"A man can no more diminsh God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word "darkness" on the walls of his cell." ~C.S. Lewis
I recently read an article based on the life of British Physicist, Stephen Hawking. In this article, he expounded greatly on his opinions of heaven, the afterlife and God. Let me just say, that although Mr. Hawking is certainly entitled to his opinion...I must vehemently beg to differ with him...
He clearly said that "There is no afterlife." and "Heaven is a fairy story that has been made up by those who are afraid of the dark."
Of course, given that mine is a Biblical worldview, it saddens my heart that he would rather worship the created rather than the Creator, but I do find one fact in this whole story that saddens me even more...Mr. Hawking was diagnosed with ALS (a.k.a Lou Gehrig's Disease) at the age of 21 and is now, remarkably still alive and sharing his opinions at the age of 69....again, as my worldview is based in what I consider to be absolute (Biblical) truth.... I observe in the very fact that he is even still alive, a sheer, utter and complete miracle and because Mr. Hawking believes that "his brain is merely a computer that will cease working when it's components fail" I further believe that he is missing the miracle which has been bestowed upon him!!! How very sad....
Even the author of the article commented on and seemed to marvel at how unprecedented it is that Mr. Hawking has lived for so many years with such a lethal diagnosis....I, on the other hand, do not marvel at all because I see God's hand all over the very fact that he's still here with us...I don't marvel because I serve a God who tells us in His word that "What is impossible with man; is absolutely possible with Him."
Although I can't begin to imagine the struggle Mr. Hawking has faced in living with ALS for the better part of 48 years, I nevertheless, also can't help but wonder what he might have accomplished on behalf of God's Kingdom had he been living with that diagnosis for all this time as a believer in Christ....
I'd be lying if I said I can begin to understand why he has gotten to live for so long with a highly terminal illness while showing absolutely no reverence for God...especially in light of the fact that there are many who have loved God with their whole hearts, suffered from less lethal illness and yet are no longer with us on this side of life, but I also recognize that to entertain such a question for long and seek the answer to it is crossing over into the area of God's sovereignty and therefore is......none of my concern....yet again, I can see that it is just like God in his longsuffering and lovingkindness to extend Mr. Hawking the grace and gift of more time in order to ensure that he, like the rest of us, may have every opportunity possible to enter into relationship with Him.....
In closing I would finally like to say....Dearest Mr. Hawking, I can assure you that I learned a very long time ago not to fear the dark ....it was at precisely the moment that I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, received the free pardon of my sin and came to the realization that He conquered darkness on my behalf via His death on the cross....He is not my "crutch", nor is He my "coping mechanism" for life..... He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords...and yes, Mr. Hawking, I believe that even you will one day bow before Him and confess this with your own mouth....in the meantime, I and many others will continue to praise the God and Creator of this universe that you love to study and worship...I and many others will praise Him for the miraculous way that He has lovingly and mightily sustained your life....I and many others will praise Him for His mercy that endures forever and I ( and I pray many others) will pray for you without ceasing in hopes that oneday, before you breathe your last, you might also come to do the same.....
