Okay...unfathomableness is one of those words that makes one doubt if it is truly a word. Trust me, it is legit even though it sounds made up. It is one of those words that accurately describes the act of trying to grasp how big God is...especially in comparison to us. The more I try to wrap my head around the sheer immensity of our galaxy and it's teeny tiny place in an unfathomably huge (I'm telling you it's YUUGE!) universe, the more I am overwhelmed by the awesomeness of its Creator.
Have you ever seen the NASA photos of the Milky Way? Here http://gds.astro.rub.de/ is a link to a mosaic of photos taken by the Hubble telescope and pieced together. See the stars? Now zoom in on the photo. See more stars? Zoom in a little bit more. The stars are like glitter on paper. So many stars! Now think about the fact that our sun is a star. Those pieces of glitter in the photo are SUNS...many with planets orbiting them just like in our solar system. Now zoom back out to the original photo and realize how small of an area you were looking at in comparison to the entire photo. It's phenomenal. It's mind blowing. Now picture this: those are just the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
When NASA scientists are asked how many stars are in the Milky Way, they say anywhere from 100 billion, which is the low estimate, to several hundred billion or more. That means that every single person who ever lived on Earth from the beginning of time until now (estimated around 109 billion people) could name one star in this galaxy and there wouldn't be enough names to cover all of the stars in the galaxy.
The Bible says God created all that is in the heavens (the universe) and that he knows the stars by name, for he named each one. He knows their names...ALL of their names.
Think about just the stars in our galaxy. Let's go with the low estimate of 100 billion stars. Now, let's think of something small to compare to one star...how about a second. Those are tiny...less than a breath, unless you're hyperventilating (which could easily happen when you're trying to comprehend the vastness of the universe). So, think about 100 billion seconds. How long of a span of time is 100 billion seconds? 100 billion seconds is approximately 3,170 years.
3,170 YEARS!
So if you could say the name of every star in our galaxy, and it took you one second to say a name, it would take you AT LEAST 3,170 years to say them. That's a lot of names! And that's in only ONE galaxy.
Did you know that the universe is full of galaxies? Scientists estimate 3 TRILLION galaxies in the known universe. That's the KNOWN universe, not the unknown, which we all know is beyond our comprehension as the universe is constantly expanding. Three trillion galaxies...all full of hundreds of billions of suns with their own solar systems full of planets, asteroids, moons, and more.
And God knows them all by name!
Did you know that the Bible also says everything in creation is being sustained by the powerful word (or voice) of God's son, Jesus (Yeshua). (Hebrews 1:2-3)
Isn't that amazing!
It also says that God created the Heavens and the Earth (Genesis 1:1), but he also created ALL THINGS through the son. (Colossians 1:16, John 1:1-3, 1 Corinthians 8:6)
It is amazingly mind-boggling to try to comprehend that not only did God create the whole universe filled with more galaxies and solar systems than we will ever know or imagine, but that he knows them all by name and sustains and upholds them all. Wow!
I'm in awe of God!