The Melting of the Elements
 RMS
Titanic. She was the finest luxury liner in the world,
and the pride of the White Star line. To travel from
England to America would cost quite a bit, but what
a trip it would be! First class passengers paid in British
funds the equivalent of $4350, which would be $50,000
today. Third class accommodations cost from $30 to $345
in today's American currency. A Turkish Bath cost $1,
and to send a wireless message was $3.12. On her maiden
voyage she hit an iceberg on Sunday, April 14, 1912
at 11:40PM. By 2:25AM on the 15th she was gone, and
over 1500 passengers and crew died a horrible death.
Yes, it is true that the band played "Nearer My
God To Thee" as she went down, but it is doubtful
the song was very comforting at that point.
Someone researching the disaster said if the owner had not
tried to set a speed record; if the builder had designed the
watertight bulkheads to a higher deck level; if the captain
had not taken a short-cut through a known iceberg field; if
it had been summertime and not springtime; if the lookout's
binoculars had not been missing from the lookout tower...if
only one of those "ifs" had not been, then the Titanic
might be here today with a name synonymous with pride, power,
beauty, luxury and the genius of man.. Instead, the seven
and one-half million dollar ship (1912 dollars) offers something
quite different. Titanic is a rusting hulk 12,500 below the
surface of the Atlantic about 1000 miles east of Boston with
a name that is synonymous with disaster.
The point of all this comes in the form of a rhetorical question.
Knowing in 1912 what we know today, how much would you have
been willing to pay for a 1st class cabin on the Titanic?
The obvious answer is quite simply, nothing! You would not
have gone on board even if the trip had been free! Not only
that, you would not have invested your money in the White
Star line, and you would have shipped nothing to America by
way of Titanic. You see, we look back and see disaster, one
of horrific proportions, and we take note.
Yet, how many professing Christians are investing like mad
in this world system? How many are working and investing in
the things of this earth when we have been clearly warned
of coming disaster? From where I stand the number is much
greater than it should be. Most Christians acknowledge the
Bible is 100% accurate 100% of the time, yet they often pay
little attention to many of its warnings. God has warned us
through the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 3) that this space ship
we call earth is doomed; and doomed to a fiery destruction.
The only hope we have is in the Person of Jesus Christ and
His intervention on behalf of His people. Christians fear
no fire and destruction, for they know the future and how
God will remove them from this doomed vessel before His wrath
is poured out; a wrath that will end with the melting of the
elements by intense heat, as Peter said.
So, is this really going to happen? Will this earth and all
this is on it be completely destroyed by heat? Yes, it is
true. Such destruction is not without precedent, for once
before God destroyed this world with a flood; the account
is found in Genesis 6ff. Besides the biblical account, the
geological evidence for a world-wide deluge is abundant.
But, what about heat and fire? How could a catastrophe of
such gigantic proportions happen? Well, God has not chosen
to disclose His methods, but we are not without some ideas,
purely speculative, of course. For a moment consider the power
that is locked inside the atom. Prior to the 1940s we had
no demonstration of such power, but since the dawn of the
nuclear age we can see how just a few pounds of nuclear material
can bring about unimaginable obliteration. With the explosion
of the A-bomb the world got its first view of the power that
is inherent in the atom.
The massive power that produces the reaction in an atomic
bomb comes from the forces that hold the atom together. Uranium-235
is the active ingredient in nuclear fission, and not much
more than 110 lbs.of pure Uranium is needed. But, the most
powerful bombs are the hydrogen bombs which operate on fusion.
Now this is the key: these weapons create temperatures of
over 400 million degrees Centigrade. This will melt anything.
Since God created this world, and every atom of every element
in it, does it not stand to reason that He can create the
fission and fusion necessary for such heat? Whether God will
use the power of the atom to melt this world is not known,
but what is known is that one day it will melt. Mountains,
monuments, buildings and everything you can imagine will be
vaporized when He decides the time has come. So, what are
you investing in that will remain?
The truth of the matter is that the beginning of these events
is not far off. The first step in the process is the return
of Jesus for His church, an event that is imminent. Presently
Jesus is preparing a place for us in a land that knows no
such thing as destruction of any kind-by water or heat. And
He promised in John 14:1-3 that He is coming back for us-an
event that could happen at any time.
If you are a wise investor and have acted on the Lord's advice
in Matthew 6:20 you have nothing to fear and everything to
hope for. However, if your focus and your investment strategy
are associated with this world then you might reconsider the
options. Not only is the return of Jesus imminent, but we
are not promised the next moment of life. When a person leaves
this life it is all over. Everything is done regarding where
that person will spend eternity.
Like Titanic, this planet is on a collision course with destruction,
and we are all passengers. However, unlike Titanic we all
have the opportunity to escape. It is all a simple matter
of choice, -- but the consequences are eternal.
|
