On July 20, 1969, as astronaut Neil Armstrong took that historic first “step for mankind” onto the dusty, desolate surface of the moon, there was great excitement and joy back at Mission Control in Houston, Texas and all around the world as millions watched and listened to this amazing event. Almost 2,000 years ago there was an event even more amazing and more significant, when God visited the earth in the person of Jesus at the first Christmas. In reviewing these two events, we find some striking parallels.
For example both of these events were the result of years of planning and preparation. The Apollo missions spanned a decade of careful research to develop the technology for space travel and a lunar landing. Likewise, God prepared mankind for His earth visit over many years of prophetic revelation starting with the first hint of His plan of redemption in Genesis 3:15.
Both of these visits required great amounts of power to accomplish. With the moon almost one-quarter million miles away, it required the most powerful rocket (Saturn 5) ever built for astronauts to break free from Earth’s gravitational pull. God demonstrated his infinite power by miraculously impregnating the Mary’s womb and calling a brilliant star to shine in the heavens to aid the Magi in their pilgrimage.
Moreover, both missions had to be timed precisely. Any deviation from the launch schedule and NASA would have lost its best window of time for reaching the moon. Likewise, God in His wisdom worked out His plan of salvation for mankind on a precise schedule. As Paul wrote in Gal. 4:4, “when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son…”
Both undertakings required the invention of special bodies. Space suits designed so the astronauts could survive in the harsh, airless environment of the moon. When God visited our planet earth, He too chose to put on a “special body,” appropriate for His ultimate mission objective of death and resurrection (Phil. 2:5-8).
Both of these missions involved an unspectacular landing spot. The astronauts left their home planet (a place filled with beauty and teeming with life), to visit a drab, lifeless place with no air, no oceans, no blue sky, no clouds, where the sky is always black, and the "terrain" strewn with dust, rocks, scars, and impact craters.
Likewise, Jesus left the unimaginable glories of His heavenly home to descend to a spiritually dark, sin-cursed planet filled with misery, sickness, oppression, and death. He did not land in any great city like Rome, Athens, Alexandria, not even in Jerusalem, the holy city, the "city of peace." Instead He chose to come to the humble little town of Bethlehem, ". . . little among the thousands of Judah . . ." (Micah 5:2). And thus He condescended to be born in a stable and sleep in a manger.
Finally, both missions entailed great cost. The Apollo program cost over $30 billion to accomplish its mission. God also paid a great price for His mission. It cost Him the shed blood and sacrificial death of His beloved, only-begotten Son (John 3:16).1 -DM
1. Helmut E. Schrank, "Man's Visit to the Moon Compared to God's Visit to the Earth," Institute for Creation Research: Acts and Facts, 1994, vol. 23, p.12 <http://www.icr.org/article/mans-moon-compared-gods-visit-earth/>.
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