"On this day, our day of hope and renewal, we are reminded that we can become 'plugged in' to life eternal with God when we die, and not 'unplugged' from Him."
As most of us know, one the greatest minds of all time, who some call the Einstein of our age, recently passed away. Stephen Hawking lived decades longer than even the most optimistic of doctors thought he would. The type of MD he contracted as a young man is particularly cruel. It robs your body of strength, inch by inch, until your body can long sustain life. For some reason, Steven Hawking beat the odds, and made it into his mid 70's.
My wife and I went to see the movie about Hawking's life called The Theory of Everything. The young actor who portrayed Hawking did a stellar job, and gave quite a bit of insight into the younger Hawking. But it was the older Hawking who was really a puzzlement to me. In my opinion, his brilliant mind started to get the better of him. He began coming up with gloomy and doomy predictions for humanity and our demise.
All that aside, one of this things Hawking said towards the end of his life was the most bothersome for me. Not that it is unique to a man like Hawking - many people of great intellect also stray off the tracks, when it comes to their faith. Maybe this is the reason our Holy Bible tells us we need to believe as children. For if we try to intellectualize our faith, it does sometimes does not turn out well. Some end up losing their faith.
Recently, Dr. Hawking was asked in an interview what he thought about the existence of God. He might has well been asked about the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause. (Paraphrase) - "God? He does not exist. Those who believe in God, believe in fairies. God, Heaven - none of that exists." Then when he was asked what he thought would happened when he died, he had a simple explanation. "You just become unplugged. Like a computer when the power goes off."
2,000 years ago, the Son of God came to Earth, led a perfect life, did nothing wrong, but was still criticized, mocked, arrested, tortured, butchered, and then killed - so we need not become "unplugged" when we die.
On this day, our day of hope and renewal, we are reminded that we can become "plugged in" to life eternal with God when we die, and not "unplugged" from Him.
Do I mock or ridicule Dr. Hawking? No, I pity him if he truly is "unplugged". For a man who was so curious about "the theory of everything", the Creator of everything was only within his reach.
I hope you had a happy and blessed Easter folks. God wants to be "plugged into us", and us to Him. And what a gift that is for all of us!
Perhaps that is what is meant when it is said that entry into Heaven is by faith alone. You cannot reason your way there, no matter how brilliant you are.
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