A giant asteroid the size of a ten story skyscraper passed between the moon and the earth earlier this month on January 10th. That was a very close call. If the asteroid had hit the earth, it would have triggered an energy explosion equal in force to about thirty-five of the kind of nuclear bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki. What is especially unsettling is that we did not even notice the asteroid until a few days before the passing. Apparently, this size asteroid is not big enough to be detected by NASA’s NEO (near earth orbit) telescopes that are trained on the sky.
This is like the proverbial “Shot across the bow”. It should serve as a reminder that in spite of all of our technology and knowledge, we are a vulnerable race, living in a hostile and unfriendly fallen universe where life is rare and fragile, but also very precious.
Why precious? Because the Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We need not fear any rock from space, if our lives are built upon Christ the rock. But if we refuse to trust him, there is a perishing. Peter puts it this way, quoting the Prophet Isaiah, “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1 Pet 2:7-8).
