Genesis Lecture 36 (Fourth day of the Creation)
Bible passage: Genesis 1:14-19
“14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate 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 expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.
All saints from branch churches, and local sanctuaries. GCN viewers and all children of God who attend the worship online. This is the 36th Lecture on Genesis. From tonight, Let me tell you about the Creation works of the 4th Day. God created the sun, the moon, and stars on the 4th day. In astronomical terminology, God created “our Galaxy” during the 4th day of the Creation. With the exception of the earth, God created all of the celestial bodies of our galaxy on the 4th day of Creation.
I said that before God began the six days of Creation, He had already created the earth. Then, when were the other countless galaxies created in addition to our galaxy? Is there any evidence that the universe was not formed from a massive explosion but that God created it? If any, what is it? Also, it seems that the light of the sun, a large light, is sufficient for life to live on Earth, so why did God create the moon, a small light? What changes occurred on Earth after the sun, moon, and stars were created? From now on, let's go on a journey with me into the vast universe to find the answers to all these questions. Let me show you a picture first so that you can feel the vastness of the universe. It's a bit difficult to go on a journey because math concepts or other things are unfamiliar to you. Please understand. First, let’s look at a photo that gives you a sense of how vast the universe is.
This photo was sent back by the probe Voyager 1, which took pictures of the Earth near Pluto in June 1990. Can you see a dot? It’s said that the Earth is no bigger than a single dot. The Earth is smaller than a point in space. This is a view of the Earth from the solar system. If you look from further space, it will be difficult to find the Earth. When you look at the Earth from Pluto, it is this small. Find out where the Earth is. Can you find it quickly? This small thing is the Earth After launch in September 1977, photos taken from Pluto were sent 12 years and 9 months later. Data was also sent in April 2010, approximately 33 years later. Did you see it ? A circle with a dot. It’ too small to see it. When viewed from Pluto in our solar system, the Earth only looks like a dot. That means the Earth is small. So, if you look at it from space, you can't even see it. What would you see if you looked at the Earth from a universe tens of millions or billions of times larger than our solar system? You can't even see it at all. Can you find Earth in that picture?
This photo is nicknamed ‘Pale Blue Dot.’ n the vast space of space, we can see that the Earth is just a small dot emitting faint light. This is the Earth as seen from the edge of the solar system, about 6.4 billion km from Earth. The solar system is also very vast, with its edges 6.4 billion kilometers away. However, this solar system is just a dot in space. You can see how vast the universe is. When viewed from space, the solar system is just a dot. The solar system is just a ‘small dot’ in the entire universe to which the Earth belongs. And when you look at it from that small point, the Earth is that small. So what lies beyond our solar system? There is a galaxy. The diameter of our galaxy, which Earth belongs to, is the distance it would take about 100,000 years to travel at the speed of light, This means that there are many galaxies that the Earth belongs to the galaxy that the Earth does not belong to.
What is the diameter of our galaxy, where Earth belongs? This means that the diameter is the distance it would take about 100,000 years to travel at the speed of light. The speed of light goes 300,000 km in one second. Light travels around the Earth seven and a half times in one second. At such a fast speed, light has to travel for 100,000 years, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years to reach the diameter of the galaxy. You can see how wide our galaxy is. Does your head hurt? You don’t want to imagine it, do you? So, it is said that it is 100,000 light years, which is the distance that must be traveled in 100,000 years at the speed of light. A collection of dozens of such galaxies is called a galaxy group. There are dozens of galaxies with a diameter of 100,000 light years.
Please understand and follow along When hundreds or thousands of galaxy groups gather together, It is called a galaxy cluster. Do you feel a headache? We don't use units above 10 quadrillion even in mathematics. Instead, we use units like ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million, billion, ten billion, hundred billion, a hundred billion, two hundred billion, three hundred billion, four hundred billion … nine hundred billion, and trillion. Above trillion, the next unit is 10 quadrillion. I explained galaxy clusters so far. Additionally, a collection of such galaxy clusters is called a supercluster. This is the extent of space classified by astronomers. Just by hearing this, can you imagine its size? It takes about 100,000 years at the speed of light to go from one end of our galaxy to the other, but this distance is actually hard to imagine.
It is even more difficult to imagine the size of galaxy groups and galaxy clusters. It is very difficult to calculate the distance of a galaxy cluster even if it runs with light. The space I just mentioned is only a part of the fleshly world, that is, the first heaven. Besides this vast First Heaven, there are other heavens. They are the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th heavens that belong to the spiritual realm. God governs and reigns over all these heavens. Originally, these heavens were one, and it was called ‘the Original Heaven.’ God the Origin existed in the original space as in the form of light that contained the sound. At one point of time, God the Origin cohered at the vertex of the spiritual realm for the human cultivation. Due to this, 4 spaces came to exist with different brightness of spiritual light and different density of the spirit. The intensity and density of spiritual light is higher the closer you are to the peak of the spiritual world. The original space which was originally one now became 4. God called these 4 spaces the 1st heaven, the 2nd heaven, the 3rd heaven, and the 4th heaven respectively. What we call ‘the space” where we live is the 1st heaven.
I said the 1st heaven is too vast for a man to imagine. Dear brothers and sisters. This vastness of the 1st heaven, which is the ‘fleshly world’, is very small when compared to the spiritual realm. The first heaven, which is so vast that it cannot be calculated, and this physical world, are very small compared to the size of the spiritual world. There’s a parable to help you clearly feel the size of the fleshly world and the spiritual world Say, you gave an ant an island which is as big as Hawaii. The ant cannot comprehend how big the island is. If it could rationalize, it may just think that it is too big to travel. However, Hawaii takes only a tiny space on the surface of the earth. Hawaii is very small compared to the rest of the Earth. Therefore, even if you tell the ant the size of the earth, the ant cannot imagine the size at all. Here, the ant is comparable to us as human beings. ‘Hawaii’ is then comparable to the 1st heaven, which is the fleshly world. On Earth, only Hawaii is like the physical world, and the rest is like the spiritual world.
