Yeah Rick, the physical has been rolling along for billions of years. I read something once that made it clear how short a time in the history of the universe that humans have been around. I will post that.
How long has the earth been here?
...a very long time, at least according to the way humans measure time. Based on relative and absolute age dating techniques, geologists now think that the earth was formed about 4,600,000,000 years ago. One of the challenges of any study of the earth is being able to comprehend just how long this is, and for what an extremely small part of it humans have been here.
Let's make a simple scale model to illustrate: Spread your arms straight out from your shoulders. Pretend that all of earth history is represented by the distance between your fingertips. If you start at your left hand, time passed to your left wrist before we know ANYTHING at all - all rocks and other evidence are lost before that time. Sometime between your wrist and elbow, it seems certain that simple, primitive, one-celled life forms appeared. Also by this time, the earth's differentiation process had proceeded far enough to start building some mighty impressive continental land masses (probably nothing living on them, but they're getting ready). One-celled organisms stick around for quite awhile (actually they're still here), but by your shoulder the atmosphere begins to become enriched in free oxygen. The doom of one-cell supremacy is approaching. But it doesn't happen right away. Well past your head, and beyond the far reaches of your right shoulder, the earth finally sees two-celled critters. The expansion of life really picks up from here on, and we have evidence of some pretty complex beings by mid-forearm. It isn't until your right wrist that organisms developed hard parts (shells, bones, teeth) which could be preserved as "fossils" for us to find. Dinosaurs existed between the joints of your fingers. How about humankind? Take a nail file and gently scrape it along the fingernail of your longest finger. Way to go - you just wiped out all of human history (and more).
How many years has the earth existed? The same as how many birds are in a flock - more than you count.http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry16.html ---------------------
I just thought that was interesting. So mankind has not been around that long, relatively, it makes you put things in perspective a bit. Now I only believe in evolution to a degree... it was God's intervention that brought man on the scene.
But this age is a cycle of one generation after the other, bringing new life into the world. Each generation faces the same retched crime, corruption, and turmoil "wars and rumors of wars" as the one before it did. Yes nations has risen up and were brought down, this one will too one day.
God said even before the flood...
Gen 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
It's the same today, has been throughout all the centuries, learning about good and evil is the way of this age, until Christ brings in the new age.
Mat 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
v. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
v. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
v. 39
and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Jesus told us right there what it would be like when He return, life as usual. He also said there will not be a build up of end time events to indicate His return is near, but it will be sudden and unexpected.
Mat 24:44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
mercy, peace and love
Kat
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Topic: Major Religions of the World (Read 9959 times)