To the Moon and Beyond

This Saturday will be the 50th anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon. I was five years old then and don’t remember watching it live. The Apollo 11 landing occurred on a Sunday night with Neil Armstrong stepping on the lunar surface just before 10:00 p.m. CST. Since it would have been past my bedtime, I was probably asleep then. I do remember dressing up as an astronaut for Halloween three months later and wearing my costume at kindergarten.

As a kid, I looked forward to the 21st century figuring we’d be living like The Jetsons. I assumed our space program would travel throughout our solar system and beyond. Although probes have orbited and landed on other extraterrestrial bodies, manned missions using the Space Shuttle haven’t gone beyond our earth’s orbit.

When Newt Gingrich briefly ran for president in 2012, he suggested putting an American base on the moon by 2020. While it’s unlikely that will happen next year, President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to create a “space force.” This would be a sixth military branch overseeing missions and operations in the space domain.

Christians have debated if it’s God’s will for man to travel beyond this earth. The Tower of Babel was man’s attempt to reach the heavens instead of obeying His command to replenish the earth. Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” 

On the other hand, Psalm 8:6 says, “You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.” This could include territory in outer space as well as on earth. Some of our astronauts were believers. An evangelist I met last year had planned a missions trip to Russia with Neil Armstrong just before the astronaut died from heart surgery complications. Armstrong’s Apollo 11 comrade Buzz Aldrin performed a communion service for himself while in space. The year before on Christmas Eve, the Apollo 8 astronauts read from the Book of Genesis while orbiting the moon.

Even if mortal men never go beyond the moon, believers can look forward to being supernatural space cadets. We will have an eternity of traveling between heaven and earth plus exploring other parts of the universe. Your first trip to outer space could be the rapture of the church. Are you ready for Jesus to beam you up?

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

How Big is Your God?

How big is your god? From your heart, can you sing the Rich Mullins song “Awesome God” or Chris Tomlin’s “How Great is Our God?” Do you believe God is big enough to do incredible things in your life? Before you answer that question, let’s examine how big God really is. 

First, you need to have it settled in your heart that He created the entire universe… 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” - Genesis 1:1

“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” - Psalm 19:1

“All things were made through Him [Jesus Christ], and without Him nothing was made that was made.” - John 1:3

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” - Colossians 1:16

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” - Hebrews 11:3

Atheists and agnostics have told me they believe in science, which I do also when it’s based on proven facts that line up with Scripture. Some so-called intellectuals promote evolutionary theory, claiming creation came “from goo, through the zoo and wound up as you.” How unscientific is the idea that man came from monkeys? Every seed produces after its own kind. (Genesis 1:11-12)

Then there are scientists who don’t believe in God but talk about the universe resulting from a “big bang”. In the natural, how can something come from nothing? I like what Frank Turek says, “I believe in the big bang. I just happen to know Who banged it!”

One way to understand the awesomeness of God is to look at the characteristics of light. 1 John 1:5 says, “…God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” The speed of light is over 186,000 miles per second. It takes about eight minutes for our sun’s light to reach the earth. A beam of light can travel around the equator seven times in one second. Can you now see how God can be omniscient and communicate with multitudes of people at once?

Now consider the stars in the sky. There are more of them than all the grains of sand on earth. Distance in space is measured in light years, which is 5.88 trillion miles. Our galaxy called the Milky Way spans 80,000 light years across and has over 100 billion stars. The Milky Way is one of approximately 125 billion galaxies that make up the universe. God has a lot more than just the whole world in His hands. As in the words of an old Disney song, “it’s a small world after all.”

Man created in the image and likeness of God has been around for about 6,000 years. But the light seen in the sky from distant galaxies has taken up to 13 billion years to get to us. This is how scientists have determined the age of the universe and yet God has been around longer than that.

So if God is so big, why do we often think too small with our prayers? One reason is we allow our present circumstances to consume our thought life. Some people magnify the devil too much. As I heard another minister say, “If you talk more about what the devil is doing than what God is doing, then you are really a devil worshipper.” Many will be surprised when in eternity they see Satan for who he really is. Isaiah 14:16-17 says, “Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’”

Some of us would just be happy if God made a way for us to pay all our bills. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” If the Creator of the Universe can part the Red Sea, make the sun stand still and multiply loaves and fishes, why wouldn’t He do things that by comparison are rather insignificant? Instead of just concerning ourselves with our own needs, God wants us to think bigger…to be a blessing to others.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, “But as it is written:’Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” Just think, this great big God who created the universe lives inside of you through the person of the Holy Spirit…that is, if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. All you need to do is seek Him for revelation on the big things He wants to do through you and for you. Ask Him today!

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” - Ephesians 3:20