Do you understand? Listen carefully. If you have other distracting thoughts, you will miss it. Then, you can imagine how vast the spiritual realm is! Of course, the proportion of the fleshly world to the spiritual realm is not exactly the proportion of Hawaii to the earth. I just compared them to help you understand the difference. At a point in the physical world, which is very small compared to the spiritual world, God first created the earth for human cultivation. And on the fourth day of creation, he created the sun and the other planets and satellites of the solar system. He also created the stars of our galaxy. Then, when were the countless stars outside of our galaxy, and the entirety of other celestial bodies created? When you listen to scientific content like this, listen with faith rather than study.
God has unfolded and created such vast things, so how much infinite power and ability can He give us? So when were the countless stars outside our galaxy, that is, all the other celestial bodies, created? The answer is; they were created before the Creation. Before the original space was divided into 4 spaces, there were countless stars. In the empty vastness of space, God, the light that contained the sound, was not alone. God the Origin already created countless stars before the Creation, and put them in the original space. And then, the original space was divided into 4 spaces. Those stars which were in the first heaven by that time are the stars outside of our galaxy now. Therefore, there were countless stars already in the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th heavens. Even before the 1st heaven was created, countless stars already existed, and God created the earth, the sun, the moon, and stars in a certain part of the 1st heaven. The universe was not formed from ‘Big Bang’ just as scientists propose. Everyone, think about it.
This tiny galaxy alone has a diameter of 100,000 light years. But how could a galaxy like this be created in a big explosion and form such a huge galaxy? Would a big explosion cause stars to fly hundreds of thousands of light years away and settle down? Does this make sense? Scientists, professors and doctors, does this make sense? Are you saying that the stars spread out across this vast universe continued to fly away in a big explosion, flying at the speed of light to hundreds of millions of light years and taking their places? This is absolutely impossible, but it makes no sense to claim that it was caused by a big explosion. That's why God the Father explained it to us through Genesis. The existence of dinosaurs and the formation of the universe are different from what scientists claim.
Scientists who propose the Big Bang theory have grounds in their own way. As scientific technology developed, they came to know that the universe is not stagnant, but that it keeps expanding. As they observed other galaxies from the earth, other galaxies were found to keep receding from the earth. Based on this fact, scientists proposed a theory. Since the universe is currently expanding, it may have been expanding in the past as well. How many years has the universe been expanding? Also, how long have scientists known this? Also, if the universe had expanded, how much would it have expanded? Scientists' theories keep changing over years or decades. When I was in elementary school, I learned that there were 300 million stars. There are countless stars, but when I was young, science said there were 300 million stars. However, as time passes, science continues to develop and eventually different results are announced. Science says that as we trace back to remote time, the universe must have been much smaller than now. At a certain time point in the past, the universe must have been as small as a speck.
For some reason, there was a big bang in such a small universe, and it continued to expand to become a universe as it is now.” This is the famous “Big Bang Theory.” As this Big Bang theory was established, many scientists received Nobel prizes in this field. When examined based on the given fact only, the Big Bang theory seems to be well established theory with firm evidence. However, the Big Bang theory is still incomplete. Since it was first proposed, it has been corrected many times, and it can be corrected any time depending on the result of future observation. Besides, no matter how highly scientific technology develops, there is one thing that man can never explain. The fact is that the Big Bang theory does not explain the first moment of the Big Bang.
The Big Bang theory doesn’t explain the very initial Big bang; it rather explains some time after the moment of the initial massive explosion. In other words, we can provide a theoretical explanation for the aftermath of the Big Bang by mobilizing all of mathematics and physics. If the Big Bang theory were true, however, it should be able to explain not the aftereffect of the big bang, but the moment of the big bang itself. So far, not a single scientist has ever succeeded in explaining the moment of the big bang. Moreover, scientists agree that it is the field that no future scientific technology will be able to explain. It is because there is a limit to what can be explained with the fleshly knowledge. No fleshly theory can explain the work of God’s Creation. Science cannot explain how humans appear. Science cannot prove why we humans are the only ones looking for God when there are so many animals and birds.
But you know the answer: why are only people seeking God? However, no matter how clever the monkey is, educate the animal for 10 or 20 years until it dies. Does it know about God? It doesn’t know God. Even children will understand if you teach them about God at a very young age. Therefore, the work of God's creation can never be explained with fleshly theories. Now, you may have a question. It is a fact that the universe is expanding based on the scientific observation, but why is that? Why did God create the universe of the 1st heaven as an expanding space, not as a stagnant space? The reason is to make a purifying action take place through the expanding of this fleshly space. It’s a purifying action. The seas that are two thirds of the earth is indeed stagnant water in a big vessel called ‘earth.’ It may decay as time goes by, but why don’t the sea waters decay? First, it is due to salt contained in the sea waters. Another important reason is that the sea waters keep moving due to the ebb and flow and thus they don’t decay.
Earth's seawater is also purified by the moon. Because the moon is in that position, the Earth's oceans have low tide and high tide, so the salt in the ocean moves instead of sinking, and it plays a role in preventing the water from rotting. Tides also create wind, which circulates the Earth's air. Temperature and humidity are regulated by the wind. When the tide comes in, the wind comes too. When you stand at the beach when the tide comes in, then the cool wind blows. So this means that because the sea water moves, it does not rot. By the same token, the 1st heaven should not stagnate, but it should keep on moving. If you stay quite long in a place where ventilation is bad, the air becomes stuffy. To the eyes of God, who governs all the heavens, the 1st heaven is comparably a small space.
