On Monday, April 8th we were blessed to witness a partial eclipse of the sun with protective eclipse glasses. It was 97.9% covered in our area. I also watched the reports on ABC-TV as they stationed reporters at various points in the path of the moon’s shadow.
I was amazed and disappointed at how many people came to view this as a “spiritual experience” without any reference to God. They would say things like,
- “This really shows us that we are part of something bigger.”
- “The universe is so big and we are just a small part of it.”
- “This really unites us as a people.”
- “If we stay united we can succeed.”
People spent thousands of dollars on travel and motels just to be in the position to watch the moon cover up the sun. It was almost like an act of worship. One reporter pointed out that while the sun is much larger than the moon, the two objects appear to be the same size because of our distance from the sun and the relative closeness of the moon to the earth.
Emotionally, it did not impact me. I’ve enjoyed astronomy since I was a teenager and I knew the science. It also does not seem to have a lasting impact on those who saw it. It was just time to move on to the next thing in life.
There are two great truths the people of the world missed judging from their responses.
First, we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. But it is not an impartial “the universe” or some “mystical unknown spiritual force.” We are part of God’s design, a part of His plan and we were given a major role in His design for the universe. In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
Far from being a small part of God’s universe, we were given charge of this planet at God’s command. Genesis 2 expands on many of the wonderful things that God placed under our control and the one restriction God placed on us, to not participate in the knowledge of good and evil. We knew the good given to us by God and we were His image-bearers in this world. The problem came when our first parents chose to violate the one restriction God gave us and participated in the knowledge of good and evil, which broke our relationship with God.
God sent Jesus to restore that relationship through His death and resurrection. But so many people refuse to believe in the high position God created for all people. That “high position” was designed by God and will be restored for everyone who repents their sins and puts their faith in Jesus. We are His children by right of creation, we rebelled and went astray. God has provided a path of restoration to our high calling.
People are missing so much when they think of the universe as some impersonal force. No! The universe was created by God and is sustained by Him. He provides dwellings for the heavenly beings in heaven and the earth was given to us. This God loves us and shows us the extent of that love in the death and resurrection of Christ. People miss so much when they refuse to believe in all God has for them in Christ!
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Christian Hope for Today's World 