Vol. V Number 25 | September 9, 2001 |
Human beings for the most part cannot grasp or comprehend the concept of extremely large numbers, amounts, or items or extremely small items, amounts, or numbers. We exist in a world where we throw around numbers like billion or nano and have no concept what we are talking about. Last night the UNIX operating system passed the 1 billion second mark from it first release on January 1, 1970. The UNIX clock counts every second from the January 1, 1970 with last night at 9:46:40 EDT the UNIX clock rolled over the 1 billionth second. See http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/661 for an interesting discussion on the matter. The point is that it has taken 31 years and nine months to reach the 1 billionth second, and we don't even think about something when we talk about a billion. We talk about Bill Gates billions with no concept what that amount really means.
The other extreme is extremely small items like quirks, photons, and other things not even discovered at the subatomic level. We can see that they behave totally differently from what we experience in normal space and time. Today physicists are working on a computer that works at the subatomic level where qbits can be both 1 and 0 at the same time. Individual photons at this level exhibit behavior that shows the existence of parallel universes where a photon can be in several universes at the same time, and what effects one universe affects the other universes.
You're probably wondering what does all of this have to do with the Bible and Christianity. There are references in the Bible that deal with the creation, and that there is nothing new, and different universes that cannot be traversed. First we will start with the creation.
John 1:1-14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.Genesis 1:1-31
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Here we see John declaring the man Jesus Christ as the creator of the universes. ``All things were made by him.'' Jesus who was seen as a man is at the same time the creator of the universes. The Bible describes three of the universes, heaven, hell, and the earth, solar system, and the planets. A careful reading of Genesis shows that God created the earth before he created the universe. Is the earth that is talked about before the fourth day of creation a different earth than the planet that we know? Was it located in a different universe than it is presently in? Contemplating these things takes a little work and skill. How could Jesus be at the same time the creator of all things and a man that talked to and taught the apostles? Does Jesus reside outside of time as we know it? The Bible does equate Jesus Christ as the one who says, ``Let there be light.'' and the savior of the world who was executed on the cross.
With Jesus as both the creator and savior, that makes him bigger than the universe as we know it. Also Jesus as the creator and is referenced in the Bible all of the aspects of quantum physics and quantum mechanics. God totally understands all of the extremely huge aspects of space and time, while also creating the building block of all universes at the subatomic level. All of these things that puzzle the scientists, God already knows for he has created all things. Where we have a hard time dealing with a billion 109 where it is 31 years for a billion seconds to occur Jesus easily understands 10100. Scientists are just now beginning to understand the subatomic building blocks of the universe and how these very small particles can exist simultaneously in different universes. The concept of different universes is also described in the Bible.
Luke 16:20-31
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Here we see that the ones who are sent to hell for eternity cannot escape their universe of torment. But they have the ability to see the other universes. Whereas we on the earth cannot see the other universes, those in both heaven and hell can see all three universes. This is explained in Steven Jenkins web site.
Just recently has the study of science and the Bible concurred with the concepts that Jesus can now be scientifically proven as being at the beginning and at the end at the same time. Needless to say when Daniel's prophecy was sealed up for the last days the people of his day did not have the knowledge to explain the complex theories that are contained in Daniel or in Revelation. With the present state of the scientific community we can now understand both large and small as God sees them. Though a billion may seem incomprehensible to a lot of people, how many billions of bytes have you gobbled up on your computer's hard drive(s)?
3014 E Street Philadelphia, PA 19134 Church Office Phone: (215) 634-3637 Published by: Rev. LeRoy D. Cressy (215) 535-4037
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Copyright © 2001 LeRoy D. Cressy
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