Images of space, stars and all the stuff that’s out there I’ve always found fascinating. Hubble images make me think of John 1 and the hymn to the Logos, the Word. ‘In the beginning was the Word…..’
Aileen, my daughter, my pal and my humility level monitor, sent me this picture from NASA. She thinks it’s cool – I agree. I love the throwaway line in Genesis, ‘he made the stars also’, stars as an afterthought of Israel’s theologian, telling the story of how all things came to be, a dig at the Babylonians and their belief in the power of the stars. Not so Israel’s God – their God manufactured, shaped, crafted, set in place, arranged in infinitely intricate cosmic filigree, the stars. And when they come out it’s in God’s timing not theirs; and their movements are his to command and choreograph. Genesis isn’t about proving this or that scientific theory, it’s about the theological checkmate of Babylonian power by telling the story of the Creator. Psalm 8 rings with the same defiant praise…when I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers….what are human beings like us, that you care for us? The answer to that question is found in the deep dazzling recesses of divine love working out eternal purpose…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory….full of grace and truth….God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself…making peace through his blood shed on the cross.
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