When I observed the scene of these three craters from my peaceful backyard, the amount of violence required to show the features on this part of the lunar terrain is what impressed me. These three craters are large and deep, nearly on top of each other. On this particular night, the lighting was perfect to show the Altai Scarp cutting through the landscape. You can see the north end of it on the left side of this sketch. Something went terribly wrong on the moon and in the solar system to cause the cratering that is dramatically evident on many solar system bodies. We do not know for sure, but a biblical based view of creation would suggest that it was around the grand tragedy of the entrance of sin and death in a creation that had been declared as “very good” in all of its vast array. However, it did not stay that way. The Bible tells us that the whole of creation was altered as a consequence of sin. And, it was not God’s fault. It was ours. We went astray at the beginning and we continue to do it. Our ways got so bad that it led to the Genesis flood event, which may have also affected heavens as well as the surface of the earth.
Human kind has been going its own way ever since these beginning events, but the circumstances set up God’s plan for redemption through Jesus Christ. The fullness and agony of His sacrifice are truly the Ultimate Sacrifice of His life so that we might have life. So, as we witness violence in creation, death in its untimely appearance in so many situations, which includes the violence among nations to a winding down of the universe, we can have hope. But those destructive tendencies lead to other things that are intensely difficult, like warfare between us. It is a solemn reminder of the necessity that we need a change in the heart as a human race. One is possible through Jesus Christ; it has been bought with a very high price.
This evening as I write this there are celebrations in the USA when we remember the ultimate sacrifices of many people that have served our nation. I remember a similar day and memorials in Uganda. The Philippines, where we have also served others, has similar celebrations. These special days are most serious in respective countries, because men and women gave so much that others might live.
With the highest respect from me toward those who have served our nation, which includes my father, who lost a brother in WWII and served himself, I also point to the larger picture: we, as a human race, have a problem that goes very deep and manifests itself in sin of many kinds. It is the reason nations cannot get along, because they can go wrong just like inviduals can go wrong. The picture of our common history–regardless of nation–is that we are a violent people who are not improving overall. We need Jesus to transform our wayward ways. That Ultimate Sacrifice has also led to the sacrificed lives of so many believers through the ages, who gave everything, like He gave everything for us.
So on this memorial day in the USA we can look at the heavens or the earth and see the desparate need for God. We can also see, from our national perspective, that many people sacrificed lives that we might live in this nation. But there is One who sacrificed more than any man or woman or insitution or nation because what is broken in mankind is not possible to fix. Whether we see violence in the heavens or from the bottom of trench, an unstable star that explodes or the harsh reality of civil war in a region, they are all harsh reminders that our ways are beyond repair. We need to be born again.
