“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.”
(Isaiah 40:26)
As Linde and I strolled along after supper, I gazed up at the sky and found myself marveling at the power and wisdom of the Creator. More stars and galaxies than we could ever count reside in a seemingly endless stretch of space. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” declares the opening verse of God’s inscripturated revelation (Genesis 1:1). Though we might want to know more about this stupendous display of creative power, the Creator Himself saw fit to document the creation of the stellar bodies in very few, beautiful words. “ . . .He made the stars also,” is His succinct statement on the matter (Genesis 1:16b). The more we explore the cosmos with our telescopes and probes, the more mysterious and awesome the creator order becomes. Those who believe that the universe came into being through a chaotic and unplanned “Big Bang” are continually being challenged by the observable facts. Galaxies, for instance, still hold their distinctive spiral shapes, indicating their origin was far more recent than called for by the Big Bang Theory. Furthermore, galaxies are not randomly distributed throughout the cosmos but appear to be precisely ordered, like beads on a string. Closer to home, we notice that there is no planet-moon system like the one between the earth and our nearest satellite. Our moon is ¼ the size of the earth; in every other system, the planet is many times larger than its moons. This unique arrangement makes it possible, on rare occasions, for the moon to (almost) totally eclipse the sun. When this happens, scientists have a fleeting opportunity to study the solar atmosphere, which is not quite eclipsed by the moon. These and countless other fascinating cosmic realities confirm our belief that the word is not a chaos but a cosmos, an ordered creation intended to cause us to learn about the world and to reflect upon and appreciate its Blessed Creator (Romans 1:18-20). Camped by the shore of Lake St. Martin with my friends a few years ago, the night sky was truly awesome to behold; there really are no words to describe its awesome beauty. I notice that when I look up at the night sky from my backyard I don’t see nearly as many stars; the face of the sky doesn’t appear nearly as impressive. This is because the city’s lights drown out and obscure heaven’s declaration of God’s glory (Psalms 19:1-2). This is as unavoidable as it is typical. In almost any congested population center, man’s activities, intentional or not, serve to obscure the reality of God’s power and presence. As the sun arises in the morning, however, I notice that both stars and streetlights vanish from view. This reminds me of Christ, “the Sun of Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2), at Whose return all competing glories will be eclipsed forever. Maranatha!
God bless (and keep looking up!)
pastor john
English