40th Anniversary of Apollo 8

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, marks the 40th Anniversary of the historic Apollo 8 broadcast. Watch and listen.



Three brave explorers, hurtling through space in a very small vehicle, saw what no other human being had ever before seen--the Earth rising over the Moon's horizon.

Struck by the historic nature and grandeur of the moment, these three very intelligent men, scientists in their own right, could have said anything to the world they now looked at from more than 250,000 miles away.

They said the right thing.

Common sense and humility, and the reality of their personal insignificance and frailty in the cosmos compelled them to give credit where credit was due. They did not credit nature. They did not credit the evolutionary process. They did not credit the lunacy of random chance. No, they credited the Creator. They credited the One who made each of them, the Moon, the stars, and the Earth that was, at that moment, so very small and so very far away.

They read the account of the One who Created all things, seen and unseen. They read from the Word of God--the Creator.

"In the beginning, God..."

This same God, the One who created you and, by His sovereign grace, allowed mankind to develop the technology to explore the heavens; is the God before whom you will one-day stand. You will stand before the Creator of the Universe, who is also the Judge of the same. Will He see you as good, as He saw His creation in the beginning? Or will He see you as something else?

When you die and stand before God (whether you believe it or not), He will judge you and your perceived goodness against the perfect, holy standard of His Law (the Ten Commandments). How will you do on that day?

Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen? Have you ever taken God’s name in vain? Have you ever murdered in your heart by hating another person or by being angry without cause? Then, according to God’s perfect and holy standard, you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, murderer at heart. You have sinned against Almighty God. The Bible says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31)—the God who spoke the Universe into existence.

If God finds you guilty of breaking His Law, He will not see you as good. He will see you as a lawbreaker. And because He is good, He must punish you. The punishment for sinning against God is eternity in hell (Revelation 21:8).

But there is good news!God the Father sent His sinless Son, Jesus Christ (God in the flesh), to take upon Himself the punishment sinners rightly deserve for their sins against God when He shed His innocent blood and died on the cross. Three days later He forever defeated death when He rose from the grave. To receive the free gift of eternal life, Jesus said that sinners must be born again (John 3:3, 7). If God causes you to be born again, you will recognize that you cannot save yourself. You will repent (turn away from your sins) and put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. You will pass from death into life and receive the free gift of eternal life, which only God the Creator can give.

The God who created you; the God who created the Earth and the Moon, the heavens and all they contain, is the only One who can save you. Please consider these things carefully. Repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Take a moment and look to the sky. Look at the Moon. Think about three brave, intelligent, scientifically-minded, intrepid explorers flying around that bright, gray sphere in the sky. And remember what they chose to say, what they chose to read, and who they chose to credit during the greatest moment of their lives.

You will see Him one-day. How will He see you?