At the creation of the universe, such vast power was unleashed that it still echoes through the heavens. In an instant, all that exists was forged from nothing. A resulting faint afterglow of radio waves carries with it the signature of those first moments, and by studying that signature we can learn about the beginning.

However, the lingering afterglow does more than paint a picture of the first few seconds of creation, it also points to the Creator.

When we reflect on the vast array of stars on a clear, dark night, it’s hard not to feel very small. The beautiful expanse above us seemingly extends into forever. As vast as that canopy is, as small as it makes us feel, imagine the power unleashed at that initial moment. Almost inconceivable, and yet the simple description we are given is the smallest of things, just a few words. “Let there be light.”

Imagine that! All the power, all the grandeur, all that dwarfs us just by seeing it, the result of a single statement. What does that imply for the one who made that statement, whose words unleashed the full power of creation?

Now, billions of years later, the universe has expanded steadily to its current size, enormous almost beyond comprehension. This amount of time is as difficult to grasp as the extent of the heavenly canopy.

Try to imagine it. Stop for one minute and simply sit quietly.

Stop… Wait… Imagine this going on for billions and billions of years.

It’s truly hard to grasp. Human understanding can relate to hundreds of years, because that compares to a few human generations, or perhaps thousands of years, because that’s merely a few times the oldest living thing. Even millions of years can be visualized by observing the natural landscape and allowing our imagination to see it change. But a span of billions of years is so long, and so different from anything we experience, as to be comprehensible only in an abstract sense, in much the same way as eternity itself.

Think again of the glow of radio waves from that distant beginning, and see it as a picture of a voice so powerful that it continues to echo through the universe, billions of years later.

This echo is a picture of the Creator’s voice, and the reality of it is evident today in the lives of his children. For them, his voice takes many forms. Through relationship with him, we learn to discern it more and more clearly. He speaks to us personally, providing hope and guidance in our lives. We learn to see beyond the merely physical, into the spiritual world of true reality. His presence becomes real in our lives as He manifests Himself with the same power He exhibited in creation. This is because of His great love, the love that caused him to wait billions of years for you, to die on the cross for you, and to ultimately allow you to become part of his family. This is the most important reality of creation, that we are eternal spiritual beings, intended to become his.