The Unseen Universe

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV.

The Sun explodes. It happens more than you think. Massive amounts of pure energy and energized particles explode out of the surface of the Sun and race towards the Earth. SOHO, a Sun scanning spacecraft, detects the explosion and sends a warning to the Earth. Owners of communication satellite’s scramble to protect their multi-million dollar investments before the waves of energy smash into them. Most of the powerful wave is deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field. Some of it gets through and hits our atmosphere, causing interference on cell phones and other communication devices. Some of the radiation hits us, but we don’t know it. In fact, we don’t know anything about the explosions. They all happen in frequencies of light that are outside of the ability of our eyes to detect them. If it wasn’t for SOHO and other space observatories we wouldn’t know until the waves of energy did something, like mess up the signal on our satellite televisions. The explosions on our Sun happen in the Gamma Ray and X-Ray frequencies, which are part of the unseen universe.

The universe is full of wonderful objects that we cannot see with our own eyes. Areas with active star formation are often obscured by clouds of gas and dust. The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is one of these places. I have a star chart with an x on it marking Sagittarius A, the center of the galaxy. When I turn my telescope on it, I see a couple of stars. What I should be seeing is millions of stars! We know that there are millions of stars there because we have infrared telescopes that can ‘see’ through the obscuring clouds. Visual frequencies of light are absorbed by the clouds. The infrared frequency is not. The same goes for the majority of frequencies of light. We can only see a small fraction of what is going on in the universe. Fortunately we have marvelous machines that can bring the galaxy to life for us, like the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hebrew patriarch Abraham was told by God to leave his home in the vicinity of Babylon and go to a faraway place. A place flowing with milk and honey, where his children and his children’s children would flourish forever. The Bible says that this showed Abraham had faith in God. Joseph, of the Technicolor dream coat, saw and interpreted dreams that showed he would rise to a position of power and authority. His brothers scoffed, but Joseph ended up in a position where he could save his family from famine. The female followers of Jesus met the risen Lord on Easter Sunday morning. When they told their male colleagues this, they were laughed at. But the living Jesus soon appeared, much to the chagrin of the disciples.

These stories from the Bible speak to us of the power of belief in the unseen among the faithful of God. We people of faith are convinced that God is present with us all of the time. I can’t prove this, like modern science can prove that high energy radiation is exploding out of the Sun. But I believe with all of my heart that I am not alone. God speaks to me, and I speak to God on a regular basis. And this all happens as a part of the unseen universe. God has decided that He will operate in such a way as to be omnipresent, but unseen to our eyes. God’s spiritual presence is everywhere at all times. And yet, we have to have faith in that unseen presence in order to access the divine person. God knows all about us, sees our every action, and hears our every thought. Yet to speak with Him, we need to believe in that which we cannot see.

The unseen universe is all around us. That means that God is here and now. We don’t need advanced technology to access Him. We just need to reach out and He will reach back.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9 NIV.

God bless you,

Pastor Bill