Have you ever wondered why the universe is so immensely big?

Astronomers at NASA suggest that the most distant objects in the universe are about 47 billion light years away from Earth. This would make the size of the observable universe about 94 billion light years across. (A light year is the distance light travels in one year, about 6 million million miles.)

But that just describes the extent of our observable limits. The universe is vastly larger than that, because it is expanding at a rapid rate.

If there is an “edge” to the universe, it’s expanding away from us faster than we could ever catch up. No matter how swift our spaceship, we would never hit a boundary of some kind.

So for all practical purposes, you could say that the universe is infinitely big.

But why did God create it this way?

Some theorize that God created a massive universe to give believers a vast playground to explore once we’re in our immortal, resurrected bodies.

Others suggest that the boundless reaches of space demonstrate some of the qualities of God:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1)

It’s also possible that God simply delights in His creation, and created such an immense universe for His own good pleasure.

But I think there might be one more option:

So we could get an idea of how vast God’s love is.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:11)

The Passion Translation puts it this way:

“Greater than the grandeur of heaven above is the greatness of your loyal love, towering over all who fear you and bow down before you.”

If you can wrap your mind around how big tens of billions of light years is (I can’t), then you might be able to begin to grasp how immense is the Father’s love toward us.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

This verse is usually taken to refer to the circumference of the Earth—if you started flying east around the globe, you’d could keep travelling on that bearing without ever changing direction. You’d never “meet” west.

But what if you considered going east and west from the Earth itself into outer space? As we’ve seen, you would never reach the terminus in either direction. Because the universe keeps expanding, its extremities would keep receding away from you.

That’s how far away God has removed our sins from us.

The age of the universe is another matter of debate among scientists, who come up with mind-boggling estimates.

“But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.” (Psalm 103:17)

God tells us here that His love for those who belong to Him lasts for an infinity of time.

The takeaway to all this?

It’s that God’s love and mercy are vastly bigger than you can possibly imagine!

© 2024 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.