Man’s insatiable desire for knowledge
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God…”
Deuteronomy 29:29 (NKJV)
In 2004 the European Space Agency launched a mission to land an investigative probe called Philae on Comet 67P/C-G – some 300 million miles from planet earth. The ten-year space mission caught up with the comet in 2014, and the following month went into orbit around the 2-3 mile wide object.
Amazingly, Philae landed safely on the comet, which was travelling around 35,000 mph and sent back some information to Mission Control in Germany. Unfortunately its landing equipment failed to engage properly causing the probe to bounce twice. The probe ended up on its side in a crevice where its solar panels were unable to charge properly, causing it to transmit information for three days only.
This tricky space mission was considered a success at the time, and was testimony to the creative genius that God invests in human beings. Man’s insatiable quest for knowledge has NASA preparing for another manned moon mission possibly in 2025. Astronauts will land on the moon to undertake scientific experiments. The idea is to build a permanent manned lunar station where they can mine resources like precious metals and return them to earth. If this mission proves successful, the next goal is to send people to planet Mars in ten to twenty years’ time in an attempt to colonise that planet.
Scripture tells us: ‘So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ (Genesis 1:27 NLT). In so doing he endowed men and women with a little of his incredible intelligence and power. And Genesis 1:26 tells us that God has given man dominion over all the earth, including its myriads of creatures.
After thousands of years of sometimes poor stewardship however, man has destroyed the habitat of many of God’s creatures, and the creation ‘…groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.’ (Romans 8:22 NKJV). But soon the creation will be ‘…delivered from the bondage of corruption [decay] into the glorious liberty of the children of God’ (v.21).
May God speed the glorious day when ‘faith will be sight’ and the world will be restored to its former glory!
Prayer
Thank you, Father in heaven, for creating us humans with amazing intelligence and ability to investigate and accomplish many things. Most importantly, thank you for the life-saving knowledge of salvation that you have made available to us through your written word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Study by John Magowan
About the writer:
John Magowan attends the Lisburn congregation of Grace Communion International, Northern Ireland.
Local congregation:
Lisburn Grace Communion
Ballymacbrennan School House
129A Saintfield Road
Lisburn
BT27 5PG
Meeting time:
Sunday 11am
Local congregational contact:
Bob Beggs
Email:lisburngracecom@gmail.com
(www.grace-ni.org)
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church