Does the Universe’s Immensity Imply a Huge Waste?

Question of the week: How does the cosmos affirm that there is a God who loves us? Isn’t the universe absolutely vast? Wouldn’t the vastness of the universe imply an enormous amount of wasted matter and space?

My Answer: In my book, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, I explain why, in the context of the laws of physics that God chose and designed to govern the universe and Earth (Jeremiah 33:25), the mass and size of the universe must be exquisitely fine-tuned for a single planet to exist on which physical life is possible.¹ For example, if the universe were slightly less massive, the only elements that would exist would be hydrogen and helium. In such a universe the elements essential for life (for example, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium) would be missing. If the universe were slightly more massive, the only elements that would exist would be iron and the elements heavier than iron. In such a universe the elements essential for life would be missing. For a brief article on the miracle of both carbon and oxygen existing in the universe, go here.² Nothing in the universe is wasted. In my book Improbable Planet, I describe how every component in the universe, Earth, and Earth’s life and every event in the universe, Earth, and Earth’s life must be exactly the way it is in order for billions of humans to exist and be redeemed from evil.³ Such ubiquitous and exquisite design testifies of a God who loves us and has destined us for an eternal, rewarding relationship with him.