Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, special ones.

We knocked out our walk/jog on our own place again. Nice. I did so with my very best friend—with whom I do almost everything. I sure don’t mean my dog. He’s a sad case. I mean my special woman—of nearly 48 years. What a treasure!

As I take in this passage in Hebrews 11 again, I’m smitten with a measure of sadness. I’ve talked with lots of people who desperately need God, and while they have expressed a kind of acceptance of God, I have to conclude that they will never find God—NEVER—until too late—unless there is a major paradigm shift in their worldview perspective. Why? Because they cannot bring themselves to submit to the terms God has set—as defined in 11:6: “And without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who comes to him must BELIEVE that he exists and that he rewards those who EARNESTLY SEEKS HIM.” It seems that without an earnest HEART AFTER GOD the heavens remain as brass. Very sad indeed.

Big work list. I’d better get on with it.

Love, Dad/Ray.

I have a pretty good hunch that our transition from time to eternity will carry with it some incredible revelations that we could never imagine on this side of the line. There’s abundant scriptural support for that hunch too (1 Corinthians 2:9; John 11:25). But for the time being, I think it is quite appropriate for us to dream, wonder, and contemplate some of the content of those revelations before we get there. This verse alone opens up a massive bank of questions, wonder, and marvel at the magnitude, wisdom, and omnipotence of Creator God. Think of it. “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (11:3).

Hang for a moment on that word “visible.” God is invisible. The Bible defines Him as Spirit. If without Him there was not anything made that was made (John 1:3), does it not follow that everything is made out of God? A narrow-minded physicist would likely object and pass such an idea off as a bunch of #+@!! He might point out that “we of the science elite are quite aware that all things are composed of atoms that are arranged in different configurations so as to determine the nature and quality of matter.” I know I’ve talked about this kind of thing before, but I think it is worth repeating—and it just makes a lot of sense to me that if we can recognize God as Author of the MICROCOSM (infinitely small, invisible), it’s easy to embrace Him as Author of the MACROCOSM (infinitely big, visible). I would like to reply, “Dear Mr. Physicist: How well do you really see atoms? And if you could see them clearly, can you tell me what in the world makes them stick together and work the way they do? What makes those little protons, neutrons, and electrons orbit around the nucleus? Why is there even movement? What are those protons and their relatives made from? And do you think you could ever create even one atom?—out of nothing? Anyway, it seems to me that all you know are some characteristics of atoms rather than what really makes them exist.”

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Before I sign off let me draw your attention to verse 13. It encompasses the 7 names of role models that have been mentioned so far in this “Faith Hall of Fame” (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah). “All these people were still living by faith when they died.” Through the lens of our Biblical faith, there is absolutely no place for the notion that their deaths marked the end of their existence—wrapping that reality up in a shroud of gloom. In fact, it marks the beginning of their being more completely alive than they had ever been before. Wow! Anyway, I choose to accept this standard as my present personal priority and job description—to do what I can to continue living by faith. I’m not dead yet—but it can’t be very far away. How can that impending transition be depressing?!?! It can’t!