Man on the Moon?

The Bible teaches us about the breathtaking majesty of God and the order that He has set in motion in the universe. In Psalm 104, we can read;
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.

The Psalmist writes a few verses later:
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--

It all starts with God - He is the Creator of heaven and earth; the moon and the stars.  He is the One who has made humanity in His image and given each person the breath of life.  He has ordained our lives and desires to use us in His magnificent plan.  He has made provision for us to be redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and He has sent His Holy Spirit to equip and empower us for His glory.  We can recognize that He desires for us to center our lives on the Savior.

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God is the Creator, and if we adopt that Biblical statement, it has the potential to dramatically alter our worldview. Colossians 1 says:
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Jeff Bezos wants to change the world. And, it's clear that his company, Amazon, has certainly altered the way we purchase products. He also wants to change the way people think - he owns a newspaper, The Washington Post, that approaches the news from a decidedly liberal point of view and has even been accused of being a purveyor of what is known as "fake news."

And, Amazon is spending $4.5 billion on video this year, according to Business Insider.  But, it's not just to produce entertaining fare. Bezos promotes a radical social agenda, and there as shows, such as Transparent, that provide a vehicle to do it. The article says that show creator Jill Soloway, at Vox Media's Code Conference recently, "said she once asked Bezos for his take on balancing her desire to help push social change, with her career as a Hollywood showrunner."

The article continues:

“They are the same thing,” Bezos replied, according to Soloway. “The way that you make change with story … is so much faster than the way politics can make change,” he continued. If you create pop culture products that have compelling stories in them — for example stories that humanize transgender people like in “Transparent” — “laws follow,” according to Bezos.

So, Bezos is certainly committed to changing life here on earth, and he has announced that he wants to transfer human life to...the moon!  Geekwire reports that:

“I think we should build a permanent human settlement on one of the poles of the moon,” Bezos said today during a Q&A with kids at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. “It’s time to go back to the moon, but this time to stay.”

Bezos has talked about moon missions before, and he’s even told NASA that his Blue Origin space venture could make Amazon-like deliveries to the moon, as part of a program called Blue Moon.

He's reportedly putting aside a billion dollars per year for the project and expanding his company to develop the New Shepherd spaceship and New Glenn rocket to make it happen. The article says that Bezos "argues that in order to keep up with a global population’s growing demands for energy and manufactured goods, we earthlings will eventually have to take advantage of resources and territories beyond Earth."

What is fascinating is that the moon already has a dramatic effect on sustaining life here on earth. Danny Faulkner of Answers in Genesis, in debunking some popular scientific theories about the origins of the moon, writes this:

The moon’s unique orbit suggests that the moon had a unique origin.

Scripture also suggests that the moon has a unique origin. The moon is the lesser light that God made on Day Four (Genesis 1:14–19). The moon was intended to provide light on the earth, as well as to be used in time reckoning. But we have found that the moon does much more. The moon’s unique orbit causes it to stabilize the earth’s axial tilt. Without the moon’s stabilizing effect, long-term prospects on earth would be grim. This is consistent with Isaiah 45:18, which tells us that God created the earth to be inhabited. Therefore, the moon didn’t form from a random series of events. Rather God took care in how He made everything, including the moon.

There is some good stuff!  And, focus in on this statement: Without the moon’s stabilizing effect, long-term prospects on earth would be grim.  The moon testifies to the greatness and wisdom of creator God.  The moon may or may not have been meant for human life, and it was a significant achievement to put men on the moon, but the moon helps to sustain human life.

It's all part of God's design, you know.  The moon was made by God on Day 4 of creation.  It is a being so important, so vital, that it is referred to in the Scriptures.  The earth was created as a place where God's creation, including you and me, could live, survive and thrive - the moon demonstrates to us His loving care over His creation.

So, when you see the moon in the sky, remember the love of a Creator, and His ability to bring order to the universe.  That is a massive undertaking that gives glory to a mighty God.  But, in His excellent greatness, He wants to have a personal relationship with us through Jesus Christ.  The heavens testify to His majesty; the cross testifies to His love.

Finally, God has endowed each of us with incredible potential.  Jeff Bezos is a smart guy, and he's using the resources he has acquired to develop even more innovative ideas, and unfortunately, to promote ideas that are not consistent with the Scriptures.  We have the connection with His truth and creativity and can be challenged to use the gifts and resources He has provided for us to tell His story.  We, in partnership with the Holy Spirit, can be used to help change people's lives for good through a relationship with Christ.