Letters From Grandpa #526

• LETTER FROM GRANPA
• 526

Dearest grandchild,

Today we will consider again the magnificent miracle of the incarnation. The very idea that the God Who created our vast universe has chosen to dwell in the hearts of creatures like us is almost too outrageous to believe. Our amazement is further compounded by the fact that our earth is but a tiny speck of dust in our vast universe. Out of the trillions of stars in the heavens, for example, let us consider the star Betelgeuse. This single star is estimated to be 765 million miles in diameter. Our sun is 92 million miles away from earth and thus the diameter of this single star is over 8 times the distance from the earth to the sun. The sun is so large that it can contain 1.3 million earths, and Betelgeuse is so large that it can contain over 700 million suns. Yet God created the sun, moon, and stars to give light upon the earth (Genesis 1:14-18) It is on the earth that God chose to make man in His own image! It is on the earth that Jesus chose to first appear as a microscopic zygote in the womb of a peasant girl named Mary. Thus our tiny earth is the focal point of the great struggle between good and bad, right and wrong, God and Satan. The Psalmist said it beautifully: “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 thou art mindful of him?” (Psalms 8:3-4)

Truly Isaiah was correct in saying: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) Isaiah continued: “This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” (Isaiah 66:1) The answer is: “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

The Psalmist quoted God and said: “If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.” (Psalms 50:10) Further, God not only owns all of the gold, silver, and precious stones on earth, He also owns everything of value in the whole universe. The one thing He does not own, however, is our heart. God created us in His own image and will not come into our hearts unless He is invited. That’s why of all the women on earth He chose a peasant girl named Mary who wanted her soul to glorify the Lord and whose spirit rejoiced in God her Savior. Indeed God was mindful of her humble estate and ordained that all generations call her blessed (Luke 1:46-55)

Scientist John Lennox is a devout Christian who has debated some of the most famous atheists in the world (Richard Dawkins, Pete Singer, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Ruse, etc.) John confesses that the greatest enigma he faces is the reality of suffering. Why do thousands die in natural disasters? Why do children get cancer? Why do good people suffer when often wicked people do not?

Atheist Richard Dawkins wrote in A River out of Eden: “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. As that unhappy poet A.E. Housman put it: ‘For Nature, heartless, witless Nature Will neither care nor know.’ DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” Lennox observes that Dawkins unwittingly reveals that his atheism is actually a “belief” system. He “believes” in “good” and “evil” but is dependent upon God to tell the difference. How can we possibly blame Hitler and Stalin if they were merely dancing to their DNA? Further, atheism not only robs the world of morality, but also of hope. The fact that Jesus conquered the grave

provides hope that death does not end all. This involves the blessed hope that someday evil will be punished and righteousness rewarded.

Lennox also observed: “J. L. Mackie was a famous Oxford philosopher who was an atheist. But he said, if there are objective moral values in the universe, and there appear to be, there’s a direct line from there to the existence of God. Because it’s very difficult, and even Dawkins confessed that up until relatively recently when Sam Harris changed his mind, that you cannot get objective morality without belief in God.” Lennox continues: “Alexander Solzhenitsyn, when he gave his address in North America some years ago, said ‘If I were to sum up what it is that’s caused the moral evil of the 20th century, and also a hundred million deaths of my fellow citizens in Russia, I would say: we have forgotten God.’”

With reference to our suffering, Lennox asks: “what is God doing on a cross? And my answer to that is, it shows me at the very least, that God has not remained distant from the problem of human suffering, but has Himself become part of it. Now, at the pragmatic level, I’ve seen that bring healing to many, many people, if they begin to see that God actually understands our suffering.”

The Apostle Peter explained: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:21-23)

Even more to the point: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” I Peter 4:12-13)

Truly: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce