Category: Science

From MESSY to GLORY

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We are familiar with the beauty of the adult monarch butterfly. The orange and black pattern of the delicate wings reminds us of life’s small miracles. We know the butterfly was once a caterpillar. The crawling insect became a thing of grace that sails in the air around us.

Do you realize the caterpillar started as a tiny egg about the size of the period at the end of a sentence? And do you further realize that the bright little caterpillar shed its final layer of skin to become a chrysalis? The green chrysalis is not a cocoon, but rather the actual body of the monarch caterpillar.

Truly amazing is what happens to the chrysalis while hanging on a silk pad. The caterpillar body’s own digestive juices eat away the caterpillar tissue. The whole thing breaks down into a rich culture medium, or – put simply – mush! Then a miraculous process takes place in that mysterious liquid as imaginal cells begin to form the parts of the new, butterfly body! Cells in that mush direct what used to be a caterpillar to now grow wings!

Soon the fluid media begins to transform into a butterfly. What a process! The caterpillar turns to liquid in the chrysalis, and the liquid turns to butterfly.

Now, if we were to interrupt the process and try to peek inside the chrysalis too soon, we would see what appears to be a gooey mess. In fact, a first grade class at my school saw this when a caterpillar bit a hole in a chrysalis. The liquid came out of the chrysalis, and the soon-to-be butterfly was destroyed. Sure, the process is somewhat messy when the chrysalis is young, but the splendor is just around the corner.

When it comes time for the monarch butterfly to emerge with its newly transformed body, the chrysalis undergoes a stunning change – it becomes clear. The green turns translucent when the gorgeous butterfly is about to appear.

God is demonstrating glorious truths in the metamorphosis of the monarch butterfly. First, the work of the Lord in a person’s life can at times appear messy. The goo of the chrysalis may not seem attractive, but God works miracles in that goo! The cells he has placed in the liquid are working their way into a butterfly. In the same way, our lives –and the lives of fellow Christians – may not always seem as they ought. But, God is working miracles in the mess!

Second, there exists a certain mystery to who we truly are in Christ. For now, we struggle with sin in a broken world, and the truth of our being may not be clear at all times. Just like the green of the chrysalis in the beginning stages, God is yet working His plan in this age of grace. However, when Jesus comes back, we will appear with Him in glory! The real me will then be seen. The heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus will be truly set free to be as He is in that New Heavens and New Earth. Just as the glory of Jesus is not completely revealed until the splendor of His Second Coming, so the glory of His followers is not yet visible. It will be, though. Without a doubt, when Jesus appears in all His glory, we will appear as we ought!

Do not give up, do not be discouraged, and do not give in. Let the goo of the chrysalis remind you of the beauty of the butterfly. We will be free!

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.” – Colossians 3:3-4

Electrons and Questions of the Heart

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Do you ever feel like even you cannot figure out what you’re really thinking? Have you ever wished you could express to someone the deepest ponderings of your heart? Does your mind get tired as you try to decipher the meaning of circumstances? Is the rush and demanding pace of the culture overwhelming your brain?

The good news is this: there is an answer. Preceding a recent time of prayer, all of the above noted feelings swirled about me. As I prayed, God brought me back to foundational truth.

Please do not allow the mention of science to dissuade your continued reading. After all, if God is real, He is the Maker of all things scientific. The alignment of scientific fact with the ways of God is most heartening.

Our foolish childhood inattentiveness in physical science class notwithstanding; protons, neutrons, and electrons are core components of atoms. The material world consists largely of electrons spinning around nuclei of protons and neutrons.

More amazing than even the seemingly ubiquitous existence of these unseen particles is the precision of their weights. The mass of an electron is 9.11 X 10-31 kilograms. Now, that is the number 911 with thirty zeros in front of it! What a tiny, tiny particle! The electrons whirl about the nucleus of each atom. Of what is the nucleus made? It is made of protons and neutrons.

Though the electron’s mass is so miniscule it seems immeasurable, the mass of a proton is 1,836 times greater at a diminutive 1.6726 X 10-27 kg. Amazingly, though we are dealing in masses so small they stagger the mind, the neutron weighs just slightly more than the proton and electron combined. By how much, you ask? By the number 1,389 with 29 zeros before it! Yes, a neutron outweighs the combination of a proton and electron by 1.389 X 10-30!

