Invisible Power Made Visible
“For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity; so that they are without excuse.” Rom. 1:20, A.R.V., margin. THE unseen may be clearly seen. The invisible is made visible. “From the creation of the world [they] are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” Electricity, which is itself invisible, by making the carbon incandescent enters into the realm of the visible. We still do not see the power; but we do see what it does, and this is all that is essential. Or electricity may operate a motor, and thus move a mass of machinery. We do not see the power; but we hear the whir of the quickly moving wheels, and we see the machinery in operation. We do not see the electric energy; but we do see what it does, and thus learn of the power through its workings. No man has seen the force of gravitation at any time; but its effects, its work, all men have seen and felt. We can not climb a hill, without feeling its downward pull. We can not leave anything unsupported except gravity drags it to the earth. Our globe swings out like a mighty pendulum in its magnificent orbit, and sun and moon and sister planets all swing in sympathy with its majestic movement. Gravity is not seen; but what it does is clearly seen, else we would never know of its existence. We do not see gravitation, but we do see its mighty work in the earth and heavens. Altho unseen, through its visible effects men know of its existence and confess its wondrous potency. Gravity has a part in giving us our snow and rain. All water-power is merely this selfsame energy exerted on the particles of water in seeking to draw them to the lowest possible level. Gravitation causes the daily tides of the ocean, which are such a factor on our seacoasts. Gravitation is the power that holds all the heavenly bodies in their places, and that, as God’s finger, keeps them forever in the paths appointed to them. Unseen, nevertheless by its works it is made known. If you should tell a scientist that you do not believe in such a thing as gravity, because it is invisible, he would think you a simpleton. And yet men sometimes declare, by no better argument, that they do not believe in the existence of God, because He is invisible. All forms of energy are made manifest by their effects upon material things. The presence of heat is revealed through its effects upon the nerves of the skin; excessive heat, by its causing many objects to expand, burn, or melt. And in a still more marked degree, light is revealed to the eye by its illumination of the objects upon which it falls. The X-ray was discovered because of its effects upon the photographic plate and other substances. And the chemical rays, tho invisible to the eye, are known by their mysterious effects upon many things. All these different forces are known, not by being visible, but by affecting those things which are visible. Thus the invisible is brought within the realm of the visible. And thus these invisible things are “clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.”