“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15 - 17 *********************************************************** A Spiritual View of Space, by Charles W. Colson.
“Astronaut John Glenn's return to space 36 years after his awe-inspiring orbit around the earth was a reminder of the kind of heroism that makes space exploration possible - what author Tom Wolfe called the "right stuff."
What you may not know however is that for many of the early astronaut heroes, the right stuff included deep religious faith.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are best known as the first astronauts to land on the moon and take that "Giant leap for mankind."
But you probably don't know that before they emerged from the spaceship Aldrin pulled out a Bible, a silver chalice, and sacramental bread and wine.
There on the moon his first act was to celebrate communion.
Frank Borman was commander of the first space crew to travel beyond the earth's orbit.
Looking down on the earth from 250,000 miles away, Borman radioed back a message quoting Genesis 1: "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth."
As he later explained, "I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a Power greater than any of us - that there was a God and that there was indeed a beginning."
The late James Irwin who walked on the moon in 1971, later became an evangelical minister. He often described the lunar mission as a revelation. In his words, "I felt the power of God as I'd never felt it before."
Charles Duke who followed Irwin to the moon later became active in missionary work.
As he explained, "I make speeches about walking ON the moon and walking WITH the Son."
Guy Gardner is a veteran astronaut who speaks in churches on the reality of God.
What is it about being in space that seems to spark our innate religious sense?
Two centuries ago the philosopher Immanuel Kant said there are two things that "fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me." Reflecting about these things Kant wrote "Lead our minds to contemplate God Himself - the moral law revealing His goodness, the heavens revealing His power."
As the Psalmist put it: "The heavens declare the glory of God."
Or as John Glenn put it as he observed the heavens and earth from the windows of Discovery: "To look out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my faith."
Many of us have thought that science is antagonistic to faith. Yet most of the great figures who shaped the scientific enterprise from the beginning have been devout believers - people like Blaise Pascal who invented the first calculator; Isaac Newton who discovered the law of gravity; and James Maxwell who formulated the laws of electromagnetism.
All were Christians who felt that the study of nature did not challenge their faith but rather strengthened it.
And that's exactly what space exploration can do in the lives of those who take part in it.” *********************************************************** "...The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge..."Psalms 19:1 - 2
"...Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing..." Isaiah 40:26
" ...For this is what the Lord says - He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited - He says: " I am the Lord, and there is no other..." Isaiah 45:18
"...This is what God the Lord says - He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:..." Isaiah 42:5
"...It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts..." Isaiah 45:12
"...in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe...The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word..." Hebrews 1:2-3
"...This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Myself..." Isaiah 44:24
"...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?..."Psalm 8:3-4
"...He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit..."Psalms 147:4-5
"...The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters..." Psalms 24:1-2
"...He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south..."Job 9:8-9
"...Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation ? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions ? Surely you know ! Who stretched a measuring line across it ? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone ? Job 38:4 -6
"...By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding He set the heavens in place; by His knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew..." Proverbs 3:19 - 20
"...Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to LIVE IN..." Isaiah 40:21 - 22
"...For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together..." Colossians 1:16 - 17
"...The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. You created the north and the south;..." Psalm 89:11 - 12
" ... The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in His hands..." John 3:35 "...He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together ..." Colossians 1:17
"...Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth - everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made..." Isaiah 43:6 - 7
"...Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you..."Jeremiah 32:17
"...The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else..."Acts 17:24 - 25
"...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?..."Psalm 8:3 - 4
"...From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what He made. As a result, people have no excuse..." Romans 1:20
"...In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land..." Psalm 95:4-5