Therefore, by making this space keep expanding, God made it possible for it to be able to purify itself. So, the Earth performs various functions as it rotates and orbits. However, once human cultivation is completed, this first heaven will close. Regarding this, Revelation 21:1 says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” It said, “There was no more sea.” Here, “the first heaven and the first earth” refers to the space of the 1st heaven where we live. Once the human cultivation is over, and the Final Judgment comes to an end, the 1st heaven is no longer necessary. However, the 1st heaven, a fleshly space was divided from the original space, so it doesn’t become completely extinct. God just closes the gate to the 1st heaven. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Tonight’s scripture mentions “the expanse of the heavens” a couple of times. God let the great lights, which are the sun and the moon, be in the ‘expanse of the heavens,’ and God also created stars and let them be in the ‘expanse of the heavens.’ Why did God call it ‘the expanse of the heavens,’ not just ‘heaven’ or ‘expanse’?
It is to show that the sun, the moon, stars are not close to the earth, but they are far from the earth. Today, you know how far the sun, the moon, and stars are from the earth thanks to the highly developed science. However, the ancient people didn’t how far the sun, the moon, and stars were, and how big they were. If God called it just ‘heaven’ or ‘expanse,’ people might think they are floating in the sky at a close distance. God uses the name “expanse of the heavens “to express that they are located in a different space than the sky. “The expanse of the heavens” refers to the outer space beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. God put the precise meanings even in a single word, and recorded it in the Bible. There is one more you should pray extra close attention to. It is the explanation about the size of the sun and the moon. God calls the sun, “the greater light,” and the moon “the lesser light.” When seen from the earth, the size of the sun and of the moon is almost identical. When it is in ‘full moon’, the moon looks even bigger than the sun.
If a child who is short of knowledge is asked which of the two is bigger, the sun or the moon, then the child will answer according to how it is seen. It was the same to the ancient people who lived in the days of not-so developed science. If it were to show the brightness of the sun and the moon was different, God would say the sun was the brighter light, and the moon was the lesser bright light. However, God called the sun, “the greater light,” and the moon “the lesser light.” Even these words contain the exact meaning of God. God could call the sun a bright light, but he didn't do that. He accurately expressed the difference in not only the brightness but also the size of the sun and moon to help people understand them. So how much bigger is the sun than the moon? When we see them with the naked eye, they seem similar in size. So is the sun 10, 20, 30 times bigger than the moon?
Don't be surprised. Is the sun about 1000 times bigger than the Earth? sorry, I'm sure you all have been educated and learned enough, but there are many of you who have graduated from school a long time ago and have forgotten the science content, so I would like to remind you. The sun is about 1.3 million times bigger than the Earth, Not a thousand times, ten thousand times, or 100,000 times, but about 1.3 million times. This means that the sun is that much bigger than the Earth. The moon is said to be about 1/50th the size of the Earth. The moon is so tiny compared to the earth. The sun is about 65 million times the size of the moon. When we see it with our eyes, it looks similar, but because the sun is so far away, we see less of it. Though the size difference between the sun and the moon is so great, they look the same in size because the moon is much closer to the earth than the sun. Genesis 1:14 says, “Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.” By creating the sun and moon on the fourth day of creation, God divided day and night.
However, God already separated the light from the darkness, and called the light day, and the darkness night. And thus, the day was separated from the night already from the 1st day of Creation. But after creating the sun and moon on the fourth day of creation, why did God again say, “Let the day be divided into nights?” When God said “Let there be light” on the 1st day of the Creation, the original light surrounded the earth. During the day as the light surrounded the earth, God manifested the works of the Creation. And He withdrew the light for the length of the day, and gave the rest of the time to the forces of the darkness. From the 1st day to the 3rd day of the Creation, when God surrounded the earth with the original light, it was the day, and when God withdrew the light, it was the night. Therefore, for the 3 days, even though the earth didn’t rotate, there were days and nights. However, after God created the sun, the moon, and stars on the 4th day of the Creation, the earth began rotation and revolution. As the earth rotates, the surface of the earth that faces the sun becomes the day, and the other part becomes the night.
The day and night now automatically began to change. Before then, God governs the changes of the day and night, but now, God let the sun, the moon, and stars manage it. Let me explain it with this example. Someone made a robot, but this robot couldn’t move by itself. He had to lift an arm of this robot to make the arm be lifted, and he had to move its feet for every step. Only when the master of the robot made the movement-mechanism of the robot, could the robot move. Then, he put clockwork inside the robot; he made the robot move by itself as he winds up the clock. Then, without even touching it, the robot could move by itself. It is the same with the earth. Until the 3rd day of the Creation, the earth was held by the power of God in the space, and the day and night changed by God. But then, as the sun, the moon, and stars were created on the 4th day, according to the law that God set up, the earth began to operate by itself. Here is one more example. A watch has the hour hand, the minute hand, and the second hand. Without a battery, if you move the second hand, the hour hand and the minute hand will also move together with it.
And the watch can be operated in this way. If you put battery into the watch, the hands of the watch can move automatically and it tells you the time. From the 1st day till the 3rd day of the Creation, (we can say that) God Himself ‘moved the hands of the watch’ manually, but from the 4th day, the hands began to move automatically. IF you disassemble a watch, you can find that all the big and small saw-toothed wheels work together to tell the precise time. By the same token, God planned so that the earth, the sun, the moon, and stars could operate automatically in harmony. God created them taken into consideration, such as the distance between each object, and the strength of their pulling and pushing, If the sun or the moon were a little bigger or smaller than today, no living things could survive on earth. If the sun were farther away than it is now, we would all freeze to death, and if it were closer, it would be too hot to live on earth. God placed the sun and moon in the correct location. So on Earth, the ebb and flow of tides occurs, temperature and humidity are regulated, and winds blow. This is how God distributed everything, designed it accurately, and did it. How funny is it that this was caused by a big explosion? There are so many stars and the universe, so why is there only life on Earth? Some say there is life like this in other universes besides Earth.
