Star Gazing

The article in the daily newspaper caught my attention immediately; “Want to be more selfless? Try gazing at the stars” read the headline. It concerned some research carried out by a Dr. Piff of the University of California (I know – I nearly gave up when I read that, but stick with it!) which showed that when people looked at something amazing in the natural world, they became more considerate of others and altogether nicer. Those who were awe-inspired reacted more altruistically in a series of tests than those who weren’t. Interesting, that, isn’t it?
For those who know their Bibles of course, the research results shouldn’t come as a surprise. Whereas unbelievers look up their stars in the newspaper, for Christians, looking up at the stars of the heavens is a biblical discipline. Recently in our study of Galatians we reminded ourselves of that covenant-establishing moment recorded in Genesis 15 when God told Abraham to look at the night-time sky. According to Galatians 3, you and I are part of the fulfillment of that great promise.
A thousand years or more later, David was doing the same thing, and Psalm 8 was the result. If you have a Bible to hand, find the psalm and remind yourself of its glorious poetry. When David looked at the stars he recalled the amazing grandeur of God and his creative power. It led him to worship the God whose name is excellent in all the earth. It made him think too of how insignificant man was by comparison, and of how remarkable it was that God should care about him and even visit him with salvation. That too led him to praise God even more! As we look at the same stars three thousand years later, we should feel the same.
In Hebrews chapter 2, the writer quotes from Psalm 8, and leads us to the Lord Jesus Christ. He, of course, is the one who ‘flung stars into space’, carefully speaking them into their exact orbit on the fourth day of creation! Five little words in Genesis 1, “He made the stars also”, comprise the most astonishing understatement ever made! There are, we are told, 18 billion planets in our solar system alone! Even more remarkably, this same Lord Jesus chose to become man, to lay aside the presence and praise of angels and make Himself a little lower than the angels. Listen to verse 9 which tells us why; “But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”
However kind we are to others as a result of looking into the heavens, our life on this planet one day must come to an end. We have to face not space - the final frontier, but death - the final enemy. How can we do that with any hope? Only if we are trusting in the Lord Jesus who tasted death and conquered it! He died for the sins of his people, and rose again that they might have eternal life. Are you trusting in Him?