STAR OF WONDER!

“We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him!” (Matthew 2:2b)

The Sun is the closest star to Earth and is about 150 million kilometres away. If the Earth were the size of a Ping-Pong ball then in comparison the Sun would be 5 meters in diameter. The largest star that man has discovered is called VY Canis Majoris which is Latin for “big dog”. If the Earth was the size of a Ping-Pong ball then VY Canis Majoris in comparison would be the size of Mt Everest. The Universe around Earth is indescribable it is so huge we cannot even begin to fathom its size. Yet the Earth is situated in just the right position and distance from the Sun and the Moon that we have life. If the Sun was too unstable then life would be destroyed. The Moon is just the right size to cause the Earth to tilt at 23.4 degrees, bringing both winter and summer to the planet. If the Moon were larger or the Sun larger or smaller then Earth would not be able to sustain life. It is all perfect and yet we are so small and insignificant in this huge undiscovered Universe of millions of stars and galaxies. Now, where are you on Earth?

The word of God tells us in Genesis 1:1 “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” In John 1:1-5 we read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Then in verse 14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

In these few verses of God’s word we learn many things. We learn that God created the known and the unknown world and Universe. There are passages of God’s Word that tell us that it was God who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth. (Isaiah 44:24) “My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts” (Isaiah 45:12) Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16-17 “For by Him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth… and in Him all things hold together.” Amazing truths as we look and try to understand the universe we soon are overwhelmed by how large and majestic it is. Then we try to imagine what God is like when we can’t even imagine the size of the cosmos. God’s Word tells us that God created all of that and that he knows the name of each star. Amazing! Perhaps our problem is and always has been that we have made our God too small. We cannot by our own fallen and limited intellect define God. NO wonder so many people have so many different ideas about God or even if He exists. God goes beyond space and time, He goes beyond dimensions and any power or energy we have ever seen or can conceive. He is the source, the power, the energy the creator of all there is and that is beyond anything we can dream up or conceive or imagine. We live on this Ping-Pong ball size planet in comparison with the Sun and on this Ping-Pong ball there is a little spot that is you and that is me… Now that puts things in perspective.

Now God, who knows the name of all the stars and who created all, knows you and cares for you. That in itself seems difficult to believe but it is true. This God knew that we could never conceive of Him as He is and so He decided to become one of us. To be born in a woman as God/man. To live as one of us so that we would be able to know that He cares. He came for many reasons but the most important reason is because of love. God so loved the world that He came into our world, into our skin, into our lives to free us from our wrongs that we do (sin) and to bring to us forgiveness and fill us with love and make us ready for eternity with Him. Our evil deeds, our wrong doings, our sins of lying, stealing, adultery, jealousy, pride, lack of self-discipline all have separated us from God and from each other. So God provided a way in sending His Son Jesus Christ to be born as a human being for you and me. This is Christmas. This is the greatest miracle of all when the God of the Universe humbled Himself and became human as a baby and humbled Himself and died on a cross for the sins of humanity because of God’s great love. Amazing.

The wise men came because God through the stars directed them to Jesus. God uses those same stars today to direct all of humanity to see Him. He calls us by name just as He names the stars. He calls you to come and worship Him.

God is big, but He’s not too big to miss you on this Ping-Pong ball sized world and you are just a small dot. In this massive ocean of cosmic dark, you are not alone, or unnoticed. He knows the exact number of hairs on your head, and the number of fears in your heart. Even in night His eyes never lose sight of you. He is closer than your very next breath. He does not need a Hubble Telescope to see you. He sees the good and the bad, the joy and the pain. But not only does He see, He has the power to heal and repair and hold you. That’s why Jesus came. This is God’s gift to all humanity but especially to you.

He sees your fears – what a joy we have in knowing we can bring them to Him? He sees your wrongs, confess them and receive His grace and forgiveness. He sees your struggles, so ask Him for strength. He sees your questions and doubts, so be honest with Him. God in Jesus, knows everything that is true about you and He loves you anyway. You are His idea – your parents may or may not have planned you but God did! You are His creation and He made you to know Him and love Him and reflect His love to others. That is what Christmas is all about! God coming to you in Jesus to tell you He loves you, He chose you, He called You and He came to die for you so you could live for Him. Star of wonder! Next time you look into the night sky and you see all those stars remember there are millions of them and God made them for you so that you would know that the creator of all that and more, loves you! Now that is awesome! Think about that this Christmas…

God’s blessings to you.
With love, laughter, thanksgiving and joy from Jesus and me. Pastor roland syens