Entropy

When I was twelve I visualized the end of everything.

I was riding my bike along a road and looked up at a local bluff and thought how wonderful it looked. I imagined rain would eventually wash it down to flatness and the beauty would be gone. Unless someone intervenes with that system it will inevitably flatten. Snow will melt, rain will erode, but wait! The sun adds energy to the system.

Then I realized that the sun will burn out. Every star in the sky will at one point in the future burn out and die. In the time it took for me to pedal one round on the bike I saw the end of everything.

One of the definitions of entropy describes how the universe’s available energy degrades to a “state of inert uniformity.” That means there’s no useful energy left. All the hydrocarbons have been burned up, all the hydrogen has fused to helium, which fuses into other elements which end up at the lowest energy state possible. Fission has worked out on the other end of the periodic table to the point no elements will degrade. Everything runs down and ultimately there’s no useful energy left in the system. That’s called the heat death of the universe.

One of the issues people cite as reasons to NOT believe in God boils down to this: How could one person in one insignificant spot in the universe cause the wholesale destruction of everything in existence? In short, if everything was set to run forever, how did eating the forbidden fruit make everything fall apart?

The bible teaches that God sustains everything through His will and Spirit. Being infinite, God has enough to energy to put into the system to keep the universe going forever. But when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they were telling God “we don’t need you.” They pushed God away.

Succeeding generations kept pushing. By the time Noah came along there weren’t very many folks who were willing to accept God for who He was - a source of infinite power. God wiped the slate of almost all mankind, starting again with a few faithful people.

More generations have come and gone, and for the most part humanity keeps pushing God away. The power of God is being more and more removed from the universe, so entropy is more and more evident. That lack of sustaining is most evident in human culture. People are more and more willing to resort to violence and mayhem.

Entropy is the enemy of God, who sustains all things. As He’s pushed away, the universe runs down. That’s the result of sin. When we think we know better than God, He backs away. He won’t force Himself on us.

One day, though, He will make Himself known to everyone. Every knee will bow before Him, and acknowledge Him as sovereign over everything.

Those who loved Him will be with Him - the greatest reward imaginable.

Those who hated or ignored Him will be without Him - no longer sustained.

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