When “Episode IV – A New Hope” kicked off the Star Wars phenomenon almost 45 years ago (yes, earthlings, it has been almost 45 YEARS !!!) the opening crawl introduced us to a world beyond our imaginations with the epic phrase “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …”
Hundreds of millions of fans around the world are now intimately acquainted with (and very happy to share the details of) major characters, minor characters, bases, fights, battles, all-out wars, interplanetary travel, weapons, star bases, spaceships, and on and on and on. They gather for conventions and meetings of every description, and spend billions of dollars. No, I’m not exaggerating. The Star Wars films have brought in over $10 BILLION dollars at the box office, and that is just the movies. When you add in global merchandise sales the number climbs to well over $68 billion.
And absolutely NONE of it is real. Not one galaxy. Not a single ship, hero or villain.
But there is a REAL war taking place in the stars that actually began a long time ago and far, far away … in heaven.
A long time ago God said, “Let there be light” and He created a universe that, for all we are able to determine, is still growing in size and scope. Current estimates place the galaxy count in His universe at around 2 trillion. A trillion is a very big number! It’s hard for us to wrap our heads around “a trillion,” so let me see if I can help.
Roughly speaking, a million seconds is about eleven days. Now eleven days is a very manageable amount of time for our brains. Most of us can recall with a little bit of effort what we were doing eleven days ago. We also know that in eleven more days we will have just a week to go before Christmas. Eleven days, very manageable. a TRILLION seconds is just over 32,000 years! That’s the difference between 1 million and 1 trillion. If you were to spend ONE SECOND glancing at a galaxy that could be hundreds of millions of light-years across, it would take you at least 65,000 years to look at each galaxy God created. And that’s just the one we know about now.
That, my friends, is a very big universe! I can’t even begin to comprehend the amount of stars that might be within such a massive universe. That brings me to today’s verse.
THE HEAVENS PROCLAIM THE GLORY OF GOD. THE SKIES DISPLAY HIS CRAFTSMANSHIP.
Just a couple of evenings ago, my family and I were sitting in our backyard at sundown. We glanced into the evening sky and saw a brilliant light shining in the still dusky light. We spoke for a moment about what that light might be, about which star or planet could generate such a bright amount of light. As it turns out, it was Saturn. We literally sat there for several minutes speaking about stars, planets, and the heavens. The heavens truly do proclaim the glory of God. Their inherent beauty and grace are astounding.
In the midst of these heavenly beauties exists an even more beautiful realm that is invisible to our eyes. It is a spiritual realm. A dimension beyond our normal observation. Though the heavens proclaim the glory of God, there is a star war occurring. Part of the angelic host that was created by the Almighty has rebelled against Him. Led by a former worship leader named lucifer, a third of the angels are now in active rebellion against the King of Kings. And the prize being sought is nothing less than worship. Yes, the one who had been selected to lead the worship of God is now trying to take the glory for himself.
When Christ was on earth, the enemy tried multiple times to get Him to worship the very one who had led the rebellion against God. Multiple promises were made. Great riches, amazing honor, almost total control (but not quite). The heavens always proclaim God’s glory. The skies never stop displaying His craftsmanship. Two thirds of the angelic host unceasingly proclaim His glory.
But there’s one element of God‘s creation where there’s a question mark as to what THAT element will do. There’s still a question about which side of the war YOU will stand on. And heaven is watching to see what you choose to do.
You see, the heavens are not the only things that display His craftsmanship. Paul the apostle tells us in the book of Ephesians that we, too, are God‘s workmanship. He says we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God actually prepared in advance for us to do. The good works that He prepared for us, that He equipped us to do – these are the ways that you and I proclaim the glory of God.
Here on earth, during this season of Advent, we are preparing for and reflecting upon the time that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. As He did, we saw His glory. It was an amazing glory; it was the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father. A glorious person who was full of grace and truth. The same God who said “Let there be light” has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Jesus is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His nature. Messiah displays and proclaims the glory of God.
And now all heaven stands by to see which side of the battle YOU will join. Whose glory will YOU proclaim with your worship? The cosmos wonders if you will be one of the people who choose the dark side? Or will you give yourself to the King of light and His kingdom?
As we continue to prepare our celebrations, it is worth asking the question as to which side of the battle our celebrations are lifting higher? Do our voices and our songs exalt the one who came to save us? Or are they lifting up fables and only earthly images?
I’m not denouncing every secular element of a celebration, or indicating that children’s stories are evil. I’m only asking a question about the primary focus of your heart. As we go through this Advent season, don’t forget the Star Wars. Don’t forget that there is an enemy who even now wants to take your attention, your heart and your worship away from Jesus Christ.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. And you and I have choices to make about when and how we join with the heavens to proclaim God‘s glory. We have choices to make about employing the gifts He has given us in the season of gift-giving, choices to make about deliberately displaying his craftsmanship.
In the midst of a season that was designed to focus on the glory of God, don’t miss it! The world will spend millions of dollars on displays to distract you from His glory. They will place objects of every description in front of your eyes, advertisements designed to convince you that you must have the thing presented. Some of those will be very valuable, some will be very helpful; some will be yet another waste of time and money.
But the gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ, He is incalculably valuable and worthy of all the glory we can bring Him.
Let’s be deliberate about joining the heavens and proclaiming the glory of God. Let’s be the displays of his craftsmanship we were designed to be long before this star war began.
THE HEAVENS PROCLAIM THE GLORY OF GOD. THE SKIES DISPLAY HIS CRAFTSMANSHIP.
Will you?
