The Earth was without form and void
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
I remember, when I was young, learning Einstein’s theories, and feeling very upset to realize that in grade school and junior high, I was taught things in science as scientific principal and fact, which were already known to be not quite true. Gravity, as the force described by Sir Isaac Newton, does not exist. According to Einstein, gravity is an illusion created by the warping of space. I remember reading how Einstein, in one of his papers, apologized to Newton, who he so greatly admired, for saying that he was wrong. Later, reading Stephen Hawking’s work, I noticed that he made a similar apology to Dr. Einstein, who he very much admired. A step at a time we are putting the pieces together and figuring things out, each generation standing on the shoulders of the giants of the previous generation. But as we begin to scratch the surface of understanding the laws of physics, how many of us realize that it was YeHoVaH, the creator, who designed those very laws of physics that we incrementally strive to comprehend.
Space was another lie that they told us in science class. Space, we were told, is nothing… the absence of matter. That’s not true. Space is not nothing, the absence of everything. Space is a very real thing in and of itself, a thing viable enough to warp to create the illusion of gravity. Think about that for a moment.
Most people know that matter is composed of molecules, which can be broken down further into atoms, which can be broken down further into protons, neutrons, etc. Did you know, when you get down to the tiniest, most minute little subatomic particles – they appear to be nothing more than a distortion of space? A distortion of space. Think about that. In my minds eye, I can visualize that. . . as being similar to that warping of space that we perceive as gravity, or a black hole… but on a vastly smaller scale. What holds that space in that distortion? Energy, of course. Which explains why matter and energy are transmutable – they are one and the same. All matter is basically composed of space and energy. When you realize this, the concept of quantum physics becomes really simple and obvious, and makes perfect sense.
So really, our universe is nothing but space, manipulated by energy into its current form. And what is the source of the energy? God, of course. In my mind’s eye, I can see it. When God decided to create this universe, all he really had to ‘create’ was the 4 dimensional form of space. Space was the blank canvas – and the medium He used to paint this beautiful world for us was His own thoughts – His will – His very soul. It was at this point – the point when He had created space, and had not yet molded the space into its current form – that the earth was without form, and void.
In recent years physicists have theorized a view of the universe as merely a hologram or projection of another, more ‘real’ universe. See the following articles for more information:
Simulations Back Up Theory That Universe Is a Hologram
New Work Gives Credence to Theory of Universe as a Hologram
This concept appears to be confirmed by the reports of people who have had near death experiences, who frequently express the opinion or belief that this temporal existence is not the ‘real’ world, but rather, that place which they visited while outside the confines of the physical body is the true reality.
One such person relating a near death experience, Dr. Eben Alexander, is a neurosurgeon who, with his understanding of neurological function, had previously dismissed such experiences as a product of the brain. Now however, he believes that the explanations he used to give people for such experiences cannot possibly explain his own experience. He goes into great detail on this in his book, Proof of Heaven. He no longer believes that the brain produces consciousness. Now he describes the brain as more like a ‘reducing filter’ – a tool designed to ‘dumb down’ our consciousness enough to allow it to function within the confines of our limited physical bodies.
Others have speculated that the brain is not the producer of the consciousness, but rather a receiver of it – just as a television doesn’t produce the programming it displays, but only receives the signal which originates elsewhere. A fuller explanation of this theory can be found here: Is Consciousness a Product of the Brain or is the Brain the Receiver of Consciousness?
I wonder sometimes if many people have a hard time believing in a heavenly creator father because of a lifetime of conditioning based upon stories that seem to them like fairy tales and myth. And yet many of these same people wouldn’t have a hard time believing that there may be other life forms more highly evolved than our own, possibly even existing in other dimensions. Consider for a moment that such a description may precisely fit that entity which modern man commonly refers to as ‘God’. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
So imagine for a moment – God – as a higher being in a different dimension. Just as the Air Force and NASA have developed flight simulators for training recruits, God created this hologram of a universe for us. It is imperative to our purpose for being here that we be totally immersed in the experience to the point that we believe this temporal existence to be reality. The consequences of our free will decisions have to be tangible in order to sort the recruits. Some of us will pass and some of us will not, based on our free will decisions. It’s all up to us.
The Bible says that the end of the world will come in unimaginable searing heat. Knowing the energy that is released in a nuclear reaction, which involves a comparatively tiny amount of matter, it boggles the mind to think of the amount of energy that would be released if God decided to destroy all matter in the universe. And all it would take would be for Him to be done with it, and stop maintaining it in its current form – stop ‘willing’ it into existence. Unimaginable searing heat would be like the definition of understatement. Is this the inevitable outcome when our simulated training exercise is completed, and the crop of recruits is ready for harvest… ready for Him to separate the wheat from the chaff?
The end of the physical world in ‘searing heat’ makes sense from a physics perspective; the world will once again be ‘without form and void’ as the mind of God re-forms it into the new heaven and earth. Indeed, scripture tells us that even the very elements themselves will melt.
2 Peter 10-12
10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
