Eclipses – Amazing Coincidence or Evidence of Design?
On Monday, August 21st, 2017 the great majority of the United States will get to see a solar eclipse, with a total eclipse path going from Oregon to South Carolina. It will be an amazing and wonderful sight. I’m sure that we’re all going to be seeing lots of diagrams of how eclipses happen, like the one below. But while these are helpful, because they are not done to scale (which would be admittedly difficult) I think we may not always realize how truly amazing it is that eclipses happen.
How Big is the Moon Compared to the Sun?
The Sun is actually 400 times bigger than the sun. The image below shows the actual size comparison between the Sun, Moon and the Earth.
Think about how small the Moon actually is compared to the Sun, and then think about how amazing it is that when they line up, the Moon perfectly covers the Sun. While the Sun is 400 times bigger than the Moon, it happens to be 400 times further away, causing them to look the same size from Earth.
Other than providing an amazing sight, this perfect fit has also allowed us to learn a lot about the Sun that we couldn’t learn otherwise. The eclipse of 1919 even helped to confirm theory of relativity.
So is this perfect fit just an amazing coincidence or is it one of many signs of design? I’ve written here on the blog about many of these evidences. I encourage you to check out some of my other posts on design. The universe, our solar system and our wonderful planet have been fine tuned for life.
Design with a Purpose
I believe that the universe and our planet have been specially designed. It’s too hard to believe that, just by chance, so many factors have been finely tuned so that life is possible. I believe that the evidence shows that the universe has been designed for a purpose. I believe that God has created an amazing universe and an amazing planet for us to live on. I also believe that He designed you with a purpose. The Bible says that God made us so that we could know him. He loves us so much that he gave us life and when we turned our backs on him and sinned against him, he went further and became one of his own creations. God became a human being in Jesus Christ and he died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and rose again so that we could be forgiven and live our lives in personal relationship with him. I’ve found that it’s in living in loving connection with my Maker that I can find fulfillment, hope and joy in this life that I’ve been given.
The Bible says,
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4
As you view or think back on the amazing sight of this eclipse, may you think about God and his purpose for you. May you find that your life fits perfectly within Him.
If this is your first time here, be sure to check out the various types of evidence for God and Jesus that I’ve written about. See the categories to the right.
