaining show. I never really pondered what the purpose of our universe is.
Our Earth is a giant planet teeming with 8 billion human beings. But as immense as our planet is, we are but a tiny speck in our vast universe. As a Christian I know that my ultimate purpose in life is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But what about the billions and trillions of stars and galaxies – do they have a purpose? I believe that our universe has a similar purpose and that is to show the glory of God!
Have you ever wondered why God would create such an immense amount of stars and planets? If our planet is the only one in the universe to have life on it (which I personally believe) then why would God go through all the trouble to create such an impersonal universe? The answer can be found in (Psalm 19:1) where we read: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
But just how can inanimate objects that have no life in themselves declare the glory of God? I believe we don’t have to travel to outer space to see how this principle works. The next time you look at a beautiful flower, a rainbow, a majestic mountain range, or a giant Redwood tree let your thoughts ponder not only their beauty but why did God create them. To the evolutionist they are nothing more than fortuitous accidents. But to the Christian they represent just one aspect of God’s creative genius. Just as God gives us so many natural wonders on our planet to admire, explore, and contemplate, He gives us the rest of His universe to do the same.
Our moon, our neighboring planets, our star the sun, and our Milky Way Galaxy are all part of our universe and each of them reflect the glory of God by just being themselves. Take our sun for example. When we view a wonderful sunset it helps us reflect on how beautiful our God is. When we understand how this one star, 93 million miles away, is bright enough to heat our entire planet it helps us contemplate how powerful a God we serve. And when we realize we are moving in an exact fixed orbit around our sun it causes us to stand in awe of His majesty. Thus, our sun helps us to focus on God’s beauty, power, and awesomeness – in other words our sun allows us to glorify God!
To the atheist our universe is all here by chance and by definition can have no purpose. But praise God because our universe testifies of the majesty of God. In the final analysis the ultimate goal of our universe is to show the glory of God. So, the next time you look up into the night sky why not praise God for the work of His hands.