The Paper Editorial April 2016

The Paper – Editorial April 2016

Solid Foundations

As we see the new buildings rising at Barangaroo one can’t help but wonder how such big structures can be built, how the foundations can be secured for such a high building, and why they don’t fall over.  Those big high buildings, sitting on a little bit of ground or rock at the bottom – what an incredible pressure must be exerted on the building foundations!

The three International Tower Buildings are 49 stories high (IT1), 43 stories (IT2) and 39 stories (IT3) respectively.  Tower 2 has been completed and an estimated 5,500 people work in the building every day.

And can someone tell me how they take those big cranes away, which are towering over the top of the building during construction, 50 stories in the air, when they have finished!  If they dissemble the crane, there is no crane to lower the bits down with after they have pulled it to pieces.  Do they take it, piece by piece, down in the lift after they have finished the building, or is it like the portable car that you fold up and put in the glove-box!

It is amazing enough for us to look on now at the emerging constructions and consider what a wonderful engineering feat they represent.  But before it all stared someone had to have a vision of the concept, work through the ideas and options, and come up with a proposed finished product.  Then there was the concept high level design, finalising of the requirement including selection between multitudinous options, followed by detailed architectural design, then planning for the construction and building phase.  And then came the actual construction, which is when we started to see that something was happening, and now the (almost) finished product!  Someone had to engage all the builders and site-workers to be available just when they were needed to contribute whatever they were required to provide.  This involved hundreds of workers over a period of years.  For example, you could not just ring up the night before and order fifty loads of ready mixed concrete for the next day – it had to be pre-arranged to fit in with other requirements of the building program.

When we view the impressive building complex we feel an assurance that it will be secure and stable.  The designers tell us that it has been designed to survive any sort of wind, weather or earthquake that might be expected in Sydney.  It is interesting that we talk about “stability” and being “fast and immovable”.  We are actually spinning in a circular motion at a rate of 460 meters per second at the earth’s surface (the equator), and around the Sun at a speed of about 30 kilometres per second.  Hardly “standing still”, but relative to where we are, it seems like we are stationary. 

Someone will no doubt have simple explanations around these issues, but we need to be careful that the “explanation” does not obfuscate the real wonder of it all!  We do live in an exciting and wonderful world!

The Bible tells us that God, as Master Designer, Creator and Builder has made the Worlds we see about us.  When we look around us we see the “building” in the construction phase.  However the Bible also tells us that before God started he had a Vision, a Master Plan for the whole of the Universe in which we live. We read in the Book of Job in the Bible (Job chapter 38 verses 4-6) “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?... Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof;  ”  Talking of stability the Builder also says in Psalm 46, verse 2, “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”  This is a stability beyond the physical environment. Looking at the building now and seeing where it is at in the construction phase does not show us plainly what the final building will be like.  However, as Christians we believe that details about these things are provided in His Guide Book. Many concepts are presented in the Bible, and, perhaps unfortunately, are subject to interpretation, so different people see a different end to the building.  But the concept is the same in that we believe there is a Plan behind events that are happening, and they are actually following this Plan. 

And as well as the material world we live in, we believe that there is as whole other dimension of creation based around a parallel sphere of existence.  This is the world which contains our thought, emotions and feelings.  There is or has been, a parallel design of activities that are “unseen” which are also addressed in the Master Plan set out in the Bible. History puts some certainty around that part of the plan which relates to the visit of Jesus Christ to this world some 2,000 years ago, but through study many other issues can be understood as well.  And what is more amazing is that the same architect has designed not only the Universe, but a Plan for each individual life as well! 

We would like to invite you to come and talk with us about the great building of Eternity which is detailed in the Bible.  See the Vision, aspects of the design, the planning and the construction which are detailed in this Book.  Like a large Development Application, these Plans have been on display for a long time, and everyone is invited to view them and make comments on them.  You might like to contact us at any time, or a Church in your local Community, to discuss these issues.  We hold our regular Services in the Church on the second and fourth Sunday each month.  Please see details in this Paper for times of Meetings at the Christian Israelite Church Sanctuary at 196 Campbell Street – we have been in continuous service there since 1853 helping to meet the needs of people in a changing and challenging society. 

Rodney Gray – Pastor Christian Israelite Church, 196 Campbell Street, Sydney (www.cichurch.com or visit cichurch.blogspot.com.au)