But no. It can't happen. Also, if the size of the sun and moon were just a little bigger or smaller, life would not be able to live on Earth. The same is also true if the distance between each of them were closer or farther. It feels even more absurd to say that the sun, moon, and stars happened to be that size and are in that location in the aftermath of the Big Bang. And in a way, the stars are all very different in size. Some stars are incredibly large beyond imagination. No matter how small a star is, it is hundreds of thousands larger than the Earth, but these stars look the same to us. There are countless evidences that God the Creator, with the highest-degree of wisdom and knowledge, planned and created all things from the beginning. I will explain the evidences of God’s creation contained in the sun, the moon, and stars in the next lecture. Let me conclude it. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Tonight, I explained some of the Creation works of the 4th Day. The earth that we put our feet on is a very tiny planet in the fleshly space of the 1st heaven. It may be compared to one speck among the countless grains of sand of a beach.
If you compare the size of the earth to the size of the entire spiritual realm, you may even safely ignore its existence. If you can understand the vastness of the universe that God created, you cannot but respect and fear God. Psalm 8:3-4 says, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?” God the Father always thinks of human beings who live in the tiny little earth of the vast universe, and He gives them advice of love in various ways. Among the countless celestial bodies of the vast universe, He pays the very special attention only to this earth. Why is that? That is because the true children of God are being born on this earth. He chose this earth and created all the sun, moon, stars, sea, land, grass, birds, flowers, and beasts on it, and then cultivated it with humans.
So He made here everything needed for cultivation. Through the human cultivation, the true children who can understand the deep heart of God the Father, who can fear God from their innermost heart, who can share true love with God forever and ever are being born on the earth. I hope that you can feel the deep love of God in the Creation works that God managed. May you love God from your innermost heart, and also enjoy His love, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Mafundisho ya Mwanzo 36 (Siku ya Nne ya Uumbaji)
Kifungu cha Biblia: Mwanzo 1:14–19
“14 Kisha Mungu akasema, ‘Na mianga iwe katika anga la mbingu ili itenganishe mchana na usiku; nayo iwe ishara za majira, siku na miaka; 15 nayo iwe mianga katika anga la mbingu ili kuangaza juu ya nchi’; ikawa hivyo. 16 Mungu akafanya mianga miwili mikubwa: nuru kubwa itawale mchana na nuru ndogo itawale usiku; akazifanya pia nyota. 17 Mungu akaziweka katika anga la mbingu ili ziiangazie nchi, 18 zitawale mchana na usiku na kutenganisha nuru na giza; Mungu akaona kuwa ni vyema. 19 Ikawa jioni, ikawa asubuhi, siku ya nne.”
Ndugu wapendwa katika Bwana.
Watakatifu wote wa makanisa ya matawi na mahali pa ibada, watazamaji wa GCN, na watoto wote wa Mungu wanaoshiriki ibada mtandaoni: Haya ni mafundisho ya 36 katika mfululizo wa Mwanzo. Kuanzia leo jioni, nitawaeleza kazi za uumbaji za siku ya nne. Siku ya nne Mungu aliumba jua, mwezi na nyota. Kwa istilahi za astronomia, aliumba ‘galaksi yetu.’ Isipokuwa dunia, miili yote ya angani ya galaksi yetu iliundwa siku ya nne ya Uumbaji.
Nilisema kwamba kabla Mungu hajaanza siku sita za Uumbaji, tayari alikuwa ameiumba dunia. Basi galaksi nyingine nyingi sana, mbali na yetu, ziliumbwa lini? Je, kuna ushahidi kwamba ulimwengu haukutokana na mlipuko mkubwa bali uliumbwa na Mungu? Ikiwa upo, ni upi? Inaonekana nuru ya jua inatosha kuwezesha uhai duniani; kwa nini basi Mungu aliumba pia mwezi, nuru ndogo? Dunia ilibadilika vipi baada ya kuumbwa kwa jua, mwezi na nyota? Twendeni pamoja katika safari ya kufikirika kupitia ulimwengu mkubwa ili kupata majibu. Kwanza nitawaonyesha picha itakayowasaidia kuhisi ukubwa wa ulimwengu. Safari hii inaweza kuwa ngumu kwa sababu baadhi ya dhana za hesabu na mambo mengine si ya kawaida kwenu; tafadhali nifuatilieni. Tuanze na picha inayoonyesha ukubwa wa anga.
Picha hii ilitumwa na chombo cha uchunguzi Voyager 1, kilichopiga picha ya dunia karibu na Pluto mwezi Juni 1990. Mnaweza kuona nukta? Inasemekana dunia haionekani kubwa kuliko nukta moja. Dunia ni ndogo kuliko alama ndogo angani. Hii ni taswira ya dunia kutoka ndani ya mfumo wa jua; ukiitazama kutoka mbali zaidi, itakuwa vigumu kuiona. Tazameni dunia kutoka Pluto—iko ndogo hivyo. Mnaweza kuitambua ilipo? Je, mnaiona mara moja? Hiki kidogo ndicho dunia. Voyager 1 ilirushwa Septemba 1977, na picha kutoka karibu na Pluto zilitumwa miaka 12 na miezi 9 baadaye. Data nyingine ilitumwa Aprili 2010, takribani miaka 33 baadaye. Mliiona? Ni duara lenye nukta ndogo isiyoonekana vizuri. Kutoka Pluto, dunia huonekana kama nukta tu; kwa hiyo ni ndogo sana. Tukiitazama kutoka anga lililo kubwa mara makumi ya mamilioni au mabilioni kuliko mfumo wetu wa jua, je, tungeweza kuiona? La. Mnaweza kuitafuta dunia katika picha hiyo?
