Scientists at Europe’s CERN research centre believe they have found one of the basic building blocks of the universe — a subatomic particle called the Higgs boson. The Director General of CERN told an audience of scientists that the discovery is a milestone in mankind’s understanding of nature and has opened up exciting prospects for further revelations in the field.

This statement from Reuters news reminded me of my favorite childhood book – “The Wonders of Nature”. In it I read how tadpoles turned into frogs and this led to the creation of a pond in our back yard where the theory was tested and found to work!

This has been a great week for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a century without ever seeing it. Instead of a pond in the garden the scientists used the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest physics machine, which cost €4 billion to build and began operating only two years ago – it is still running at only half-power.

The experiment involved sending protons along its 17 kilometre tunnel from both ends creating millions of super-fast proton collisions in the middle. These were observed for statistical aberrations only explainable by the Higgs boson particle. Since it is invisible scientists could only look at its effects, as it holds matter together. Without it, there would simply be a void. With it, matter holds together therefore the name “God particle”, coined by publishers with an eye to selling a book, is not inappropriate!

What does the Bible have to say about all this?

St John in his Gospel introduces us to Jesus “the Word”, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made Chapter 1 verses 1/3.

This same Word we are told in Genesis Chapter 1 spoke creation into being. The intriguing thing about this information is that it is not physical.

Creation was ex nihilo (out of nothing).

The non-materiality of information contained in sub-atomic particles points to a nonmaterial source – a mind, the mind of God.

The Word comes first. The information to create is in the Word. And the Word created the universes – Colossians Chapter 1 attributes it all to Jesus. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

We praise God for every advance in our knowledge and by His grace look forward to that day when all will be made plain.

Till then, as the letter to the Church at Colosse says, “we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully as I am fully known”.

Prepare for that day by turning and completely trusting in Jesus for life in this world and the next.