We are told in Scripture that God specifically calls two things by their names—His stars (Ps. 147:4) and His sheep (Jn. 10:3). That’s not the only link between the first and new creations.
Astronomers call it the Great Wall. And it’s not in China. Light from Earth would take 200 million years to reach it. If we sent a probe, it would get there, well, never. Because the Great Wall is moving away from us faster than we can travel.
And what is it? Scientists tell us that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe (although that estimate keeps growing). Quite frankly, one star is awe-inspiring enough. But God didn’t make just one. Or one thousand. Or one million. He created billions of galaxies each consisting of millions or billions of stars, the overwhelming majority of which only one Man has ever seen. And galaxies are by no means the largest structures in the universe. Galaxies close to one another form groups of galaxies. If the group is large enough, it’s called a cluster. And if it is larger still, it’s designated a supercluster. But what if several superclusters were found together? What would you call it? Astronomers called it the Great Wall—a sheet of stars 15 million light years thick, 250 million light years tall, and half a billion light years from end to end.
Through the centuries, over and over, man has been certain that his observations have “almost reached” the end of the universe. And we’ve always been wrong. The latest estimates put the universe somewhere over 156 billion light years across. Don’t worry. It’s a lot bigger than that.
But why create such a massive universe? Why fill it with so many stars? What’s the point? Psalm 19:1 tells us the point: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” They tell us of a transcendent God who has never done anything in a mediocre manner. There are no half measures with the Lord. So it is with the creation. And so it is with the new creation.
This issue of Uplook contains a brief look at some of the lofty words (and seven little ones) God uses to describe our salvation. But so many terms have been left out. We haven’t been able to address regeneration (the gift of new life from above). No mention has been made of adoption (the concept that not only have we been made members of God’s family, but we have been given a place of honor in it). And what of predestination (the glorious assurance, based on the purposes and power and promises of God, that each and every Christian will, in the end, be conformed to the image of His Son)? Then there’s redemption. Election. Sealing. And, in the end, glorification. We could go on all day. We could go on all year. We could go on forever. And we will! For “in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). There are no half measures in the terms of our salvation.
And there are no half measures in the extent of our salvation. It is vast enough to be offered to all men— “For God so loved the world” (Jn. 3:16); Christ “gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6); the Lord is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pe. 3:9). And it is immense enough to stretch from eternity to eternity.
But above all, there are no half measures in the cost of our salvation. Religion hears “cost” and thinks of good works or money. But the Bible speaks of an unimaginably higher price: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold … But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pe. 1:18f). The terms and extent of our salvation are unbounded because the cost was infinite: “He … spared not His own Son” (Rom. 8:32).