Picha hii imepewa jina la ‘Nukta ya Samawati Hafifu.’ Katika anga kubwa, dunia inaonekana kama nukta ndogo tu inayotoa mwanga hafifu. Hii ni dunia inavyoonekana kutoka ukingo wa mfumo wa jua, umbali wa takribani kilomita bilioni 6.4. Mfumo wa jua nao ni mkubwa sana, lakini kwenye anga huonekana kama nukta tu. Hivyo mnaweza kutambua jinsi ulimwengu ulivyo mkubwa. Mfumo wa jua ni nukta ndogo tu katika ulimwengu wote ambamo dunia imo; na dunia ni ndogo zaidi ndani ya nukta hiyo. Basi nje ya mfumo wetu wa jua kuna nini? Kuna galaksi. Kipenyo cha galaksi yetu ni umbali ambao mwanga ungeusafiri kwa takribani miaka 100,000. Na kuna galaksi nyingi ambazo dunia haimo.
Kipimo cha kipenyo cha galaksi yetu ni miaka 100,000 ya nuru. Nuru husafiri kilomita 300,000 kwa sekunde—mara saba na nusu kuzunguka dunia kwa sekunde moja. Hata kwa kasi hiyo, nuru ingehitaji miaka 100,000 kuvuka galaksi yetu. Huo ni upana mkubwa kiasi gani! Je, kichwa kinauma? Hamna hamu ya kuufikiria? Ndiyo sababu tunasema ni miaka 100,000 ya nuru, umbali unaosafiriwa na nuru katika miaka 100,000. Galaksi kadhaa au makumi ya galaksi zinapokusanyika huitwa kundi la galaksi. Kila galaksi ina kipenyo cha karibu miaka 100,000 ya nuru.
Tafadhali jaribuni kufuatilia. Mamia au maelfu ya makundi ya galaksi yanapokusanyika, huitwa mkusanyiko mkubwa wa galaksi. Je, kichwa kinauma? Hata katika hesabu hatutumii sana vipimo vikubwa kuliko trilioni; tunaanza na kumi, mia, elfu, elfu kumi, laki, milioni, bilioni, trilioni, na kuendelea. Nimeeleza kuhusu mikusanyiko ya galaksi. Mkusanyiko wa mikusanyiko hiyo huitwa supercluster. Hivi ndivyo wanaastronomia wanavyogawa anga. Kwa kusikia tu, je, mnaweza kufikiria ukubwa wake? Mwanga huhitaji karibu miaka 100,000 kuvuka galaksi yetu, lakini umbali huo wenyewe ni vigumu sana kuufikiria.
Ni vigumu zaidi kufikiria ukubwa wa makundi na mikusanyiko ya galaksi; hata tukitumia mwanga kama kipimo, umbali wake ni mgumu kuhesabu. Anga niliyoitaja ni sehemu tu ya ulimwengu wa kimwili, yaani mbingu ya kwanza. Zaidi yake kuna mbingu ya pili, ya tatu na ya nne, ambazo ni za ulimwengu wa kiroho. Mungu hutawala mbingu zote hizo. Hapo awali zilikuwa moja na ziliitwa Mbingu ya Asili. Mungu wa Asili alikuwepo katika nafasi hiyo ya awali kama nuru iliyokuwa na sauti. Kwa wakati fulani, kwa ajili ya kilimo cha wanadamu, Mungu wa Asili alikusanyika kwenye kilele cha ulimwengu wa kiroho. Kwa sababu hiyo zikawa nafasi nne zenye viwango tofauti vya mwangaza wa kiroho na msongamano wa roho. Kadiri unavyokaribia kilele cha ulimwengu wa kiroho, ndivyo nuru na msongamano huo vinavyoongezeka. Nafasi moja ya awali ikawa nne, ambazo Mungu aliziita mbingu ya kwanza, ya pili, ya tatu na ya nne. Nafasi tunayoishi ndani yake ndiyo mbingu ya kwanza.
Nilisema kwamba ukubwa wa mbingu ya kwanza hauwezi kufikiriwa na mwanadamu. Ndugu wapendwa, hata mbingu hiyo kubwa, ulimwengu wa kimwili, ni ndogo sana ikilinganishwa na ulimwengu wa kiroho. Fikiria mfano huu: mpe sisimizi kisiwa kikubwa kama Hawaii. Sisimizi hawezi kuelewa ukubwa wake; anaweza kufikiri tu kwamba ni kikubwa mno kusafiri kote. Lakini Hawaii huchukua sehemu ndogo sana ya uso wa dunia, nayo ni ndogo ikilinganishwa na dunia nzima. Ukimweleza sisimizi ukubwa wa dunia, bado hataweza kuufikiria. Sisimizi anafanana nasi wanadamu; Hawaii inafanana na mbingu ya kwanza, ulimwengu wa kimwili. Katika mfano huu, sehemu nyingine ya dunia inawakilisha ulimwengu wa kiroho.
Mmeelewa? Sikilizeni kwa makini; mawazo mengine yakiwavuruga, mtakosa kuelewa. Mnaweza sasa kuanza kutambua jinsi ulimwengu wa kiroho ulivyo mkubwa! Bila shaka, uwiano kati ya ulimwengu wa kimwili na wa kiroho si sawa kabisa na uwiano wa Hawaii na dunia; nimetumia mfano huo ili kueleza tofauti. Katika sehemu fulani ya ulimwengu wa kimwili, ambao ni mdogo sana ukilinganishwa na ulimwengu wa kiroho, Mungu aliumba dunia kwanza kwa ajili ya kilimo cha wanadamu. Siku ya nne aliumba jua, sayari na satelaiti nyingine za mfumo wa jua, pamoja na nyota za galaksi yetu. Basi nyota nyingi zisizo katika galaksi yetu na miili mingine yote ya angani ziliumbwa lini? Mnaposikia mambo ya sayansi kama haya, yasikilizeni kwa imani.
