American author Stephen Crane (1871-1900) wrote the following famous poem:
A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
Looking at the size, and the harsh vastness of the cosmos, along with the tough conditions that can exist for life here, one could understand Crane’s sentiment. The universe does, indeed, appear indifferent to us—tiny carbon-based and exceedingly temporal entities stranded on a relatively small planet (1300 earths could fit in Jupiter) circling a mid-sized star along the edge of one galaxy among an estimated two trillion others?
Astronomy, alone, can humiliate us.
However, there’s one slight detail that Crane’s poem seems to have left out: the love of God, as revealed in the plan of salvation. Thus, and with due respect to the late Stephen Crane, here’s a revised version of his well-known poem, but now based on the revelation of God as expressed in Jesus Christ on the cross.
A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
And the Lord, who created the universe, replied
“I know that you do, because I first created you,
and I love you, and I want to give you a new life now
and the hope and promise of eternal life in a world made new,
and you can have all that through Jesus,
who died for your sins on the cross,
the greatest expression before men and angels
of my enduring love.”
