These days, that gets explained as the 'big bang,' the best idea that scientists have for the creation of the universe that we currently find ourselves in. This idea was proposed in 1927, by Georges LeMaitre, and his hypothesis pointed to the possibility that there was essentially a beginning to the universe. This flew in the face of the steady state hypothesis, which told us that the universe had always been here and was always going to be here. The Big Bang proffered a view that the universe had a beginning, was expanding, and would ultimately have an end.
And this falls, honestly, pretty well in line with the Biblical cosmology too. First there was nothing, then there was something. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. There was nothing, and then there was something. But this isn't the end of the story, though we think that perhaps it is.
For you see, if you're reading this, there's a good chance you understand Father's day a bit differently than you might have when you were a child. As First Corinthians says, when I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child, but when I became a man, I put childish things behind me. If you're old enough to pay for your own internet bill to read this blog posting, then you'll have a totally new understanding and appreciation of what your father had to go through to provide you with the many and various things that you need to survive. It's an old Chris Rock bit, where mothers get immediate feedback for cooking dinner, cleaning stuff up, but nobody says to dad when he gets home 'gee, Dad, it sure is easy sleeping with all this heat in the house. It sure is easy to do my homework with all this light!" It's a strange case, obviously, with the father going to work, and coming back home, and the kids not seeing the connection between the two things. What connection does the dad going to work have with the lights being on and the power continuing to run. And it's the same with us. We get that God created the heavens and the earth, but we don't necessarily get his continuned activity, both in sustaining creation, and in his role in saving us from our sins.
Growing up, we all had the idea of forgiving sins as a matter of God choosing to overlook our sins, of him knowing our sin, and claiming that it didn't matter, or wasn't important. And we could see essentially no correlation between his death on the cross and the love of God. They existed in two completely different universes. God was a guy who made stuff, and then Jesus was a nice guy, nicer than God, who ran into some trouble and got nailed to something. And that's that. But as you grow, as you mature, you start to understand that the love of God isn't a theoretical thing that only exists in the land of vapour and ghosts. It's a real, practical, hands on issue. It exists, it is real, and it was shown in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross.
When you grow up, when you put childish things behind you, you realize that your father was working his whole life, probably at a job he hated, to provide for you and your siblings, to make sure that you could have food, heat, gas in the car, clothing, and all those sundries that you think are so disposible. All of those have a real, discernible cost. And your father (probably) has to pay it.
Think upon it this way. Your sin has a real discernible cost too. The wages of sin, says the Bible, is death. And you are being asked to pay it. That's the bill that is coming due for your activities. You took on the payment plan on that one, you took on more than you could afford, and now all the bills are coming due at the same time. And what does your dad do when you're running out of cash, even as an adult, what does he do when you're about to run completely out of cash and the wolf is at the door, and all those financial decisions that you've made over the years are crashing in, and your dad reaches out, and pays it. That's what he does. Whether as adults or chilren, fathers have a habit of paying for the things that their children end up with, paying for their childrens' mistakes. It's what happens. They have the resources, so they end up paying the fare.
This is what God did for us. He took the weight of our sin upon himself, and paid the price on the cross. And it wasn't free. It didn't just happen. It wasn't easy or pleasant. It was burdensome, difficult, dangerous and costly. It cost him his own life, and he paid it for you, knowing that he had enough resources, and you didn't.
The many and various things that your father gave to you weren't free. It wasn't cheap or easy, it wasn't a matter of him going to work because he wanted to necessarily, but because he loved you, and wanted to provide for you, and likely still does. And all this sacrifice that our earthly father do for us is a mirror of the sacrifice that our Heavenly Father does for us too. This is why Jesus tells us to pray by talking to 'Our Father.' Jesus teaches in Parables, he uses what is known to us to explain and to express what is unknown, and unknowable. When he talks about God as our father, he knows that in our earthly fathers we see the best possible representation of how God is with us. He creates, sustains, guides and encourages, and when it is time for us to be bailed out of a situation that we can't possibly pay or work our way out of ourselves, he pays the price, and pays for it himself.
Happy Father's day to all the dads out there. Keep on doing what you do.
PJ.
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