Mungu aliumba mambo makubwa namna hii; basi anaweza kutupa nguvu na uwezo usio na kikomo kiasi gani? Nyota nyingi zilizo nje ya galaksi yetu ziliumbwa lini? Ziliumbwa kabla ya Uumbaji. Kabla nafasi ya awali haijagawanywa katika nafasi nne, kulikuwa tayari na nyota nyingi sana. Mungu wa Asili, nuru iliyokuwa na sauti, hakuwa peke yake katika anga tupu. Kabla ya Uumbaji, aliumba nyota nyingi na kuziweka katika nafasi ya awali; kisha nafasi hiyo ikagawanywa katika nafasi nne. Nyota ambazo wakati huo zilikuwa ndani ya mbingu ya kwanza ndizo sasa zilizo nje ya galaksi yetu. Kwa hiyo, katika mbingu ya pili, ya tatu na ya nne pia kulikuwa na nyota nyingi. Kabla hata mbingu ya kwanza haijaumbwa, tayari kulikuwa na nyota; katika sehemu fulani ya mbingu ya kwanza Mungu akaumba dunia, jua, mwezi na nyota. Ulimwengu haukuundwa na Mlipuko Mkubwa kama wanasayansi wanavyodai. Tafakarini jambo hilo.
Galaksi hii ndogo tu ina kipenyo cha miaka 100,000 ya nuru. Galaksi kubwa namna hii ingewezaje kutokea kwa mlipuko mkubwa, nyota zikirushwa mamia ya maelfu ya miaka ya nuru na kutulia katika nafasi zake? Je, hilo lina mantiki? Wanasayansi, maprofesa na madaktari, je, mnasema nyota zilisafiri kutoka mbali sana katika ulimwengu, kwa kasi ya nuru na kwa umbali wa mamilioni ya miaka ya nuru, kisha zikachukua nafasi zake kwa mlipuko? Hilo haliwezekani; hakuna mantiki kudai kwamba lilisababishwa na mlipuko mkubwa. Ndiyo maana Mungu Baba alitufundisha kupitia kitabu cha Mwanzo. Uwepo wa dinosauri na kuumbwa kwa ulimwengu ni tofauti na madai ya wanasayansi.
Wanaopendekeza nadharia ya Mlipuko Mkubwa wana sababu zao. Teknolojia ilipoendelea, waligundua kwamba ulimwengu hausimami bali unapanuka; walipoangalia galaksi nyingine kutoka duniani, waliona kwamba zinaonekana kuendelea kusogea mbali nasi. Kutokana na hilo wakadhania kwamba ikiwa ulimwengu unapanuka sasa, huenda ulikuwa ukipanuka zamani pia. Umekuwa ukipanuka kwa muda gani? Wanasayansi wamejua jambo hilo kwa muda gani? Umepanuka kiasi gani? Nadharia za wanasayansi hubadilika baada ya miaka au miongo kadhaa. Nilipokuwa shule ya msingi nilifundishwa kwamba kulikuwa na nyota milioni 300. Kadiri sayansi inavyoendelea, matokeo mapya hutangazwa. Wanasayansi husema kwamba tukirudi nyuma katika wakati, ulimwengu lazima ulikuwa mdogo zaidi, na wakati fulani ulikuwa mdogo kama nukta.
Kisha, kwa sababu fulani, ulimwengu huo mdogo ulilipuka na kuendelea kupanuka hadi kuwa ulivyo sasa. Hiyo ndiyo Nadharia maarufu ya Mlipuko Mkubwa. Wanasayansi wengi walipewa Tuzo za Nobel kwa kazi katika eneo hili. Ukiangalia tu mambo yanayojulikana, nadharia hiyo inaweza kuonekana kuwa imethibitishwa vizuri. Hata hivyo, haijakamilika. Tangu ilipopendekezwa, imerekebishwa mara nyingi na inaweza kubadilishwa tena kulingana na uchunguzi ujao. Zaidi ya hayo, hata teknolojia ya kisayansi ikiendelea kiasi gani, kuna jambo moja ambalo mwanadamu hawezi kulieleza: nadharia hiyo haielezi wakati wa kwanza kabisa wa mlipuko.
Nadharia hiyo haielezi mlipuko wa awali wenyewe; inaeleza tu muda fulani baada yake. Kwa kutumia hisabati na fizikia, tunaweza kutoa maelezo ya kinadharia kuhusu matokeo yaliyofuata mlipuko. Lakini ikiwa nadharia hiyo ni kweli, inapaswa kueleza mlipuko wenyewe, si matokeo yake tu. Hadi sasa hakuna mwanasayansi aliyefaulu kueleza wakati huo wa mlipuko, na wanasayansi wanakubali kwamba huenda sayansi ya baadaye pia isiweze. Maarifa ya kimwili yana mipaka; hakuna nadharia ya kimwili inayoweza kueleza kazi ya Mungu ya Uumbaji. Sayansi haiwezi kueleza jinsi wanadamu walivyoanza, wala kwa nini sisi pekee kati ya wanyama na ndege tunamtafuta Mungu.
Mungu aliiumba mbingu ya kwanza ikiwa nafasi inayopanuka. Kwa nini hakuiumba ikiwa nafasi isiyosogea? Ili utakaso ufanyike kupitia upanuzi wa nafasi hii ya kimwili. Bahari, inayofunika theluthi mbili ya dunia, ni maji katika chombo kikubwa kinachoitwa dunia. Maji yangepaswa kuchafuka kadiri muda unavyopita; kwa nini hayachafuki? Sababu moja ni chumvi iliyomo baharini. Sababu nyingine muhimu ni kwamba maji husogea kwa sababu ya kupwa na kujaa kwa mawimbi, hivyo hayatuami.
