Christian Living

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The Hubble Telescope
One of the most incredible machines developed by man is the Hubble Telescope(1). Now 20 years have passed and it has had its final repair and servicing visit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis in May of last year. Hubble is now on its own. Through those years (and for some years to come) the Hubble has projected back to earth incredible pictures of far off galaxies and massive star systems. Because of Hubble, we now know that the universe is incomparably more immense and exceedingly more beautiful than anyone ever imagined. Incidentally, the telescope was named after Edwin Hubble, a noted scientist in the field of astronomy and the man responsible for the Big Bang Theory.

This great accomplishment of modern ingenuity was originally deemed a failure. In 1990 as it was launched into space with much fan fair by the Space Shuttle Discovery. NASA promised wonderful glimpses into our universe, but initially it only sent back hazy and cloudy pictures. NASA soon discovered that human error had caused the huge lens to be ground too much, and therefore causing the malfunction. However, NASA scientists soon found a way to repair the problem and sent the Space Shuttle Endeavor up in 1993. Their highly skilled astronauts installed “corrective lenses” over the original ones. Hence today we have thousands of stunning pictures of our vast heavens.

Reading Glasses
I have always prided myself for having great 20/20 vision. Some years ago, however, I discovered that I was having trouble reading. I had not read a whole book in some time. Often I would get sleepy when I would read for a while and my eyes would start to water from the strain. One day I was in a department store and saw a display of reading glasses. I tried a pair of them on and was amazed when I could read the fine print on labels. I tried on several pairs and decided the 2.50 magnification was what I needed. Since that time, I have rediscovered the joys of reading.

How Can We See Jesus Clearly Now?
Just as the Hubble Telescope needed corrective lenses to see into the worlds beyond, I needed corrective lenses to fix my physical eyesight. I also need a corrective lens to fix my spiritual eyesight. 1 Corinthians 13:12, 13 states: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (NKJV).” I like the rendering of Verse 13 in Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible: “But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

The inspired Word is the corrective lens needed to correct my spiritual cloudiness, haze and confusion in this life. By trusting steadily in God, hoping unswervingly for His soon return, and loving others extravagantly. I really like that thought! This gives me a clearer, more focused picture of Jesus.

Just like the Hubble Telescope’s corrective lens and my reading glasses, the Bible provides the corrective lens needed to stay focused on Christ. Incidentally, here is my Big Bang theory: God spoke and Bang! It happened. “For by HIM [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth....He is before all things and in Him all things hold together” Colossians 1:16, 17 (NIV). Looks clear to me. How about you?
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1. “Team Hubble: Servicing Missions” http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/team_hubble/servicing_missions.php

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