The Nature of the Nativity: Day 10 - The Star

It's day 10, and we are 2/3 of the way through our nativity scene  Today we hang the star of Bethlehem over our stable. Isn't it pretty?

Bible Time! Let's go back to the Gospel of Matthew, but this time let's go to chapter 2. Let's start off with 2:1-2:

"1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” New International Version

and now, Matthew 2:9-10:

"9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed." NIV

"When they saw the star..."

I struggled with this one. Every truth pertaining to the star, also pertained to one of the other piece of the nativity. I asked myself, "What makes the star that God placed in the sky special." When I looked at the question that way, Psalm 19:1-4 popped into my head:

"1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world." NIV

David wrote this psalm. It's easy to imagine him sitting out with his flock of sheep watching the sky proclaim the majesty of God. Who but God could make something so marvelous? David writes that the sky, though it has no voice, proclaims by it's very existence the glory of God. Today we would feel that David is in the minority. Everywhere we look, science seeks to disprove God's existence. If you put a college science professor on that hill with David, he or she would reference condensation, ultraviolet rays, burning gases, and chance. And that brings me to my spiritual truth for today: Science does not disprove God; it points to Him.

I remember my science classes from school; I enjoyed most of them, although chemistry still annoys me. There were times I thought I might be a doctor, or a vet, or maybe a marine biologist. (I guess God thought I should sing for my supper instead.) As much as I enjoyed class, there was always that one chapter that irked me. I grew up in a preacher's home and decided to follow Christ at the age of 7, so when I had to take a test on Darwin's theory of evolution, it rankled a bit. I don't remember asking my parents questions about it all, but I'm sure that I did. Every text book I read would have all these proofs that showed the "truth" of evolution. They never came out and said that belief in a God who created everything was ludicrous, mainly because they didn't have to. There was no room left for God; He had been explained away.

Before we go any further, I want to issue a disclaimer; I have limited knowledge on the subject. I've read a few things over the years but that hardly makes me an expert. The book I am referencing today is The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel. I encourage you to read it should you want to go deeper into this subject. 

If you take the opportunity to read Mr. Strobel's book, you'll be amazed that most scientists know that the "proofs" still used in modern textbooks aren't true. Throughout the interviews that Strobel conducts, scientist after scientist shares their beliefs based on their own studies in their own fields. Biologists, astrophysicists, and chemists share how their work has pointed them to believe in a Creator. They point out the flaws in the "accepted" scientific theories, flaws that only God is the answer for. 

In his book, The Case for a Creator, Strobel interviews 9 scientists from different fields to get their take on whether adherence to science and belief in God are at odds. He includes 20 pages of bibliography for the other books, articles, and studies he cites throughout the book. I want to share just a portion of the astronomy section, since we're dealing with a star and all.

"The Evidence of Astronomy     ...Earth's position in the universe and it's intricately choreographed geological and chemical processes work together with exquisite efficiency to create a safe place for humans to live.
     For example, astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and science philosopher Jay Wesley Richards said it would take a star with the highly unusual properties of our sun - the right mass, the right light, the right age, the right distance, the right orbit, the right galaxy, the right location - to nurture living organisms on a circling planet. Numerous factors make our solar system and our location in the universe just right for a habitable environment.
     What's more, the exceptional conditions that make life possible also happen to make our planet strangely well-suited for viewing and analyzing the universe and our environment. All of this suggests our planet may be rare, if not unique, and that the Creator wanted us to be able to explore the cosmos.
     'If the universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could never have come into existence,' said Harvard-educated astrophysicist John A. O'keene of NASA. 'It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in." **

Just by studying the stars, these men discover that our planet, sun, solar system, and galaxy are special. Don't miss that; people who are smarter than I could ever hope to be find God in the stars. It's not just the stars; they also find Him deep in the human body, in the mathematical equations of physics, and dwelling in the depths of the human mind. As a matter of fact, one of the scientists mentioned that, "the extraordinary conditions that create a hospitable environment on earth also happen to make our planet strangely well suited for viewing, analyzing, and understanding the universe." Strobe quotes science philosopher Jay Wesley Richards, "In fact, we believe that the conditions for making scientific discoveries on Earth are so fine-tuned that you would need a great amount of faith to attribute them to mere chance."

So let's take out our star. Let's hang it on a string over our stable. May it remind you that science has not disproved God. May you find comfort in knowing that the Creator of heaven and earth has left His fingerprint on each part of His creation. Just like the star drew the magi to the Christ child, God is still drawing men unto Him through the stars.

Day 10 - The Star

* All Scripture taken from the New International Version

**Strobel, Lee. "Chapter 11: The Cumulative Case for a Creator." The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points toward God. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. 281. Print.