Maji ya bahari pia husafishwa na mwezi. Kwa sababu mwezi uko mahali pake, bahari ya dunia hupwa na kujaa, chumvi husambaa badala ya kutua chini, na maji hayaozi. Mawimbi pia huchochea upepo unaozungusha hewa ya dunia; upepo hudhibiti joto na unyevunyevu. Mawimbi yanapoingia, upepo huja pia; ukisimama ufukweni mawimbi yanapoingia, upepo wa baridi huvuma. Maji yasiposimama, hayaozi. Vivyo hivyo, mbingu ya kwanza haikupaswa kutuama bali iendelee kusonga. Ukikaa muda mrefu mahali pasipo na hewa ya kutosha, hewa huwa nzito. Kwa Mungu anayetawala mbingu zote, mbingu ya kwanza ni nafasi ndogo.
Kwa hiyo, Mungu alifanya nafasi hii izidi kupanuka ili iweze kujisafisha. Dunia hutekeleza kazi mbalimbali inapozunguka kwenye mhimili wake na kuizunguka jua. Hata hivyo, kilimo cha wanadamu kitakapokamilika, mbingu hii ya kwanza itafungwa. Ufunuo 21:1 husema, ‘Nikaona mbingu mpya na nchi mpya; maana mbingu ya kwanza na nchi ya kwanza zimekwisha kupita.’ Pia husema, ‘bahari haikuwako tena.’ Mbingu ya kwanza na dunia ya kwanza ni nafasi ya mbingu ya kwanza tunamoishi. Kilimo cha wanadamu kitakapokamilika na Hukumu ya Mwisho kuisha, mbingu ya kwanza haitahitajika tena. Kwa kuwa nafasi hii ya kimwili ilitenganishwa na nafasi ya awali, haitatoweka kabisa; Mungu atafunga tu lango lake. Ndugu wapendwa katika Kristo, maandiko ya leo yanataja mara kadhaa ‘anga la mbingu.’ Mungu aliweka mianga mikubwa—jua na mwezi—na nyota katika anga hilo. Kwa nini alisema ‘anga la mbingu’ badala ya ‘mbingu’ au ‘anga’ tu?
Ili kuonyesha kwamba jua, mwezi na nyota haziko karibu na dunia bali ziko mbali. Sayansi ya kisasa inatuwezesha kujua umbali wao; watu wa kale hawakujua zilikuwa mbali kiasi gani wala zilikuwa na ukubwa gani. Kama Mungu angesema tu ‘mbingu’ au ‘anga,’ huenda watu wangefikiri kwamba mianga hiyo inaelea karibu angani. Maneno ‘anga la mbingu’ yanaonyesha kwamba iko katika nafasi tofauti na anga tunaloliona. Yanarejelea anga la nje, nje ya tabaka la hewa la dunia. Mungu aliweka maana sahihi hata katika neno moja na akairekodi katika Biblia. Pia zingatieni maelezo kuhusu ukubwa wa jua na mwezi. Mungu aliliita jua ‘nuru kubwa’ na mwezi ‘nuru ndogo.’ Tukiwa duniani, jua na mwezi huonekana karibu sawa kwa ukubwa; wakati wa mwezi mpevu, mwezi unaweza hata kuonekana mkubwa zaidi.
Kama mtoto asiye na maarifa ya kutosha akiulizwa jua na mwezi kipi ni kikubwa, atajibu kutokana na anavyoona. Ndivyo pia watu wa kale walivyoweza kufikiri katika wakati ambapo sayansi haikuwa imeendelea. Kama Mungu angeeleza mwangaza tu, angesema jua ni nuru angavu zaidi na mwezi si angavu sana. Lakini aliliita jua ‘nuru kubwa’ na mwezi ‘nuru ndogo.’ Hata maneno hayo yana maana sahihi. Mungu angeweza kusema tu nuru angavu, lakini alieleza kwa usahihi tofauti ya ukubwa, na si mwangaza pekee. Basi jua ni kubwa mara ngapi kuliko mwezi? Kwa macho yetu huonekana karibu sawa; je, jua ni kubwa mara 10, 20 au 30?
Msishangae. Je, jua ni kubwa mara elfu moja kuliko dunia? Najua mmefundishwa, lakini huenda baadhi yenu mliomaliza shule zamani mmesahau; nawakumbusha. Jua lina ujazo unaozidi wa dunia mara milioni 1.3—si mara elfu, elfu kumi wala laki moja, bali mara milioni 1.3. Mwezi una karibu sehemu moja ya hamsini ya ujazo wa dunia. Jua lina ujazo unaozidi wa mwezi takribani mara milioni 65. Kwa macho yetu huonekana sawa kwa sababu jua liko mbali sana. Ingawa tofauti ya ukubwa ni kubwa mno, mwezi uko karibu zaidi na dunia. Mwanzo 1:14 husema, ‘Mungu akasema, Na iwe mianga katika anga la mbingu ili itenge kati ya mchana na usiku.’ Mungu alipoumba jua na mwezi siku ya nne, alitenganisha mchana na usiku.
Hata hivyo, Mungu alikuwa tayari ametenganisha nuru na giza na kuiita nuru mchana na giza usiku. Kwa hiyo mchana na usiku vilitenganishwa tangu siku ya kwanza. Kwa nini baada ya kuumba jua na mwezi siku ya nne Mungu alisema tena vitenganishe mchana na usiku? Nuru ya awali ilipoizunguka dunia siku ya kwanza, Mungu alifanya kazi za Uumbaji. Nuru hiyo ilipokuwepo ilikuwa mchana; Mungu alipoiondoa kwa sehemu iliyobaki ya siku, ikawa usiku na nguvu za giza zikaruhusiwa kufanya kazi. Siku ya kwanza hadi ya tatu kulikuwa na mchana na usiku ingawa dunia haikuzunguka. Lakini baada ya jua, mwezi na nyota kuumbwa siku ya nne, dunia ilianza kujizungusha na kulizunguka jua. Sehemu ya dunia inayolikabili jua huwa mchana, na upande mwingine huwa usiku.
