This past week, the James Webb Space Telescope released some of it’s first pictures of the cosmos. This telescope has been in the process of being built for the past 40 years, and is stationed further out than the Hubble Telescope while also having greater capabilities.
The resulting images are astounding.
I cannot remember the last time I have felt so humbled and awe-struck by a single photo.
Shifting to the Scriptures
And it led me to think of a few passages of the Scriptures…
Specifically, the ones that say, “world.”
These particular verses stand out to me because the Greek word there is actually “cosmos.” “For God so loved the COSMOS,” has a very different ring, does it not?
But the same thing for other passages.
Such as 1 John 2:2, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the COSMOS.”
One of the most important shifts that one can make right now, is to realize that Christianity is not a personal, familial, tribal, communal, national, global, or even universal religion… it is COSMIC, which “transcends and includes” all of those designations.
Right now, we are currently seeing within American culture a pivot or return to thinking of Christianity as a national religion, which is actually quite small compared to the actual scope of the faith.
Brennan Manning’s God
In the words of the late Brennan Manning, “The god of so many Christians I meet is too small for me.” He was a Franciscan who gave up his vows to marry, and then his alcoholism destroyed his marriage. He was someone that did not mince words about his own failures and the Unconditional Grace of God. As the author of many books that have informed me, shaped me, inspired me, his quote resonates deeply within me.”
“The god of so many Christians I meet is too small for me.”
And yet, despite the fact that all of us have too small of a god, I cannot walk away from all of it.
Not when there are pictures such as this from the Webb Telescope.
What Has Christ Reconciled?
The Christ has reconciled all things, and not just us, but the whole COSMOS. In fact, check out Colossians 1:15-20.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things,and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peacethrough his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 1:15-20
To preach such a thing could actually get you fired from working at a church, to emphasize the cosmic scope and to say that in Christ, God was more interested than in just rescuing a few…
Again, the Christ has reconciled all things, and not just us, but the whole COSMOS.
