I guess that for most of my life I have been interested in the wonders of space. The reason, of course, is that I am deeply, intensely interested in and committed to the One Who created all things.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw that the light was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen. 1:1-5 KJV).

Those who reject the creation of the universe by God do not judge God, or those of us who believe in God; they judge themselves. It is like one who stands in front of a masterpiece in an art museum and is critical of the work of the master artist as though in so doing he is demonstrating his great intellect. Actually, in this case the man does not judge the painting; the painting judges the man.

The wise are those who understand that there is much that they do not know and much they cannot understand. They, therefore, live by faith, believing in those things that they cannot see and know except through faith. If the universe was initiated by a “Big Bang” as some scientists suggest, the “Big Bang’ was in reality the explosive voice of Almighty God saying: “Let there be light!”

I do believe it is important for us to examine, explore, and study our universe. I believe that God gave us great minds to use. The reality is that the more we use our minds to examine, explore, and study, the more we end up at God. No one has ever been able to explain away God or the fact that God created. So I am not afraid of a close examination of our universe. I am excited by it, for it consistently ends up with the conclusion that “In the beginning God ….”

I was recently doing some reading about Messenger, the spacecraft that was launched on August 3, 2004 to map and study the composition of the small planet Mercury. Mercury is the planet that is closest to the sun. It is about one-third the size of earth and is very dense. Seventy percent of the planet is composed of iron. 1,266 days, 20 hours, 26 minutes and 55 seconds after its launch, Messenger had traveled 2,262,820,528 miles. It had been 33 years since Mariner 10 flew past Mercury snapping pictures and mapping a portion of the planet.

Before this mission is complete, Messenger will enter an orbit around Mercury in 2011 and complete the mapping of the entire surface of the planet. Through the phenomenal use of spectrometers the spacecraft will be able to remotely examine the elements of Mercury. Scientists are particularly interested in what appears to be ice in the deep craters at the poles of the planet. They believe that ice may have been deposited on Mercury by a comet.

On Dec. 19, 2007, scientists believed that they needed to make a change in the trajectory of the spacecraft in order to fly by at precisely the right distance from the planet and at the right time. They sent a signal about 57 million miles across space to a craft the size of a small box (1.27 meters x 1.42 meters x 1.85 meters), flying at a speed of 15,877 miles per hour (that’s 4,410 miles per second!) instructing it to make a one meter per second change in speed which was accomplished.

That is amazing communication, but is not to be compared with the communication that you can have in this very moment with the One Who created it all. If man can send a signal 57 million miles across space to make an adjustment of one meter per second in speed, why should you ever doubt that you can send a prayer to God and not only will He hear you, but He will answer. What a mighty and incredible God we serve.

The only way that scientists can do what they do is because the universe is precise. The laws of science are exact because the One Who made the universe is perfect. If the creation were accidental there would be no created order; there would only be chaos. The God of the Bible is the God of creation and the God of science.

There is no conflict between God and science. If there is contradiction, it is between the scientist and God, because the scientist, though brilliant, is imperfect, as we are all imperfect. This side of heaven we will not understand all things. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12 KJV).

Just think of it, Christian, one of these days you will stand in the very presence of the God Who created all things out of nothing. What an awesome moment it will be!