Talk by Paul Pritchard

This Is My Father’s World based on Psalm 8. Colossians 1: 15-20 & John 1:1-14.

Did you all see the solar eclipse last month? Did any of you see the meteor shower? Unfortunately, we have so much light pollution here in Derby we don’t have the opportunity to look up into a clear night sky and see the constellations at their best? David looked up and he may have seen just a few thousand stars, but he wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Today, our telescopes help us see billions of light-years into space. Astronomers tell us the observable universe stretches some 93 billion light-years across and more is discovered every few years. BUT then look in the opposite direction through a microscope. Inside our body are trillions of living cells called mitochondria. They are so small that thousands could fit on a pin, yet they work every second of our lives, converting food and oxygen into the energy that keeps our hearts, lungs, muscles and brain working. Have you ever seen a hummingbird. I saw one years ago in Wisconsin in a colleague’s garden. It weighs less than a handful of paper clips. Its brain is about the size of a grain of rice. It flaps its wings between 50-80 times per second. Then every year it makes an astonishing migration, some hundreds of miles across America without stopping. How awesome is that?

Whether we look through the largest telescope or the most powerful microscope, looking at galaxies or the smallest creatures, we have to arrive at the same conclusion. Creation is unimaginably beautiful and awesome.

But what does that do to our view of the creator? Does it change our view?

God has always been infinitely greater than anything He has made. That is why David asked: “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”

The greatest mystery is that the God who put galaxies into existence,numbers each star, feeds the sparrows and guides the hummingbird, – knows our names.He loved this world so much that He sent His only Son to redeem it.The mind-blowing discovery is the universe is not merely large, It’s personal.What did David say? “The heavens declare the glory of God.” He didn’t say – the heavens explain God, or contain God or are God.He just said they declare His glory.Isaiah reminds us:”Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; not one is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26).

Nothing is lost in the immensity of space to our creator God! That must change the way we look at ourselves too, David didn’t say, “in light of this I guess I don’t matter.” But, “what are mere mortals that you should think about them.” In other words, “Lord, why would Someone as great as You, care about someone as small as me?”

He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. He listened to Hannah’s prayer. He counted the hairs on Peter’s head and He knows our names as well. That is where worship begins—not with understanding everything God has made, but with recognising the majesty of the One who made it. BUT there is one question that neither the telescope nor the microscope can answer. If this is my God’s beautiful world, why is it so broken? If God designed such beauty. Why is there so much pain? Paul said, “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” We hear that groaning every day. In hospital rooms, funeral services, war zones, broken homes and lonely hearts.

John writes, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The One who called the stars into existence became a baby. The hands that scattered galaxies learned to hold carpenter’s tools, and He grew tired from preaching, became hungry and weary, experienced sorrow, rejection and pain. The One through whom all things were created died for the very people who had rebelled against Him.

Paul said: “all things were created through Christ and for Christ.” and “through His blood God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things.” The curse is gone, and God dwells with His people.

He has not forgotten us. The greatest proof of that is not found in the stars. Or in the microscope, but at the cross. When Jesus stretched out His hands upon Calvary, the Creator declared once and for all that this fallen world was worth redeeming and you and I were worth redeeming. God is perfectly holy, righteous, and just. Humanity, however, is sinful by nature and by choice. Because of sin, people cannot approach God on their own.

Christ understands God’s holiness and humanity’s weakness. No prophet, angel or priest, could stand between God and us humans. Only Jesus could perfectly represent both God and humanity. So, there is no greater question that has ever been asked than the one Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) Our faith is dependent upon our answer to that question. Many admire Jesus as a wise teacher. Others recognise Him as a prophet, a revolutionary, or a compassionate friend. But Scripture presents Him as infinitely more than any of these. Some ask, “What difference does it make?” Well, it makes every difference. Only God Could Reveal God John 14:9 “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father.”

Jesus perfectly reveals God’s character. When we see His loving, we see God’s love, when Jesus forgives, we see God’s mercy, when He speaks, we see God’s holiness. Yet, He humbled himself to be born into this world through childbirth and grew as we do. He possessed complete human nature, human emotions. He rejoiced. He loved. He grieved. He possessed a human will. He prayed: “Not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) He was completely human yet without sin.

But the amazing news is that God is not looking for perfect people. He is looking for honest people, He knows our inabilities and weaknesses. What He looks for is whether we have a desire to allow His Holy Spirit to help us 24/7! Instead of being too proud to acknowledge we need His help, not just in crisis, but to hourly become more like His Son.

In a world full of God haters and compromisers, He placed you and me as His witnesses, who reverence Him and are willing to worship Him, for who He is, trusting His Word and following Him, and helping Him develop His Kingdom here on earth. How awesome and humbling is that.

THIS IS MY FATHER’S WORLD. Amen