The Most Natural Thing

Some people say we humans are hard-wired to believe in God, that that is the natural state of mankind.

Forty-eight years ago this Christmas Eve human beings circled another celestial body for the very first time. Stretched out beneath them the crew of Apollo 8 could see the dry, gray, cratered wasteland of the Moon. And there, floating serenely in the ebony blackness, precious and lovely, was a tiny blue and white sphere that held every person, every form of life, every idea and deed they knew.

All at once, in a single photograph, mankind saw its seeming insignificance against the vast sweep of the universe, and the pure, vulnerable, crystalline beauty of the Earth, our home.

I have always thought it was interesting that in that moment the thing that seemed most natural was to speak God's primordial words of creation back to him:

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good,' (Book of Genesis, chapter 1 verses 1 - 10, King James Version)."

"...and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth!"



[This is a reprint of an earlier post because Christmas!]

Do Exoplanets Shake Your Faith?

Exoplanets

Courtesy of NASA/JPL

Not that long ago it was a doubtful idea that we would ever find planets outside our solar system. Yet according to Wikipedia we've now found 3,537 extrasolar planets since 1998. Once in a while you will see this fact (or the possibility we may find life on one of those planets) offered by journalists as something that might, well... shake the faith of Jesus' followers right down to our boots.

Because faith is such a precious, fragile little thing, you know.

There are a number of reasons people offer as to why life on other planets might disturb us, one of which is the notion that Jesus would have to visit each and every one so he could die horribly all over again. As one theologian recently put it, "It's been argued for a couple of centuries now whether one incarnation of God as Jesus Christ for the entirety of creation is sufficient."

Fortunately, early Christians have already been there and done that.

Cosmic

According to the Apostles, the sacrifice of Jesus is of cosmic significance. It isn't limited to the planet it took place on; it isn't limited at all, in fact. In any way. It touches every person that exists.

The early Christian movement was pretty clear on this. Paul the Apostle, for instance, told Jesus' roman followers that, "the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God," (Letter to the Romans 6.10). The Letter to the Hebrews is even plainer: "He came to offer himself only once. And that once is enough for all time. He came at a time when the world is nearing an end. He came to take away all sin by offering himself as a sacrifice," (Hebrews 9.26 ERV).

"Christ died for all," Paul succinctly puts it, "therefore all have died," (Second Letter to the Corinthians 5.14).

"Once for all" -- One death and resurrection, infinitely valuable, is able by itself to put the sins of the universe right -- and what other universes there may be.