Kuanzia hapo mchana na usiku vilianza kubadilishana vyenyewe. Awali Mungu ndiye aliyetawala mabadiliko hayo; sasa aliyaweka chini ya utendaji wa jua, mwezi na nyota. Fikirieni roboti iliyotengenezwa na mtu lakini haiwezi kusogea yenyewe. Mtu anapaswa kuinua mkono wake na kusogeza miguu yake kila hatua. Ili roboti itembee yenyewe, mtengenezaji huweka ndani yake mfumo wa mwendo na kuifunga saa yake; kisha inaweza kutembea bila kuguswa. Ndivyo ilivyo kwa dunia. Hadi siku ya tatu Mungu aliishikilia dunia kwa nguvu zake na ndiye aliyebadilisha mchana na usiku. Siku ya nne, baada ya kuumba jua, mwezi na nyota, dunia ikaanza kufanya kazi yenyewe kulingana na sheria alizoweka. Saa ina mishale ya saa, dakika na sekunde; ukisogeza mshale wa sekunde, mingine nayo husogea.
Saa ikiwekewa betri, mishale yake husogea yenyewe na kuonyesha wakati. Tunaweza kusema kwamba kuanzia siku ya kwanza hadi ya tatu Mungu ndiye aliyesogeza ‘mishale ya saa’ kwa mkono; kuanzia siku ya nne, ilianza kusogea yenyewe. Ukifungua saa utaona magurudumu makubwa na madogo yenye meno yakifanya kazi pamoja ili kuonyesha wakati kwa usahihi. Vivyo hivyo, Mungu alipanga dunia, jua, mwezi na nyota zifanye kazi zenyewe kwa upatano. Alizingatia umbali kati ya vitu na nguvu zake za kuvutana na kusukumana. Jua au mwezi ungekuwa mkubwa au mdogo kidogo, viumbe wasingeweza kuishi duniani. Jua likiwa mbali zaidi tungeliganda; likiwa karibu zaidi, joto lingekuwa kali mno. Mungu aliliweka jua na mwezi mahali panapofaa. Hivyo mawimbi hujaa na kupwa, joto na unyevunyevu hudhibitiwa, na upepo huvuma. Mungu alisambaza na kubuni kila kitu kwa usahihi. Ni jambo la kuchekesha kudai kwamba haya yote yalitokana na mlipuko mkubwa! Kwa nini kuna uhai duniani pekee? Wengine hudai kwamba kuna uhai kama huu katika ulimwengu mwingine.
La. Hilo haliwezi kuwa hivyo. Jua na mwezi vingekuwa vikubwa au vidogo kidogo tu, uhai usingewezekana duniani; vivyo hivyo kama umbali wao ungebadilika. Inatia shaka zaidi kudai kwamba jua, mwezi na nyota vilipata ukubwa na nafasi hizo kwa bahati baada ya Mlipuko Mkubwa. Nyota pia zina ukubwa tofauti sana; nyingine ni kubwa kupita mawazo yetu. Hata nyota ndogo ni kubwa mara mamia ya maelfu kuliko dunia, lakini zote huonekana ndogo kwetu. Kuna ushahidi mwingi kwamba Mungu Muumba, mwenye hekima na maarifa makuu, alipanga na kuumba vitu vyote tangu mwanzo. Katika fundisho lijalo nitaeleza ushahidi wa Uumbaji unaoonekana katika jua, mwezi na nyota. Nimalizie. Ndugu wapendwa katika Kristo, jioni hii nimeeleza baadhi ya kazi za Uumbaji za siku ya nne. Dunia tunayokanyaga ni sayari ndogo sana katika nafasi ya kimwili ya mbingu ya kwanza; inaweza kulinganishwa na chembe moja ya mchanga kati ya mchanga mwingi wa ufukweni.
Ukililinganisha dunia na ulimwengu wote wa kiroho, unaweza hata kupuuza uwepo wake. Ukielewa ukubwa wa ulimwengu ambao Mungu aliumba, huwezi kujizuia kumheshimu na kumcha Mungu. Zaburi 8:3–4 husema, ‘Nizitazamapo mbingu zako, kazi ya vidole vyako, mwezi na nyota ulizoziratibisha; mtu ni kitu gani hata umkumbuke, na mwana wa Adamu hata umwangalie?’ Mungu Baba huwafikiria daima wanadamu wanaoishi katika dunia hii ndogo mno katikati ya ulimwengu mkubwa, naye huwapa ushauri wa upendo kwa njia mbalimbali. Kati ya miili mingi sana ya angani, anaitazama dunia hii kwa namna ya pekee. Kwa nini? Kwa sababu watoto wa kweli wa Mungu wanazaliwa hapa duniani. Aliichagua dunia hii na kuumba jua, mwezi, nyota, bahari, nchi kavu, nyasi, ndege, maua na wanyama, kisha akaifanya pamoja na wanadamu kuwa mahali pa kilimo cha kiroho.
Kwa hiyo, alitayarisha kila kitu kinachohitajika kwa kilimo hiki. Kupitia kilimo cha wanadamu, watoto wa kweli wanazaliwa duniani—watu wanaoweza kuelewa moyo wa kina wa Mungu Baba, kumcha kwa dhati na kushiriki naye upendo wa kweli milele. Natumaini mtaweza kuhisi upendo wa kina wa Mungu katika kazi za Uumbaji alizozifanya. Na mpendeni Mungu kwa moyo wenu wote na kufurahia upendo wake. Ninaomba haya katika jina la Bwana Yesu Kristo.
