When I Consider...the Moon

Psalm 104 shows us that the Lord, our Creator, is in control, a God full of wonder - and of order:
19 He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down. 20 You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the beasts of the forest creep about. 21 The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God. 22 When the sun rises, they gather together And lie down in their dens. 23 Man goes out to his work And to his labor until the evening. 24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions--   So we acknowledge the works of an Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth.   He has set the galaxies in motion, and He has placed the earth in just the right place to make it a place where life can be sustained.   The heavens testify to His greatness and His wisdom.   We can be thankful that we have been created by a loving, all-knowing God, and that He doesn't just make us and leave us to our own devices, but He offers us the incredible opportunity to come into a relationship with Him.

Psalm 8 can give us a breathtaking look at the Creator and His creation:
(1b) O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

Over the weekend, many were paying tribute to the first man who set foot on the surface of the moon - Neil Armstrong, who has died at the age of 82.    While many remember Armstrong's impactful words and the pictures beaming through space, what many do not know is that his colleague Buzz Aldrin had brought along some communion elements and led a short communion service there on the moon's surface.   Eric Metaxas of Breakpoint, in a column 3 years ago, related the words of Aldrin.  He is quoted as saying, after he opened the elements:

Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.  Apart from me you can do nothing.’  I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas.  I agreed reluctantly.   …I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

There are many theories about the moon and its significance, and there are those who would want to advance the theory that it broke off the earth in some cosmic collision.   But, the Bible is clear that God created the moon, and its purpose is underscored here by the Institute for Creation Research:

If the moon was much larger or nearer to the earth, the huge tides that would result would overflow onto the lowlands and erode the mountains. If the continents were leveled, it is estimated that water would cover the entire surface to the depth of over a mile! If the earth was not tilted 23° on its axis, but rather was on a 90° angle in reference to the sun, we would not have four seasons.

Without seasons, life would soon not be able to exist on earth—the poles would lie in eternal twilight, and water vapor from the oceans would be carried by the wind towards both the north and south, freezing when it moved close enough to the poles. In time, huge continents of snow and ice would pile up in the polar regions, leaving most of the earth a dry desert. The oceans would eventually disappear, and rainfall would cease. The accumulated weight of ice at the poles would cause the equator to bulge, and, as a result, the earth's rotation would drastically change.

The moon provides evidence of God's design.   And, people will try to explain the origins of the universe, saying that they embrace science, but scientific discoveries are being revealed all the time that are consistent with the Biblical account.   And, indeed, we read accounts of great scientists who were motivated by their devotion to God.   So when people like Bill Nye, the "Science Guy" say:  "Your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don't believe in evolution," you can respond that the complexities of our world can only be explained by a designer.   How did everything come to be - how does order come from randomness?   If evolution is true, why do we no longer seem to be evolving?   And if there are transition forms, why is there no evidence in the fossil record?    Many want to deny design and certainly do not want to bring their lives under the control of a designer, but man's theories do not make God's word any less true.