Why are we amazed? (You should be amazed, by the way.) Here are the mind-boggling facts:

    “If the combined mass of electrons and protons was not slightly less than that of the neutron, the two would unite to form neutrons, leaving the world devoid of electrons and protons. If the combined mass was more than the neutron, then neutrons would decay into protons and electrons, leaving the world devoid of neutrons. Neither scenario results in a life-sustaining universe.” (Meister, 74)

Do we get it? The numbers and differences in weights are so small they seem almost meaningless to us. Yet, at a level that deep, everything must be right on for life to exist. The Creator is that meticulous, that overwhelmingly exact and involved in what He has made.

Similarly, the Creator is that meticulously involved in our hearts. Following are two passages from God’s Word to consider:

    “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (Psalm 139:4-6, ESV)
    “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thought and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

As I prayed the other day, thoughts of the precision of the mass of atomic particles spurred me to ponder the amazing accuracy of God’s understanding of every part of my mind and heart. He is not confused by the ongoing collision of memories, hopes, analysis, disappointments, encouragement, emotions, and strivings happening in me. He sees and measures each one.

Though the thought of God’s immense knowledge is “too wonderful for me” (Psalm 139:6), I rest in it. I cannot figure myself out, but He can. I need that assurance, for what point is there if nothing makes sense to anyone?

God’s Word is able to divide soul and spirit and discerns the intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Oh, thank you, dear Jesus, for I am unable to know my own intentions at times.

What joy came when God impressed on me His ability to know it all, His care to hold my heart and mind together – down to the tiniest detail – just as He holds the atoms together with marked precision.

There exists no physical life without God’s grand assessment, precision, and power to guide each detail. There is no life at all without His power to know us. And since He knows us like that, how should we respond? The answer is found in Part II, yet to come.

Reference: Meister, Chad V., Building Belief (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006)

Only Two Options

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“I’d rather die than be watched all the time.” REALLY? Because those are the only two options. No kidding.

There exist only two ways a person can live: in alignment with God’s will or out of alignment with God’s will. And let me tell you, God’s will is going to prevail. God’s way is the only way that lasts, and I will explain why shortly.

“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:6, NIV)

There it is. Black and white. Straightforward. One way – that of righteousness – is watched over. The other way – that of the unrighteous – is destroyed.

If you think about it, the reason is simple enough. I mean, even now, we see God’s natural law (His way of working in this natural world) operating constantly, tirelessly, relentlessly:

  • The law of gravity, for example, always wins out over my rebellion against it. (I wish someone would have told me that when I was five years old and tried to fly!)
  • The laws of logic and mathematics are the statutes according to which we must construct massive buildings and expansive bridges if we wish them to be safe. (Jeremiah 33:25)
  • The laws of planetary motion continue on – night and day – producing the natural rhythm of seasons and days. (Genesis 8:22)

The dependable nature of God’s natural law hints to us of the impeccable reliability of His spiritual law! Jesus once said to a seeker, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak to you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12)

God’s moral law is right because it is the way He intended things to be. His “watching over our way” is our hope, not our threat! When I live according to the Bible by the power of God’s Spirit, it will go well for me now, and perfectly for me in the next world.

All rebellion against God’s way ends in ultimate misery. Turning against God begins to make things messy. Then – finally – one day Jesus will come back to clean up the mess of sin and make a home of righteousness that works right and feels right because it is right!

It is not only the wicked who perish; it is the whole way of the wicked. If that way of living lasted forever, things would never be right.

It is not only the righteous God watches over; it is the way of the righteous. Since that way will ultimately prevail, I want to be carefully watched and helped in that way now.

If you need to find that Way, His name is Jesus. Please let Him save you and watch you. It is an understatement to say that the alternative is bleak.

Integrity, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and Jesus

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Integrity is not a boring word. In fact, integrity encapsulates much of that for which we humans long. Integrity is not a fluffy concept; it is a very real and rich component of God’s world. Integrity and the second law of thermodynamics have an all-important, inverse relationship. The importance of integrity is observed in mathematics as well as science, in relationships as well as language. Integrity hints of Heaven, a very real place where all will be as it ought to be.

