Celestial Elevators and Black Holes part 2

Although it is difficult to grasp, astronomers tell us there are bodies in space that are very small and blacker than any night. Even though these bodies cannot be seen against the darkness of space, their black holes can be detected. They are fascinating cosmic phenomena arising from the extreme gravitational collapse of massive stars. They are regions in space where the gravitational pull is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape from their grasp, earning them the name “black” holes.

When a massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel, it undergoes a supernova explosion, leaving behind a dense core. If this core’s mass exceeds a critical value (apparently about three times the mass of the Sun), it collapses under its gravity, forming a black hole. The boundary around a black hole, beyond which escape is impossible, is called the event horizon. Inside the event horizon lies the singularity, an infinitely dense and tiny point where the laws of physics break down. The singularity is hidden from direct observation by the event horizon. As matter and energy fall into a black hole, it adds to its mass, increasing its gravitational pull.

Although black holes don’t emit light, they can be detected through their effects on nearby matter. Matter spiraling into a black hole forms an ‘accretion disk,’ releasing vast amounts of energy as X-rays and other high-energy radiation.

Black holes profoundly influence the cosmos, shaping the development of galaxies and participating in cosmic phenomena like quasars and gamma-ray bursts. While they remain mysterious and elusive, black holes play a crucial role in our understanding of gravity, space, and the universe’s most extreme environments.

In describing the realm of death Job, the first book written in the Bible, says “It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of gloom and confusion, where even the light is dark as midnight.” Job is here struggling to describe that condition of non-existence called death. These words remind me of those black holes in distant space. Those holes with their prodigious gravitational pull, drag everything within reach into them. And death pulls all of us to itself. Nothing, it seems, can escape from the black holes in space. But Jesus will rescue His children from the black hole of death.

Here are the words of Paul on the matter: “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-57) The black hole of death is gone, for those who are in Christ.