One unique teaching of my faith is that God is the God of the entire universe and that He is not only the Father of the people of this planet but of all inhabited worlds in the cosmos. Some faiths, at least recently, have become more and more accepting of this idea yet I have yet to find a Christian faith (aside from my own) that has embraced this doctrine from the early days of the church's inception. In fact, many of the scriptures unique to my church openly teach of this thing, not in a mystical sense but in a real sense in that God is the grand parent of all inhabitants of the universe.
Here are a few of the most poignant examples;
- And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him (Christ), this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father- That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (emphasis added) Doctrine and Covenants 76: 22-24
- And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. Moses 1:33
It is no wonder then, that if the Lord, who is the God of the entire universe, speaks to men in our day, that he would allow us to know these things in order that we may both understand his greatness and power but also to understand the infinitesimally short nature of our time on the Earth so that we may be more compelled to keep His commandments. The knowledge of how small the Earth is in light of the vast creations of God does not diminish my faith and it fact serves to strengthen it because I know that I am still important to God even though I am just one soul in an endless cosmos. He is concerned enough about me to answer my prayers and to bless my life even though there are countless other things that could occupy His attention elsewhere in the Universe. This is a humbling thought.
As I have said before, the Lord speaks to men in our day. He has called prophets and apostles, has given them Priesthood Authority and has inspired them though revelation so that we may know the will of the Lord for us in these days. One of these apostles was Elder Neal A. Maxwell and he had a particular fondess of pondering on the vastness of the universe. I found this video that gives a small overview of our position in creation and wanted to share it.
My testimony is that no matter how small we are we are important to God and we can make a difference in the lives of many. The size of our universe is a humbling idea but with that humility it is my hope that I will strive to make the best of the time I have here. I know that the Lord, Jesus Christ lives and loves us all.
The universe is the totality of everything that exists. That means God would have had to have created himself. How does that work?
ReplyDeleteGreat posts, keep them coming!!
That is not necessarily true. The universe is the totality of everything we know, however there may be other universes all with their own big bangs and their own histories outside of our known universe. That is all speculation though because we do not know for sure, however if this is the case then it may clear up how this universe was created.
ReplyDeleteWe know from the scriptures that everything in this universe was created by Jesus Christ, under the direct of God the Father. They obviously had to exist somewhere before this universe was created didn't they?
Also, in the Pearl of Great Price when it is talking about the governing planets/stars (including Kolob) it doesn't say anything about those being THE places God dwells, only that they are nearest to where he dwells.
There is definitely more than what we know, however all things can be made known as soon as we are ready for them and as soon as they are relevant to our salvation.
I just took the common definition of universe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe), thank you for the clarification. I always thought the universe was the word to describe EVERYTHING that could possibly be out there, so it was just a difference of definitions in where my question arose. I really enjoyed this post and brings up a few questions but I feel it is best for me to ask you in a personal setting rather then on the internet. Keep up the good work Hal!
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