Most of us know of or have viewed various Star Trek adventures. We're familiar with Mr. Spock, Captain Kirk and his successor Captain Picard, and the android Data. "Beam us up, Scotty," is understood around the world. Star Trek clubs, with thousands of fans holding annual conventions, abound.

In the real world, man has traveled at over 18,000 miles an hour, been on the moon and explored Mars via computer-robot technology. Today, science fiction is very popular. Audiences love movies showing superhumans solving incredible problems in a world where man has achieved intelligence and power to handle almost anything. But, we all know, it's only fiction!

Yet, there is an expression that "truth is stranger than fiction." When it comes to the plan of God for man, truth is indeed "stranger than fiction" to most. To God's people, however, the future that awaits surpasses anything the Starship Enterprise crew experienced or accomplished. Let's make a few comparisons and see.

Warp 10 Versus the Speed of Thought

Today, in spite of the tremendous advances in transportation, we spend many hours traveling—even days. From North America to Europe can take 10 to 12 hours. But the Enterprise travels at speeds of up to "warp 10." In just a few hours, with a great "whoosh" surpassing light-speed, they reach a distant star.

Now, let's compare this to the speed Christ traveled after His resurrection. "Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him, 'Rabboni!' (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, "I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God."'

"Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, 'Peace be with you'" (John 20:16-17, 19).

Here, Christ traveled to the Father's throne in the third heaven and returned the same day! This is travel at the speed of thought. The sons and daughters of God will be able to do this—imagine it! The warp 10 speed of the Enterprise would be a mere "snail's pace" in comparison.

"Beam Us Up"

"Beam us up, Scotty," was a frequent command on the Enterprise. The Star Trek creators imagined a fictional technology that disassembles body molecules, atoms and chromosomes, then transports and reassembles them into the same person, or same matter, in split seconds.

In the Bible, we see the reality. Christ was "beamed away" and back again, right through solid walls. He did not need to be dematerialized. He could simply travel right through matter. "Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight . . . Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, 'Peace to you'" (Luke 24:30-31, 36, emphasis added throughout). The disciples were terrified by the sudden appearance of Christ in the room, thinking they were seeing a ghost.

Limitless Power

The incredible weapons of the Enterprise can stun, kill and vaporize. Photon torpedoes can atomize a spaceship as large as an aircraft carrier.

But the reality is even more stunning. When the sixth trumpet blows, announcing the return of Jesus Christ, an army of 200 million will be assembled to resist Christ. Zechariah 14:12 tells us, "And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." This vast, unprecedented great army . . . gone in seconds; not by a weapon but by limitless power used in a limited way.

Just as great a demonstration of God's limitless power is seen in Joshua 10:12-13: "On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: 'O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.' So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies" (NIV).

This power somehow, miraculously, stopped the sun and moon's motion. God's power halted the function of our solar system. That kind of power makes the weapons of the Enterprise seem puny indeed.

Beyond Rocket Science

Mr. Spock, and his successor, Data, can solve complex problems quickly. They have computerlike minds with incredible knowledge, data and logic seemingly at their fingertips. Impressive? It surely is. But let's compare this to God's mind.

In Psalm 147:4-5 we read, "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite." Try to imagine this—every star has a name!

God has an orderly universe and knows exactly each heavenly body occupying a limitless space. Let us ask, will His sons and daughters, living forever, not also come to know them?

King David thought about God's vast wisdom and power and he said in Psalm 139:17-18 that God's knowledge, wisdom and power cannot be measured in any human terms. It is a wisdom and power perfectly harmonized with love, mercy, compassion and patience—qualities which humans lack. Remember, God's family is going to be like Him.

Medical Miracles

The doctors of Star Trek have been provided with an impressive array of medical miracle-instruments. Just touch one to a nearly expired person, and with a "beep-beep," cells are regenerated, molecules and DNA put right and the patient rises, well again.

But how about this? In Luke 22:50-51 we read, "One of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, 'No more of this!' And he touched the man's ear and healed him" (NIV). A mere touch and he was healed with a whole ear!

Even more amazingly, we see an example where simply saying the words at a distance healed an illness. In Matthew 8:6-8 a centurion asked Jesus, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." Christ offered to go and heal him, but the centurion replied: "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed."

Remember Lazarus? He had been dead for four days! The simple words of Christ were, "Lazarus, come forth!" Yes, this was Christ, but we see in Acts 9 that a man like ourselves, filled with God's Spirit, raised Tabitha from the dead. This is a power that creates life. It is God's power, in this case, shown through one of His servants.

While it's very difficult for us to envision the awesome future God is preparing for His children, He does give us inspiring glimpses that let us see it in part. "'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

Whatever we can envision about our glorious future, it will be immeasurably surpassed by its reality. Try seeing ourselves in this setting: "Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever" (Daniel 12:3). This was not just hyperbole—Christ Himself confirms in Matthew 13:43: "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Human technology and achievements are indeed impressive. In the voyages of the Enterprise, we see the crew use powerful weapons to blast great holes through mountains, travel at awesome speeds into vast space and distant planets, heal terrible diseases and save alien civilizations. As an immortal, glorified, wise and loving son or daughter of God, you will be infinitely faster, more intelligent, more powerful, a much better healer, teacher, helper and problem solver than the crew of the Enterprise, or mankind's combined science and technology, could ever imagine.

For most of humanity, truth is "stranger than fiction." But our destiny is indeed "to boldly go where no man has gone before" and to do that which no man has even done, as sons and daughters of God in joyous service to Him—forever! UN