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'M WRITJNG
from 41 ,000 fee t
a bove the Pacifi c Occan, ap–
proaching T okyo. At ni ght ,
from here, the who le vast universe
above seems to burst fo rth like a
s tupendo us s ky rocke t expl oding
inlo a l! the my riads of uncounta ble
suns, which we ca ll stars, th a t seem
to fill lhe vastness of unending
space.
Many o f these seemingly tiny
sta rs are suns mucb la rger than our
sun. And like the pla nc ts surround–
ing our sun. there mu t be uncoun–
t a bl e mil l io n s of p l a net s
surrounding these sun . How did
they come to be there? Did tbey
evolve? Were they crealed? Was
th ere purpose?
Wha t a bout the o ther pl anets in
our own solar sys tem? Do they sus–
ta in li fe? Are there peopl e or sorne
kind o f li vi ng beings on Mars? Or is
tbis ea rth the sole body o f ma tter in
th e e ndl ess uni ve rse th a t is in–
ha bited?
Astronomers may haza rd sorne
guesses. T he actual facts they do not
have. The unmanned spacecra ft de–
signed a t JPL (J et Propulsion La bo–
ra tory), whic h sen t pho togra phs
back to earth from vantage po ints
close to sorne of th ese planets, does
no t give a ny evidence wha tsoever o f
conditions tha t would susta in life.
Science customa rily rej ects reve–
la lion as a source o f such knowl–
edge. but , while science can tell us
little or no th ing about the poss ibility
o f life on a ny o f these astral bodies,
reve la tion does g ive us sorne insigh t
into their existence. their purpose.
a nd their future. Mos t certa inly this
is not genera lly realized o r und er–
stood . Ye t it ti es in directly with th e
existence a nd p resence on ea rth o f
man - lhe rneaning and purpose of
human life - and aclua lly involves
tremendous significa nce lo huma n
life a nd destiny.
Ki ng David o f a ncient Israel was
a thoughtful ma n, fasci na led by the
study of lhe stars in the heavens. He
was o uts ta nding as o ne o f th e
writers used in the recording o f re–
vealed knowledge. Speaking as if to
th e creato r God , this king wrote:
PLAIN TRUTH December 1974
Personal from
MAN TO RULE UNIVERSE?
" When 1 consider thy heavens, the
wo rk of thy fingers, the moon a nd
lh e s tars, which th ou has t or–
da ined .. ."so vast in comparison to
a huma n being, he asked , by com–
pa rison, "wha t is man, lha t thou a rt
mind ful o f hirn?"
Yes. why should th e grea l God ,
who created , as David decla red , the
enlire universe, be concerned with
insignifi cant man?
He continued , "For thou hast
made him a litt.le lowe r tha n the
ange ls. a nd hast crowned him with
glo ry a nd honor. T hou ma dest him
to have dominion over lhe works o f
lhy ha nds: thou hast put a ll things
unde r his feet ..." Dav id had just
wrilten tha t lhe whol e vast starry
heavens we re the wo rk o f the Cre–
a tor's ha nds. But now. s uddenly, he
has lens in his next words to lirnit
huma n ju risdiction : "All sheep and
oxen, yea, a nd the beasts of the
field ; lhe fowl of th e air, a nd lhe fish
o f the sea ... O Lo rd our Lo rd , how
excellent is thy name in all the
ea rth" (Psa lm 8:3-9).
This same passage is quo ted by
the apos tle Paul in lhe book o f He–
b rews, with rnuc h, much more
added. Speaking of a fulure "world
lo come, whereofwe speak," he con–
linues, " but one in a certa in place
[quoted aboveJ testified , saying.
wha l is ma n, tba t thou art mindful
o f him? ... Thou madest him a liltle
lowe r t han (marginal lransla lion is
be tter: a little while inferio r to] lhe
a ngels: thou crownedsl him wilh
g lo ry and honor, and didsl sel him
over the works of lhy ha nds: lhou
hast put a l! lhings in subj ect ion un–
de r his feet. For, in tha t he pul all in
subj ection under him [man], he
[God] le ft nothing tha t is no t pul
under him" (Hebrews 2:5-8). The
same "all things" a ppea rs a lso in
cha p te r 1:2-3, and is the re trans–
la ted " the uni verse" in the Moffa tt
tra nsla tion. T ha t is th e obvious in–
tended meaning .
Speaking of Christ, lhe Moffatt
t ranslat ion has: " ... a son whom he
[God] has appointed heir of t he uni–
ve rse, as it was by him [Chrisl] lha l
he [God] crea ted the world. He, re–
fl ecling God 's b ri ght glory and
stamped with God 's own cha racler,
suslains the unive rse wilh his word
of power .. ." (Hebrews 1:2-3). In
both places Moffa tt uses lhe trans–
la tion " uni verse" where lhe autho–
ri zed ( Kin g J ames) versio n
transla tes "all things." Thus, in the
second cha pter. the meaning is lha t
God has put the entire universe in
subj ecti on under ma n's feet.
Tha t, of course. is a sta tement so
overpowering ly colossa l as lo sound
incredib le. Yet it is the actua l sta te–
menl of wha t is regarded by believ–
ers as the very word o f God .
It
simply has no t been be li eved .
lt
is
one o f th e sta tements of revela tion
tha t has been overl ooked, o r misun–
der tood , o r disbelieved. o r else
fl a tly rej ected .
But go further with th is revea led
sta temen t.
The very nex t words
in
lhe second
(Conlinued on page 19)