Gtcotr/ws061020
The
very first verse in the Bible starts us to thinking about a couple of important
limitations.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Note
these two words:
·
Beginning
·
Created
An
in-depth study of each of these two words leaves the student with two big
questions:
·
What was before the beginning?
·
If God created everything we see, who created God?
These
two questions are reasonable and the correct answers to these two questions are
essential to understanding the main topic of the verse, which is God.
The
next two essential questions are just as important as the first two:
·
How
did God create the heaven(s)?
·
Why
focus so much attention on earth as opposed to other more celestially amazing
and awe-inspiring planets in our solar system?
For
the sake of time, we are going to limit our pursuits this evening to the
subject of time as understood from a study of the scriptures. It is through the
study of time, starting with Genesis 1:1, that we first really begin to
understand God.
First
the concept of limited life.
·
Created
things are finite
·
Created
things have limited life
·
Things
like:
o
Heavens
o
Earth
o
Mankind
o
Heaven of God
o
Hell
§
Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath
enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and
their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
o
Satan
§ Hell was created for
satan and his angels
§
Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to
those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels:"
o
Angels
§
Jude 1:6 And the angels who
did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
o
Light
§ The inverse-square law
of light:
·
The
intensity of light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from
the source.
·
As
distance increases, intensity decreases.
·
Multiplied
as 1/d2
·
Double
the distance from the light and the intensity drops to one quarter
o
The Universe
§ The observable
universe
§ Galaxies are flying
away from each other and the observable universe is expanding.
·
Expanding into what you may ask?
·
I
don’t know.
§ If the observable universe is expanding it must on some dimensional level have an edge
or a limit. Like I said, I don’t know … and neither does anyone I know know.
§ But just a note:
·
Space
is not a vacuum – space is filled with plasma … which is physical and
conductive.
o
Time
§ Time has definite
limitations.
·
Not
just that we can only see and move one way …
o We only see the past
o We only move to the
future
·
Time
is physical and can be slowed down easily
§ The theory was
proposed by Professor José Senovilla, Marc Mars and Raül Vera of the University
of the Basque Country, Bilbao, and University of Salamanca, Spain.
·
This
team of scientists have devised an outlandish theory, claiming the universe is
not actually expanding, but rather that time itself is slowing down.
·
Professor
Senovilla said: "We believe that time emerged during the Big Bang, and if
time can emerge, it can also disappear – that's just the reverse effect."
§ Article in
theguardian.com, October 2017:
·
The
US astronaut spent 11 months aboard the ISS, shaving 13 milliseconds off his
Earth age in the process.
·
It’s
not much but it is measurable and defines limitations.
Everything
God created, from our understanding of the scriptures coupled with our limited
observations, has a beginning and has an end.
Sometimes,
if we aren’t watchful, we may not give God as much credit as He deserves and as
He commands. For example: Many people assume without consideration that God and
the devil are co-equal enemies locked in battle for control of mankind, the
earth and ultimately eternity. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
When
it comes to God and satan, they are not co-equal.
We
tend to see and think and even act in terms of good and evil, which are both
limited and are by-products of sin and a departure from God. We cannot relegate
God to good and satan to evil as though it were some plain of moral or
immoral standard.
·
Satan is a created being
·
God is not!
·
Satan
is a limited creation of God
·
God
is unlimited
·
Satan is constrained by time and space
·
God is not
The
scriptures give us clues all along the way. For example:
·
Genesis
1:1 In the beginning God created …
·
John
1:3 All things were made through Him,
and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Isaiah 46
9 Remember the former things
of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the
beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.’
Eternity
is not the time-line extended infinitely … it is existence outside of time.
Eternity
is without time. It’s not more time, it is no time.
God exists outside of time.
God
is infinite. Christianity is not a religion, like others, of the infinite
creature reaching into the infinite or up to the infinite but rather of the
infinite God reaching down to the finite creature in person … the person of
Christ.
We
are in Christ! When we see Him we shall be changed to be like Him …
