Without consciousness there is nothing. Have you ever wondered why and how the world around you came to exist, and whether there might be an afterlife experience awaiting you after our physical bodies die? Might there actually be a God and a heaven of some sort? The hypothesis presented in this book is that our seemingly physical universe of matter and energy is a virtual simulation which is thought into existence by a universal consciousness which we call God. A reason for a universal consciousness to do such a thing could be to experience and evolve itself through the free will actions of its offspring. This would entail thinking into existence a virtual universe so as to interact with such a universe and each other. Literally everything is consciousness in action, resulting in a gigantic cosmic simulation. We and other creatures are offspring of this God consciousness.  THE MIRACLE OF OUR UNIVERSE explores the forefront of science and spirituality research including: · Are near-death experiences real? · What is the Zero-Point Field? · What kind of being could God be? · Is there some place that God could have come from? · How does the Big Bang figure into this? · It there an afterlife and what could it be like? · What is the purpose of life? · Is consciousness all there is? · Is the Universe a virtual reality? · Why is Hell impossible?