Monday, March 19, 2018
592 - The Last Thing on Earth...
Spirituality Column #592
March 20, 2018
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
The Last Thing on
Earth…
By Bob Walters
Billy Graham and Stephen Hawking have now left us with their
last things on Earth.
What a
contrast.
Graham left
us with infinite and eternal hope of life everlasting in the love, truth, and
salvation of Jesus Christ; Hawking left us with grim warnings of human
malfeasance, impending global catastrophe, and unknown dangers from space.
Please
notice here: I’m not shouting, mocking, condemning, or blaming. With others, I am noticing the obituaries of
these two globally famous, accomplished souls.
People everywhere sat up and took notice when they died. With others, I too weep over the loss of both
these brilliant men, though I must admit much moreso for Hawking than Graham,
which I’ll get to shortly. Their
similarities and differences were striking.
Nobody was
an evangelist quite like Billy; and nobody was a physicist quite like
Stephen. A dismissive secular world
arrayed career-long disdain and disbelief on Graham’s proclamations of Jesus
and Heaven, while the Christian world – all of it – could not and cannot
dismiss the energy and effectiveness of his mission. His critics notwithstanding, countless lost souls
found faith and salvation in Jesus Christ because Billy Graham preached the
Bible, the Gospel, the truth, and his belief.
Hawking’s
declarations in the scientific and even the non-scientific world carry the
weight and worth of secular scripture. His
vast capacity for mathematics, physics, philosophy, cosmic phenomena, and
creativity of thought in a variety of fields had the world hanging on his every
word. Hawking’s courage and perseverance
amid horrific physical challenges are absolutely a champion’s example of
overcoming adversity.
Neither man
was exclusive in his work. Everywhere, dedicated
preachers bring souls to Christ, and everywhere, brilliant scientists reveal secrets
of our natural world – what I would call God’s Creation. But Graham knew everything comes from and
returns to God; Hawking ended up thinking nothing came from or goes back to God. That’s the difference; that’s why I weep for Hawking
and all empty souls who so depart this life.
Hawking’s
mind, to me, was proof of the wonder of God’s Creation. I’ve long thought it a mistake to view
science as somehow “competing” with or overshadowing or replacing God’s
truth. I believe science reveals God’s
truth: the fascinating particulars of the “how” part of Creation, so lightly
covered in the Bible. The Bible focuses
on the Why of God’s righteousness and the Who of Jesus Christ, not How God did
it.
Hawking’s final warning for life on
planet Earth – human aggression, over-population, climate change, pending asteroid
strikes, even alien invasion – do not have the prophetic ring of the loving
divine. They have the paranoid feel of
cynicism and fear.
As
Hawking’s brilliant mind seemed a sign that God must exist, his body was surely
a sign of the fallenness of creation and mankind. That Hawking in the end settled on a non-God,
atheistic worldview is a signal to us all that brilliance and faith, such gifts
when they come together, serve fear and despair when the equation excludes
Christ.
The last
thing on Earth I want is an equation without hope.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) will not second-guess the reach of God’s mercy.
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