Consider the phrase, “My world is falling apart.” When spoken, we realize these words imply something ominous. A common response to the phrase might be, “Pull yourself together.” Note that “falling apart” is associated with something bad and “pulling together” is associated with something good. Why? Even our language reflects the inner desire for integrity – wholeness or the state of being unbroken.

Consider simple arithmetic. Would you rather add five whole numbers or five fractions? We like to deal with whole numbers or integers because we can easily wrap our minds around these. Fractions are messy and confusing; they take time to digest.

In much the same way, a human being without integrity is hard to figure. His life is confusing because he is broken. The essence of him is one way in one situation and another way in a different situation. Your mind cannot wrap itself around who the person truly is. This is precisely because we desire integrity; we desire to know people for who they truly are. A person without integrity becomes untrustworthy and easily shaken.

Lack of integrity – or disintegration – pops up not only in people and mathematics, it is embedded in the fallen universe. Scientific laws reflect disintegration’s reality and, therefore, reflect the very real necessity of integrity.

The first law of thermodynamics pronounces that our universe is a closed system; the amount of matter and energy in our world is constant. The second law of thermodynamics proclaims that, although the amount of energy in the universe is constant, the amount of useful energy is running down. As energy is converted, waste is produced. The world is – for all practical purposes – falling apart and disintegrating.

We note the effects of the second law of thermodynamics all around us. Our bodies are wearing out and winding down. Atrophy sets into the muscles unless we act upon them with force and energy. A room left to itself for very long will no doubt become disorganized unless energy is applied to its cleaning. Metal objects begin to rust. Erosion takes place. Everything is winding down and wearing out in its natural state.

The second law of thermodynamics was set into motion by the sin curse. When mankind gave into sin and rebelled against God’s way, God cursed man and woman, the serpent who deceived them, and the earth. To this very day, we suffer the effects of that curse in our hearts, our minds, our bodies, and in our universe.

Directly related to the physical effects of sin in this world is the very real effect of brokenness of heart. The curse of sin on us as people who have rebelled against God has produced a state of disintegration in our spiritual lives. For this reason, we tend not to keep our word, we tend to think one way and act another, we tend to portray ourselves one way to others and find ourselves quite another in the quietness of solitude. We are broken people in a broken world. Disintegration and the second law of thermodynamics are related – they both reflect a rebellious state of things. We have failed God. Only God maintains a standard which produces perfection.

Is there hope? Hope is found only in Jesus Christ, the God-Man. As fully God, Jesus is holy. As fully man, Jesus is able to pay the price for human sin. When a man or woman comes to Jesus and trusts Him as the sacrifice for his or her sinfulness, that man or woman is made right with holy God. At that moment, a person becomes a new creation, fully re-made in his spirit (II Corinthians 5:17). This person is now in right-standing with God because Jesus has settled the sin factor between man and God.

As relationship with Jesus Christ is maintained, a person continues to grow in righteousness. Righteousness is simply the state of “being as we ought to be” or being as God originally intended. While on this sin-cursed earth, perfection will never be complete. However, the spirit in the new man or woman desires righteousness and knows that Heaven holds the answer to disintegration of the mind, body, emotions, and universe.

Psalm 1:1-3a says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” The withering leaf is a part of the second law of thermodynamics. Death and destruction are built into a fallen, rebellious world. It is quite natural for leaves to wither. What God promises, however, is that the law of nature can be overridden in the human heart when we love His Word and apply it to our lives in the midst of this broken world! A person who makes the law of the Lord his focus in the everyday moments of life will defy the sin curse. The inner man – the essence of who we are – will stand strong. Although disintegration produces confusion and destruction, the person following the Lord will be a person of integrity. We will be clearly understood for who we are, we will bring life and healing as opposed to death and hurt, we will reflect the place to which we are ultimately called – Heaven.

Remember that Jesus will come back one day to this world in which we live, and after He has brought judgment to those who have rejected Him, He will re-make this world. He will forever destroy the second law of thermodynamics and every kind of disintegration. Wholeness and life will finally prevail.