Happy New Year

No
sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only
the world as it is, 

but the world as it will be.    Isaac Asimov

Asimov made this
statement in reference to the constant and inevitable changes reshaping our existence.
Based on the realities of science springing forth from fiction, he knew we were
headed for a new world. Seeing that my own fiction reports the potential human upgrades
of the near future, I understand. I agree with his assumption that the wonders
of science fiction are becoming the everyday way of life.

A new world is coming.
We may be surrounded by transhumans when it arrives. We may have computers in
our brains. We may be living far past our current life expectancy. Some may even
consider death a conquered foe, for the prospect of science preserving life
will bring great hope. Here is where my agreement with Asimov’s statement
negotiates a major shift. Despite the pseudo faith in the god of exponential
progress, those of us who wait on the Lord must know we can no longer make
decisions without taking into account the world as it will be. We who follow
Christ abide as the world rushes into the greatest era of man’s accomplishments,
some of us mildly entertained by the whole thing.  But…

But our
citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power
that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:20-21

No act
committed in the science lab to usher in everlasting life can compare with the
transformation brought by the One True Creator. He will rescue the redeemed
from the perils of this world and present us glorified, ready to live forever by
the only method that ever gave any real hope of living forever. Should we not
take this into account when making decisions about how we live? How we spend
our time? Our money? Our talents? Our conversations?

The
great men and women of science will persist in trying to conquer death. I will
continue, on some level, to admire them, find amusement in their efforts, and
sit amazed by what is reported. I might even make up a story or two, or three,
to peruse the progression. But within the core of the stories, I’ll not forget
the foolishness of the meager mind of a scientist attempting to climb the tower
to meet the mind of God. As for the already completed great accomplishment of
God in conquering death, I stand amazed.

Many are
the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that
will stand. Proverbs 19:21

In this
new year, take into account the world as it will be. Not as an existence remodeled
by the wonders of science, but as a creation held together by the strong force
of God, who will soon bring more wondrous changes than Asimov ever imagined.

Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come.                            2 Corinthians 5:17