The word in the Greek is Aster or Astro. This is where we get the word Astronomy. Astronomy is a study of the stars with all their astrophysical systems. This would include our solar system. The solar system is an example of a star system. The sun is one of several kinds of stars. Some stars pair up with others. Some are grouped as global star systems. Some are grouped as open clusters. Some are very big while others are very small. All are in systems called galaxies. The whole system is called the universe. Even though there have been studies from the beginning of time, we know very little about them.
There are indications that the star systems were made for God’s angelic host. Our solar system was created for the benefit of the human race. The universe is an example of God’s handiwork. It declares the glory of God. It also tells us the sun has a circuit.
The Bible tells us God “stretched out the heavens as a curtain.” He also named all the stars. We know the universe is still expanding. The Bible tells us the universe is very large, but not infinite. God is bigger than the universe.
The Bible tells us God is in every area of the universe, but He is not a part of it. In other words, the universe is not God. We are told in the Bible that it is a sin against God to worship the universe. It also tells us that the stars do not rule our lives. According to Genesis 1:14-19 they were to be “for signs, for seasons, and for days and for years.” One set of stars is what we call the zodiac. The horoscope and astrology are perversions of God’s original purpose for the universe.
We will always have questions of which we stumble over. One such question is that if the universe is only thousands of years old, how come we can see stars that are billions of light years from us. I am sure this is no problem with God. The fact we do have problems with it only shows our finiteness. Here are some possible solutions. Perhaps light travels differently in space than we have been taught to think. Maybe light travels much faster in space than on the earth. If you calculate the expansion of our universe with the data we have today, distances in the universe were much closer in the past than they are today. The other possibility is that the stars are not as far from us as we think. One thing about it, God’s Word takes precedence over our limited knowledge. If God says it, that should settle it once and for all.
We are created to worship God and give Him glory and praise. If we do not worship God we will worship something or someone else. There is not a person on this planet that is not worshiping something or someone. We become what we worship. Those who are worshiping “mother earth” are as cold and calloused as the soil under their feet. Their lives are a mess. They have no plans or purposes for their existence. They have no concern for the needs of others. “Their foolish hearts are darkened.” They have fallen into the sad state of affairs that is recorded in Romans 1:17-32.
Paul, the Apostle, gave us three things that will keep people from falling out of step with their Creator-God. These are found in Romans 1:14-16. In the first place, he realized he was indebted to the whole human race to give them what God had given him. Next, he was ready to “preach the gospel” to those in Rome. And lastly, he was not “ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” Our only hope today, as in all generations, is for us to get back to God and His truth, which is found in the Bible, that will set us free to live life to the fullest.
