Which weighs the most-four hundred million tons of feathers or four hundred
million tons of bowling balls? The answer, of course, is that they both
weigh the same. If you don't believe it, get out a scale and try it.
Four hundred million tons of anything is a lot. How long do you think our
sun would last if 400 million tons of its mass was consumed every second?
Would it last a day? A week? A year? Actually, the sun is so huge that it
would last a very long time. In fact, that is exactly what it has been doing
since the first dawn. In fact, every star you see in the night sky, along
with billions of others throughout the galaxies, have been undergoing the
same process to one extent or another. It is called entropy.
And, obviously, anything subject to entropy, and all physical things are,
cannot continue to “use up” its mass indefinitely because it will one day
run out. And science is not the only branch of knowledge that discusses this
phenomena. The Bible speaks of it as well in several places. For example,
the Hebrew writer mentions this “wearing down” process and contrasts it with
God who is eternal. “Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation
of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands; They will perish,
but Thou remainest; and they all will become old as a garment, And as a
mantle Thou wilt roll them up; As a garment they will also be changed. But
Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end." (Hebrews
1:10-12).
Yes, it is as the Scriptures stated long ago. The universe is wearing out.
Now, you cannot tell it by looking at the sun and stars. Primitive man would
not have known that the sun would “become old as a garment” and “perish”.
But God revealed that it was so.
Now, for any mechanism to wear out, and all of them do, then there has to be
a time when they began. They have to have a starting point because something
cannot “run down” forever. Science refers to the end of the sun as “heat
death” (this means the death of all heat-no heat at all coming from the
sun). Actually, this applies to everything in the physical universe. If
given enough time, everything will stop moving. The last moving molecule
will end its movement and there will be nothing left to start things up
again-al will be still and motionless, with the temperature of everything
being “absolute zero”.
That is, unless an outside force intervenes. We believe that He will because
He has said so. He will bring this universe to an end before “heat death”
occurs.
All this means is that the universe had a beginning and the beginning had to
be caused by something outside of the universe itself. Consider some
theories about this.
The Nebular Theory
“For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or
as a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4).
This theory holds that the universe “began” as a swirling cloud of matter.
Little whirlpools issued from the swirl and, over eons of time, formed the
galaxies we now see.
But this is not really a theory that explains the origin of matter, just
what happened after the matter was created. We still do not have a
beginning, we simply have a universe with nothing in it and then a swirl of
matter, that previously did not exist at all, takes up residence.
The Big Bang Theory
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring
the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1).
This is probably the most popular theory. Here we have all the matter in our
universe existing not in the form of a large swirl, but in the form of a
tiny dot no larger than a period on this page. Everything fits into that
tiny dot under tremendous gravitational pressure. Then, it explodes hurdling
all this compacted matter outwards as it and, as it spreads out, over eons
of time, forms the galaxies that we now see.
But this is not really a theory that explains the origin of matter either.
It begins with the matter already existing in the form of a tiny dot. We
still do not have a beginning, we simply have a universe with nothing in it
and then a little dot, that previously did not exist at all. In a universe
with nothing in it, from where did it come? And why? And how?
The Steady State Theory
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).
The “Steady State Theory” suggests that the universe never had a beginning.
Matter itself is eternal and just keeps on changing form forever.
Though this was once a popular theory among scientists who were looking
elsewhere than God for an explanation of the universe's existence, it no
longer is considered a viable theory. The weight of investigation and
experimentation is against it. It violates the law of entropy and motion.
Energy expended cannot be reclaimed or recreated, and there is a limited
supply of it.
The Creation Theory
“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so
that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Hebrews
11:3).
I am using “theory” here because this is something that though I accept it
to be factual, I accept it by faith and not by sight. It holds that there is
another segment of reality above nature that has intervened and created
physical matter and the laws which govern it. When we use the term
“supernatural” that suggests another realm above nature.
And that is the key. There has to be a sphere or plane of existence that is
not subject to the natural laws of entropy and motion and such. There has to
be something or Someone somewhere who is eternal. That is the solution!
God is our supernatural creator. He is not subject to natural laws because
He is not made up of molecules and atoms. He created matter. Understand He
did not merely take pre-existing materials and arrange them according to His
liking, but He created the matter itself from nothing.
God Himself is timeless and always existing. "I am the Alpha and the Omega,"
says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
(Revelation 1:8). It is the temporary nature of the universe itself that
speaks to us of God's existence and creative power. Someone started it!
”And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord
and said, "O Lord, it is Thou who didst make the heaven and the earth and
the sea, and all that is in them…” (Acts 4:24).
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From The Bradley Banner 6/29/2008
Published by the Bradley Church of Christ
1505 E. Broadway