Why The Earth Is Round

Here's how I imagine the exchange that went on in heaven between God and His angels before the creation of the world. God had been planning the layout for the physical world, and it was time to reveal it to the angels. Let's take it from there.

God: "I am going to create a physical realm."  

Angels: "What's a physical realm?"

God: "You wouldn't understand. Just trust me. I'm also going to create something called time."

Angels: "What's time?"

God: "Never mind. You wouldn't understand that either. Just trust me."

Angels: "Why do you want to create a physical realm?"

God: "So I can create an environment for my greatest creation of all...humans."

Angels: "What's humans?"

God: "They will be living creatures who will see and hear and think and breathe and talk and smell and touch and taste and......."

Angels: "What will they look like?"

God: "I will create them sort of in my image, but each one of them will be a little different."

Angels: "How many are you going to create."

God: "Just one to start with. But there will be more, many more."

Angels: "Where are these humans going to live?" 

God: "Here's the good part. I'm going to create a physical universe that has no end. It will sort of reflect our spiritual eternal realm in a physical way. They won't be able to comprehend it totally, or figure it out completely, but that's ok. Maybe they'll realize I exist even though they won't be able to see me."

Angels: "Where will they be in this universe?"

God: "They will be on a planet they will call Earth. I will place Earth perfectly in the universe near a sun that will warm them, and a moon that will give them light at night."

Angels: "How long and wide will this planet be?"

God: "It will be round."

Angels: "What!? Round? You mean like a sphere? Why round?"

God: "One reason is so I can contain them all in one place."

Angels: "If it's round, won't they fall off?

God: "I will create something mysterious - something incredible - it will be called gravity - and allow them to stand anywhere, even up-side-down without falling off. Not to mention that I'm going to make the planet spin. There's a lot more to it."

Angels: "How can that be? It sounds impossible."

God: "Nothing is impossible with you know who."

Angels: "What a genius idea."

God: "Thanks for the praise."

Angels: "What's going to hold this planet up?"

God: "Nothing. I'm going to sort of hang it in the middle of nowhere, then give everything a spin, and watch it all go. The universe will always be sort of alive in the sense that it will be always in motion."

Angels: "Crazy!"

God: "It's all about the spin. That's another reason I'm making the planets round."
Angels: "These humans will be amazed at Your creation."
God: "Some will. But many will not believe I created the universe, and will not believe in me. Non-believers will think they have the universe and the planets all figured out. Those are the ones who think they don't need me."
Angels: "That's terrible."
God: "Yes, but I will make it obvious in so many ways that I exist. I hope they will be convinced, and that they will see me, even though I'm invisible."

Angels: "Can we go to visit this Earth someday?"

God: "Once in a while I will send you - as my messengers, and to minister to them in different ways. But if they see you, it will probably scare them half to death."
Angels: "We can't wait to meet these humans."
God: "You will eventually. You see, the ones who choose to come to me and love me will someday dwell eternally with us. They will be called my children, and I will be called their Father."
Angels: "What's the whole point of this plan?"
God: "It's called love."
Angels: "Will they be able to earn Your love?"
God: "No it's free to them, if they choose to believe and obey me. But it won't be free to me. It will cost more than you can imagine."
Angels: "Why?"
God: "Because I will give them free will. And they will have a choice whether to believe in me and follow me, or reject me. But most of them will reject me."
Angels: "Sad."
God: "Their free will is the only way I can be sure that their love is real, and that it's their personal choice."
Angels: "How will You show them Your love?"
God: "It's a plan that is bigger than the universe. I will reveal it to you eventually. You will even be involved in it someday. It will require great sacrifice on my part. But it will be worth it in the end. You will be amazed."

"It is I who made the earth  and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts." (Isaiah 45: 12)

"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth..." (Isaiah 40:22)

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! " (Job 38:4-5a)

 "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

The Man Who Never Died

Eons ago there was a man who walked on this earth just like everyone else. He was an ordinary human with no special powers or abilities. However, there was something extraordinary that happened to him though. He never died! Now this doesn't mean that he is still living on this earth today. Perhaps a better description of what happened to him would be this: he was 'translated'. What?!

Let me tell you more about this man. He lived in days of old, in ancient times, the times of the Biblical patriarchs. His name was Enoch. He was just a handful of generations after Adam. He was the great-grandfather of Noah. Remember, in those days, men lived to incredible ages (see my blog, "The Thousand Year Old Man"). For example, Adam lived 930 years! Methuselah, the oldest recorded age for a human, lived 969 years! Noah lived 950 years! When you think about it, Adam, the first man, was supposed to live forever until sin brought death, so I guess compared to living forever, 1000 years or so is a short span. Ha. 

Even though Enoch lived in the era of long life (that is until God shortened the human life span, perhaps because of wickedness), Enoch himself only lived about half the years that others of his time did. He lived 365 years. But his relatively short life span wasn't because of his wickedness - just the opposite. Enoch was faithful and true to God for his entire life span. He walked faithfully in close relationship with God. That was special. So special, that God decided to take him into heaven relatively early, without him physically dying! Wow. 

"Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him." (Genesis 5:23-24 NLT)

The book of Hebrews, in chapter 11, presents to us the hall of fame of faithful men. Enoch is listed there, in the New Testament, as an example of a man of strong faith. It also gives us a little more detail on what happened to him. 

It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him." For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5 NLT)

In the book of Hebrews, the King James Version uses the word "translated" instead of the term "taken up". I like that because it gives the picture of God sort of transferring him seamlessly from the physical realm into the spiritual realm without physical death. 

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." (Hebrews 11:5 KJV) 

So how does this story affect us? It does because it strengthens our faith, our hope, our belief. You see, Enoch gives us insight into our own lives. Here are a couple of truths that we can hold on to.

First, God is pleased when we walk with Him daily - when we live in a close relationship with Him every single day of our lives - when we trust in Him completely and have total faith in Him. This faith gives us eternal reward.

Secondly, we can have the hope of eternal life - the hope of resurrection. There is life beyond this physical world. If we are in Christ here on earth, then just as Christ resurrected from the dead, we too will resurrect. We can be confident in the reality of a spiritual realm.

One more thing. Perhaps God gave us the story of Enoch to give us a real-life illustration of what we will experience if we are living on that final day when Jesus returns. On that day, those who have died in Christ, will be resurrected. But those who are in Christ and still alive will have a similar fate that Enoch experienced. They will be 'translated' from the physical realm directly into the spiritual realm with our Lord. And this will happen in the twinkling of an eye.

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

So, who knows, maybe you will be alive when Jesus returns, and you won't need to experience death! After all, it sure seems like end times are approaching soon. If that happens, and you are in Christ, you will just be 'translated' just like Enoch was. But don't worry, if you die before Jesus comes, as long as you were in Christ, walking with Him daily, and trusting in Him in faith, then that's all that really counts. You will be resurrected into eternal life, from the physical realm into the spiritual realm. Then you can ask Enoch anything you want to.