Artemis, the Greatness of God, and Human Exceptionalism

Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at a never-changing culture. Through the lens of unchanging truth, for the Colson Center, I'm John Stonestreet. Earlier this week, three Americans and one Canadian traveled further from home than anyone else in human history. At a maximum distance of over 252,000 miles, the Artemis mission broke the record previously set by the doomed Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Prior to a space launch like this, most of the discussion has to do with engineering. Will we be able to pull this thing off? What kind of precision must be required? However, once in space, the conversation always seems to shift from human capacity to sheer awe. As to reflect on all that he was experiencing, Artemis astronaut Victor Gloversall, not the vast emptiness of space, but the wonder of our place in it and what that must imply. Prompted for an impromptu Easter sermon, Glover said this, quote, I'm trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special. In all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe, you have this oasis, this beautiful place we get to exist together. I think as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrated or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and we got to get through this together. Then later, as the crew was about to leave the reach of communication with Earth on the far side of the moon, Glover then said this, as we get close to the Earth, we get closer to the nearest point to the moon and the farthest point from Earth, as we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries on Earth, and that's love. Christ said in response to what was the greatest command that it was to love God with all that you are, and he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it, that is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Now, this is, of course, not the first time a portion of the gospel has been proclaimed from space. Back on Christmas Eve in 1968, the crew of Apollo 8, the first to circle the moon, famously said to the world, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send to you. In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth. In other words, despite the snarky statement from the first man in space, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, that he had not seen God up there, the precedent is now pretty much established. Whenever elite scientists, space travelers, are given that view, the view that so few get to see, they tend to point to revealed truth to God and how special his image-bearers are to him. And in a way, many on Earth share the same experience. The rockets are really cool, but people tear up at the sheer bigness of it all, the sheer emptiness that surrounds our pale blue dot. It leaves us humbled like glover and pondering like the psalmist, asking, quote, when I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you've made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor. You've given him dominion over the work of your hands, end quote. John Piper once said, standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological. Indeed, but at least for a glover, floating on the edge of space led to contemplating our specialness, not out of conceit, not out of hubris, but out of sheer awe. And that's the appropriate response when one is confronted with the realities of a creation that cries out to us about the glories of God. After all, most of the universe is either, to quote the movie, contact an awful waste of space, or it must have been designed with us in mind. The cosmos is so great that our lives are insignificant unless the God who made the sun, the moon, and the stars knows each of us by name. For the Coulson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Dr. Timothy Padgett. If Breakpoint is a helpful daily dose of sanity and an uncertain culture, would you leave us a review wherever you download your podcast? That will help more people find it. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org. Join the Coulson Center from April 18th to the 25th as we participate in America Reads the Bible, a seven-day historic, continuous public reading of the entire Bible by over 400 men and women from across the country in our nation's capital. This event is designed to commemorate America's 250th birthday, inspiring others to hear God's word during a pivotal cultural moment. You can join in person in Washington, D.C. or via live stream. To register, go to americareadsthebible.com. That's americareadsthebible.com. That's America Reads the Bible.com. That's America Reads the Bible.com. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. That's America Reads the Bible. 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