Macrocosm and Microcosm

I first became acquainted with these two words in college--but not in a classroom. One day as I entered the Baptist Student Center on campus, an extremely large oil painting was hanging in the front room. It was covered in globby paint for the most part (so now you know I am an artistic illiterate), but stuck down toward one corner was a single rhinestone. The painting was titled Macrocosm and Microcosm. I doubt that the painting won any awards but it was an excellent visual explanation of the two words.

This past Sunday morning our pastor was speaking on the subject of doubt, with the principal scripture basis of Psalm 77 in which Asaph, King David’s main Worship Leader, was expressing his doubts and discouragement to God.

Isaiah 40:25-26 talks about God creating the stars in the heavens, even calling them by name. We know that our sun, an extremely important star in our universe, is 150 million kilometers from earth. If it were just a few thousand km further away, the earth would be ice-covered. If the sun was a few thousand km closer to earth, everything living would fry. It is not an accident nor is it a coincidence that the sun is exactly where it is. Our Creator God set it there, for our good.

Pastor went on to speak of Betelgeuse, the red star that is 600 light years away from earth, yet we can see it as a pin point of light. If it were put in the middle of our solar system, it would extend out to Jupiter’s orbit. It was placed there by our Creator God.

Then there is this galaxy which is 170,000 light years away from earth, which is about twice the size of our Milky Way and contains one trillion stars, 100 billion of which may be the size of our sun. And all of this unfathomable universe was placed there by our Creator God.  

These astronomical facts illustrated a spiritual macrocosm and microcosm to me as I listened to the sermon. Emotions of wonder and humility hit me as I realized the ramifications of what I was hearing.

The Creator of our sun, of the red start Betelgeuse, and the Spiral Galaxy is also the Creator that we can talk to and call Abba or Daddy. He is the Father Jesus spoke of in Matthew 10:30 who knows the number of hairs on our heads (or what used to be there) and He even knows when a sparrow falls.  

How difficult to wrap our minds around a Creator like that. And then to top it all off, He sent Jesus to planet earth because He loved us so much that He wanted us to be with Him forever (John 3:16). I’m so grateful I’m a microcosm in His macrocosm.