I’ll take them in order, and without prejudice.
1. Does God live in this Universe or outside of it?
My understanding is that no creator can live inside of his creation, or at least not for long. This is based on an, admittedly, faulty analogy. I find myself personifying the One when I think about this. Something I need to think more on, as I refuse to reduce Him to my level. Forgive me for a fuzzy answer on this.
2. What role does perspective play in understanding Genesis?
I teach my grandkids about the universe. The youngest is 4 and wouldn’t know an electron from a plum. He has no more idea of the elegance of the Aufbau principle than he does of the golden mean. I do think perspective and modern thought has much to give to bible study. We have a real drive to understand the glory of creation.
3. You have noted God’s signature in everything from the laws of physics to the microwave buzzes of the universe. How powerful is God?
God is all. One of the things that makes me laugh sometimes is talking to atheiests who demand I provide proof of God. (Not that I am saying you are - but it is the sort of question I get!) He shows his work absolutely everywhere. For a mysterious God, he is singularly bad at hiding his handiwork!
4. What does Hebrews 11:1 mean?
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
It is one of the most beautiful yet terrifying phrases in the bible. To borrow a phrase from a heretic - “Yet still, it moves.”
The deeper you dig into the works of the Lord - creation itself, whether on a macro scale or just confined to this one fairly insignificant planet - the more you see the perfection of God.
Yet, you neither want nor deserve generalities. I can only give you my personal take on that line:
God gave me a brain and an intense curiosity about the universe. I was blessed to be born into a time when many questions about how the universe works have been answered, and more are being answered all the time.
Not definitively, of course. Science does not do that. It is a human construct - possibly the only one we have ever done that can and will (reluctantly) admit it was wrong.
My faith is that God exists. He created all. He sent his only Son to die for our sins. The cynic in me says he did that because Heaven was empty and Hell was opening an annex. He also provided the Word, which is not merely inerrant, but totally accurate, if we are willing to examine it.
I may not worship him as you do (I am Catholic. Most people I discuss things with are not, so I am calling the percentages here). But make no mistake. The Lord God is our creator, our refuge and our destiny. And should you ever need a reminder of His glory, go outside at night and just look up.
Blessings to you and yours.
The question is, how could this be allowed without an EPA impact study? Just imagine if creation was a gov. project. Today’s gov. would have joined men with men, among other things.
The first part of this verse is deeply revealing:
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
Thought—these words “image” and “likeness” are very far removed from words such as “the same” or “just as.”
Thought—God describes Himself as “Us” and “Our”.
1. Does God live in this universe or outside of it?
Psalms gives much insight to this question.
Ps. 113: 5,6 Who is like the Lord or God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth.
Ps. 139: 7,8 Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
At Jesus’ baptism we can read of the “Us” of creation—
Matt. 3: 16,17
16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him;
17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And in Acts 2:38 we learn of a gift that remains with us when we partake in baptism.
“...and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What is the reason for this gift? Eph. 1: 13,14 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise., who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
It would seem from scripture, God cannot be confined to outside of the Universe solely.
2. What role does perspective play in understanding Genesis?
There is only one perspective that really matters.
Col. 1:16,17. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and FOR HIM. And He is BEFORE all things, and IN HIM all things consist.
We may *see* all kinds of things related to the creation, but our *seeing* doesn’t make it so. God alone is the only one with the correct perspective on creation and its workings. It was created FOR HIM, He is BEFORE all of creation, and all of creation consists IN HIM. Shall we limit God to a perspective generated by a human created science?
3. You have noted God’s signature in everything from the laws of physics to the microwave buzzes of the universe. How powerful is God?
These simple words in Ps. 33:6 say so much. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.” But if mere words that create a universe does not sound powerful, the passage in Acts 17: 24-29 makes things so clear regarding God’s power.
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshiped with mens hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives life, breath, and all things, and He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
God has been intimately involved with all of creation throughout space and time and still is. How odd that man’s science would attempt to put time and space boundaries on I AM and His capabilities. His power is without limit. It matters not that we understand it.
4. What does Hebrews 11:1 mean?
Mark 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein.
“AS LITTLE CHILDREN” When putting our “image” and “likeness” next to God we see ourselves as we truly are. AS LITTLE CHILDREN. It is that humility and honesty that is required to understand Hebrews 11:1. And it is with that kind of humility and honesty that scripture can be accepted at face value.
Either God is or He is not.
If He is, then He is who He says He is.
If He is who He says He is, then His word is what He says it is.
II Timothy 3:16 Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness.
If His word is what He says it is, then there is no reason to doubt it.
Ecc. 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
Solomon was given wisdom from God and this was his conclusion after striving for full mastery of all that he possessed and knew.