Reaching the Moon and its Creator

[Originally published as Math, Man on the Moon, and the Creator]

This summer, July 20, 2019, marked the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.

This achievement would never have been possible apart from the Creator’s faithful sustaining hand, and men using the ability He gave them to use math to explore His creation.

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• Day after day, God holds creation together in such a consistent way that we can use math to describe that consistency. For example, we can describe the force due to gravity as where G is a constant value, the ms are 2 masses, and the r is the distance between those masses. There are many, many formulas used in exploration of space—each one is a way of describing a consistency God created and faithfully sustains.
• By describing the consistencies around us mathematically, we can use math to figure out how to send a spacecraft into space. For example, using algebra we can calculate the acceleration due to gravity that the spacecraft has to overcome. Using more math, we can figure out how fast the spacecraft has to go to escape from the pull of gravity into space, which can be described like this:(see “Gravitational Escape Velocity with Saturn V Rocket” for more information). Then we can use math to figure out how to design that spacecraft to do that!

Whole books could be spent describing the math behind getting man to the moon. The point here is that modern science (including the space program) rests entirely on there being consistencies in creation (which enable us to design a spacecraft so it can escape the earth’s pull—if creation weren’t consistent, we wouldn’t know ahead of time if the spacecraft would really make it). And those consistencies in turn exist because a faithful, consistent Creator is holding all things together.

Jeremiah 33:25-26a (esv) says, “Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant.” God has established His covenant with the “fixed order” of heaven and earth—with the consistencies all around us. Here He points to that very consistency as a reminder that He is a God who keeps His covenants. He will do all He’s said in His Word—saving all who believe upon Jesus, and punishing those who reject His gift of salvation.

As you remember the landing on the moon, lift your eyes higher to the Creator of it all. Truly, creation declares His praises and reminds us to take heed to His Word.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” Psalm 19:1–3 (kjv)