November 10, 2013 | David F. Coppedge

Buck Up; We're Stuck on Earth

Star Trek is out, scientists have found.  Our bodies can’t take extended space travel.

Science Daily reported, “Houston: we have a problem.”  Italian scientists studied epithelial cells growing in the International Space Station and found them aging much more rapidly than on earth.  “Space-flown cells differentially expressed more than 1,000 genes and secreted high amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines,” they discovered.  “Ultimately, this induced significant oxidative stress, causing inflammation among endothelial cells, which in turn, led to atherosclerosis and cell senescence (biological aging).

So unless future space travelers have kids quick and train them well, long trips seem unlikely.  And who knows what other deleterious effects will be found on the body during exposure to microgravity and cosmic rays?  “We’ve evolved to rely on gravity to regulate our biology, and without it, our tissues become confused,” the journal editor remarked.  “Worst of all: they age faster!

Good grief; we didn’t “evolve to” rely on gravity.  We were created to thrive on the environment we were given.  “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man” (Psalm 116:15).   But even with our feet on terra firma, we grow old, groaning under the curse (Romans 8).

The only way to achieve star travel will be to get a new body in heaven that is not subject to aging and decay.  The only way to qualify is to repent and believe the gospel (John 3,).  For those of us who have accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation (see map), part of our inheritance will be a new, glorified body ( I Corinthians 15).  What will it be like?  We don’t know, except that Paul compares the old to a buried seed and the new to a sprouted plant.  We will be like Christ, John said, because we will see Him as He is (I John 3:2).  After His resurrection, Jesus was not limited by space and time; locked doors could not keep Him out, and He could appear and vanish at will.  Dr. A. E. Wilder-Smith speculated that these appearances sound like the resurrected Christ was walking in a higher dimension.  Just as the inhabitants of Flatland would be baffled by footprints in their world, we would be flabbergasted by someone appearing out of nowhere and vanishing.

In the new heavens and earth, there will be no more tears, sickness, or death, because we will be raised incorruptible (1 Peter 1:3-8).  Although there will be a new earth, the saints may not be limited to it.  Since we will be like the angels in heaven, as Jesus said (Matthew 22:30), we may have the universe open to us for exploration.  Paul said that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the things God has prepared for those who love Him (I Corinthians 2:9).  Whatever we find, we know it will be fantastic beyond all imagination, most of all because we will see our Redeemer face to face and be overwhelmed with the glory of God, the Creator of all things.  Will you be there?  Don’t trust in mythical Star Trek hopes.  You won’t live long enough to see a starship, even if one is ever deemed theoretically possible.  If you rode on it, your body would age to death long before reaching the nearest star, even if you didn’t become demented (1/06/13).  No one has observed physical beings traveling across the galaxy, but there are many eyewitnesses of the risen Christ (more than 500 at one time, I Cor. 15:6, many who were still living when Paul wrote about it).  New Testament authors Peter, John, Matthew, James, Jude, and Paul were all eyewitnesses, not wavering in their testimony all the way to martyrdom, along with all the other apostles.

In these pages we have repeatedly shown that true science falsifies Darwinian evolution and other secular origin myths.  We have also demonstrated that true science is consistent with the Bible (e.g., 10/27/13).  If you respect observation and evidence, it’s time to go where the evidence leads, like the skeptical atheist Lee Strobel did.  When he examined the evidence, he found it so strong, he decided it took more faith to maintain his atheism than to become a Christian.  See his story in The Case for a Creator (watch on YouTube) and The Case for Christ.  We hope you enjoy our science reporting here, but don’t stop with mere knowledge.  It’s time to grow out of Trekkie adolescence and embrace mature responsible choices between fact and fiction, between myth and reality, between life and death.  Billy Graham, in his 95th birthday special airing this weekend, shares the message he has faithfully preached to millions of people for decades, a legacy that his son, daughter and grandson are continuing.  His aging body is going the way of all the earth, but his soul is filled with living hope and confidence.  The message is simple.  It’s for everyone.  It’s the answer.  Come to the cross.

 

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Comments

  • John S says:

    Amen and amen.

    The more Darwinists scramble and scuffle to try and fit all the new observable science into their floundering hypothesis, the more it becomes evident that they are more concerned with killing God than proving ‘Evolution’.

  • jyjones says:

    I totally agree with your theology and look forward to a little star travel myself in a new and improved body. One should note that, could we understand gravity and magnetic fields a lot better, and could artificially create these, a ship designed to incorporate these features might make interstellar travel possible without deleterious effects from destructive radiation of all kinds (the Star Trek “shield” deployed so often in the series). I see little evidence that God has revealed the secrets of these phenomena, however, so they can be put to work. My book, “Lightspeed to Babylon” assumes the problem has been solved, but ultimately comes back to the same conclusions you make despite the scientific advances my imagination conjures up. I rest in the conclusions in the green print!

  • FrankoManno says:

    Christ appeared in his resurrected body to the disciples – and those who believe will one day be like him – able to appear anywhere, at any time and any place; can still eat food and have a physical body.

    SOUNDS GREAT!

  • Pastor Mark says:

    I wonder about more things we have on earth that we may not have in space.
    * A large array of bacteria, which we live symbiotically with, aiding in digestion among other things. We may lose the ability to digest our food on a long trip
    * The earth’s magnetic field must also have some effect on us that would be missed by a body in space
    * Trace minerals that our bodies will not get in a bag of “steak flavored” pudding.
    * Nutrients that NASA does not think about and health professionals ignore
    * Light spectrum that our bodies need. Winter can drain the body with low-light conditions and there is light therapy to help with this. Does NASA even know about light therapy?)
    * Nutrients our skin absorbs that no one thinks about.
    * Etc.

    Lots can go wrong in space (where no one can hear you scream). Scurvy is not the only disease to surprise travelers. My guess is that there are all kinds of other factors that have been given but little thought in re-making a new Captain Kirk.

    Coming back to earth, I doubt that a full tally has been made, even yet, of the provisions awarded us by God’s design of earth and the biosphere He created with “everything we need”. We can’t even name all the benefits yet because we keep finding more we did not know about. Perhaps it is time to stop and say “thanks” again for all God has done for us!

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