I took a slow, deep breath, just trying to comprehend that it was all real. I felt like I had just stepped into a beautiful scenic photograph. But, the paradoxical combination of the sun’s oppressive heat and the bone-chilling splashes that occasionally drenched those of us at the front of the raft reminded me that it was real. I was surprised when I finally came home from the Grand Canyon to realize that I missed it. I’ve never missed any place but home before – not even after I went to the big Answers in Genesis Creation Museum. The Grand Canyon truly was a magnificent experience, and one I’m sure those of you who read my blog are tired of hearing about.
We have discussed my Grand Canyon Adventure, the fascinating elevation, the Great Unconformity, the beauty amid judgment, rock dating, and granite in the canyon. We can look at the tiny radiohalos in granite of the canyon or try to comprehend the utter vastness and beauty of the Grand Canyon and see God in it all. Through seeing the height of the canyon walls and the fury of the icy rapids bellow we can get a picture of how small and powerless we are as humans.
There I was, five foot four, floating on a 20-30 foot long raft (i.e., rubber and air) down a raging river with a water temperature of around 50 degrees Fahrenheit and pretty much no contact with the “rim world” possible. Recall that this river sits at the bottom of one of the deepest canyon on earth, about six thousand feet deep. Now, this is all on a relatively small hunk of rock revolving around an average sized star. Yet the Creator of the universe Who is perfectly just and righteous still cares about the silliest little things in my life that I tell Him about every day.
Not only does this God care for sinful, insignificant people like me, but He cared so much that He came to take my punishment that I justly deserve. The Grand Canyon is not just a monument to God’s power, wrath, and beauty in judgment, but also His mercy. Remember that the Grand Canyon is from the flood – the same flood in which God preserved Noah and his family in the ark. There’s another judgment coming too, but this time God will destroy the earth with fire instead of water. There’s another ark too, and Jesus Christ is the door through which you must enter if you want to be saved by His righteousness. Are you ready for this judgment? Have you entered through the Door and allowed Jesus to take your punishment for you? If you have entered the Door, are you, like Noah, inviting others on this ark, if they will enter through the Door?
