REFLECTIONS OF THE SON

Saturday, September 4, 2010

The moon has gotten a pretty bad rep spiritually over the years. In ancient times, it was misunderstood right along with the other heavenly bodies as something to be worshipped. In fact, even today in remote areas of the world, the sun, moon, stars and planets are still worshipped. For years and years and years, a full moon was thought to have brought out all the “crazies”; namely those fur covered creatures with super strength, lethal claws and who resemble wild dogs. And religiously, that crescent moon icon is a frightening reminder of an ideology inspired by hate and violence. But I think that the moon is an excellent reminder of something very special to God. I think it’s a perfect analogy of…well…us.


Let’s just say for a moment that the sun represents God Himself. It’s not difficult, after all God is called Light. The light of the sun is the source of biological energy for life, whereas God is the ultimate source, the creator and sustainer of all life. Also, it’s quite obvious that the sun exists. You would have to be a madman to deny the existence of the sun. Likewise, contrary to what atheists believe, the average person regardless of their belief system cannot deny that deep down inside they know there is without a doubt a higher being who is the creator of all things. It’s actually no wonder that people thought of the sun as a god, but that’s beside the point. We’re just using the sun as an analogy of God. But what does that analogy have to do with us being the moon? Simply this…the moon reflects the light of the sun.


Picture this, at any given time, a large portion of the earth is in darkness as they are separated from the light of the sun which is blocked from their view. That’s very similar to how sinners are separated from the light of God’s presence. And until they’re brought into the light, the truth is blocked from their view. But here we have a lesser light, the moon. A being that testifies to the existence of the sun by reflecting it’s light. Well? Isn’t that what we as Christians are supposed to be? A reflection of God’s light? A testimony to His existence? In a world of poor souls living in darkness, we point to the truth…the truth that is otherwise blocked from their view.

But wait…there’s more…in fact, there’s much more to this analogy than I first thought. You see, we are to be light and salt to the world. Hey! Doesn’t the moon have something to do with the oceans…oceans that are full of salt? Why yes, it does. The lunar tides dominate the ocean’s currents by a force of two thousand trillion tons. There sure seems to be a lot of salt being mixed around due to the moon. Not only that, but without the moon, the ocean would become stagnant and so unhealthy that sea life would perish including marine plant life which provides up to 50% of the oxygen in our air. The truth is, without the moon, no one would have enough air to breathe. Hmmm…wouldn’t you say that we as Christians with our knowledge of the Good News of redemption can provide a breath of fresh air to a world suffocating from sin? I would.


Now, most of us who know the story of creation in Genesis are fully aware that God states He created the heavenly bodies for signs and seasons. With the moon falling into that category, it makes perfect sense, with the way the moon revolves around the earth, that one of its purposes is to mark the passage of time. Now, I’m not saying that Christians live and move in a way that marks the passage of time any differently than anyone else does. However, being a believer in Christ makes us part of the church proving that we are evidence of a specific time and season called the church age. It’s a period of time set aside to bring the world into the knowledge of the saving grace of God. It’s a season that will eventually come to an end, and so “yes” we do mark a specific passage of time.


In fact, this passage of time can be and has been prolonged by the prayers of the saints. God wishes for no one to perish and since we reflect the light of God’s love, we too are to have a godly love for all people wishing for no one should perish. As we spiral toward the end of this era, we in essence slow down the passage of time by praying for the Lord to tarry in His return so that we have more days left to spread the news of salvation. Did you know that the gravitational pull of the moon on the earth’s rotation slows that very rotation down? Without the moon, time would speed up. Our days and nights would be much shorter…reduced by 60% to 70%. The moon slows down the passage of time.


But the greatest tidbit of information I discovered while pondering this analogy and researching the facts was this. The sun is 400 times greater in size compared to the moon. Likewise, the sun is 400 times farther away from the earth than the moon is. This ratio makes the two heavenly bodies appear to us to be the same size. This is what makes a total solar eclipse possible. And the earth is the only planet for which this is the case. Now think about our analogy. Since Jesus is God, He is infinitely greater in every aspect than we are. But Jesus Himself came to us as one of us. God appeared as the same shape and size as man. The sun appearing to be same as the moon…during a solar eclipse it sure appears that the two have become one.


I will never again study, think or speak of a solar eclipse without thinking of Jesus as God and man. And I will no longer simply admire the moon for being a “lesser light”, or something romantic to stroll under. I will think of myself as a reflection of God’s light aiding in making it possible for the world to breath Him in, set in just the right position to mix some salt around, and representing a season, a time that can be prolonged by my prayers so that many more can become saved from an eternity of darkness.


Amie Spruiell 9/2/2010