Held Together by Light: The Design Logic of Salt, Light, and the Soul
I have to give credit where it’s due: few minds have stretched my faith like Chuck Missler’s.
Even years after his passing, his expositions on Genesis still blow my mind. Missler had a unique ability to draw parallels between cutting-edge science and timeless Scripture, showing that the Bible anticipated truths modern physics is only beginning to measure.
He reminded me that the worlds of faith and science aren’t adversaries; they’re subsystems of the same divine architecture. His work on topics like the age of the earth, the dimensionality of creation, and the fabric of time itself doesn’t just satisfy curiosity — it deepens worship.
And lately, that curiosity has led me to one simple, staggering question:
If everything in creation is mostly empty space, why do we stay intact?
How do atoms hold together, molecules cohere, and souls remain anchored to bodies made of matter that’s 99.9999999% nothing [1]?
The Mystery of Matter
Physics tells us that what we call “solid” is mostly void [1].
If an atom were the size of a football stadium, its nucleus would be a grain of rice at midfield, and the electrons would be whirling far away in the stands. The rest? Empty.
And yet, we don’t dissolve into a cloud of particles. We can shake hands, build houses, write books, and hug our kids. Somehow, something holds all these invisible fields together with precision and purpose.
Scripture gives the answer plainly:
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” — Colossians 1:17
“He upholds the universe by the word of His power.” — Hebrews 1:3
The bonds that keep atoms intact are not the ultimate cause — they’re the visible mechanics of an invisible command.
God doesn’t just build creation; He sustains it. The Ultimate Architect didn’t wind up the universe like a clock and walk away. He’s the energy source still flowing through the system, moment by moment, atom by atom.
Wave–Particle Faith
Light itself is a paradox — both wave and particle [2][3].
It behaves differently depending on whether it’s observed. When no one measures it, light moves as possibility. When observed, that potential “collapses” into something definite.
The universe, it seems, responds to observation [4].
And that’s not just physics — that’s faith.
Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as “the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is spiritual observation.
When we believe and obey, we interact with the unseen potential of God’s design, and it collapses into visible form — the invisible becomes tangible.
Every act of trust is an act of measurement that gives shape to divine intention.
CST Insight: Faith is the observer effect of obedience — where divine potential collapses into visible design.
The Divine Observer
Physicists weren’t the first to notice that things behave differently when they’re being watched — parents were.
Walk out of the room and the kids start wrestling; walk back in and suddenly they’re angels.
And if we’re honest, adults aren’t much different.
Observation changes behavior.
When we know someone’s watching, we live with more awareness, more alignment, more care.
Scripture reminds us that we are always observed:
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” — Proverbs 15:3
That’s not surveillance; that’s sustenance.
God’s observation isn’t to catch us doing wrong — it’s to keep us from falling apart.
His gaze is the stabilizing field around our lives.
Just as a photon behaves differently when observed [5], we become who we were meant to be when we live under His eye.
Knowing God is watching doesn’t restrict freedom — it calibrates it.
It’s the divine equivalent of quality assurance.
Awareness of His gaze collapses chaos into character.
Light Logic
Jesus said,
“You are the light of the world.” — Matthew 5:14
That’s not poetic fluff — it’s physics and theology intertwined.
Light reveals truth. It exposes what’s hidden and gives orientation to everything else.
When Jesus calls us to be light, He’s commissioning us to be revelatory beings—people whose lives help others see the blueprint of what’s real.
In systems language: light is signal clarity in a noisy environment.
Our job isn’t to outshine others; it’s to stay aligned with the Source so our output remains pure and consistent.
We reveal truth not by intensity but by integrity.
Salt Logic
Right after calling us light, Jesus adds,
“You are the salt of the earth.” — Matthew 5:13
If light reveals truth, salt preserves it.
Salt prevents decay, sustains integrity, and enhances flavor without overpowering what it touches.
In a fallen world where everything drifts toward disorder, salt is a system stabilizer.
It’s no coincidence that God uses a chemical metaphor right after a physical one.
He’s describing a closed feedback loop of discipleship:
Light reveals what’s right.
Salt preserves what’s good.
Too little, and things rot. Too much, and it corrodes.
Balance is essential. Faith without preservation fades into apathy; preservation without revelation hardens into legalism.
CST Insight: Light reveals the blueprint; salt sustains it.
To be “salt of the earth” is to embody the constancy of the One who designed us — steady, stable, enduring amid chaos.
The Architecture of the Soul
And here’s where the metaphors converge.
If the universe itself is mostly empty space, why don’t our souls simply drift away from our bodies?
Because the same God who sustains galaxies sustains integration.
He’s not just holding atoms together; He’s holding you together — body, soul, and spirit — for exactly the number of days appointed to you.
Your existence isn’t mechanical; it’s relational.
Your soul is not contained by chemistry; it’s anchored by covenant.
The connection between spirit and flesh doesn’t persist because molecules are stubborn — it persists because God is faithful.
From a systems-engineering view:
The body is the physical subsystem instantiated in time and space.
The soul is the governing logic of identity — mind, will, and emotion.
The Spirit is the sustaining current that keeps the interface alive.
When God withdraws that current, the hardware powers down — but the data persists.
The soul doesn’t leak out; it’s released.
The system transitions from temporal operation to eternal storage in the Architect’s own domain.
CST Insight: God is not only the Builder of the system — He is its sustaining power supply. Every breath, every heartbeat, every bond between atoms is a moment-by-moment miracle of maintenance.
The System and the Sustainer
Here’s what this means: you’re not adrift in an empty universe.
You’re upheld by design.
The same laws that hold matter together are the echoes of His ongoing “Let there be.”
If He stopped speaking, the universe would dissolve into nothing.
But He doesn’t stop.
And that means your story isn’t random—it’s sustained.
Light shows the blueprint.
Salt keeps it from decay.
Faith collapses potential into form.
And God’s steady observation holds the entire system together until the day He calls it complete.
Reflection
When you feel fragmented, remember: even atoms are mostly empty, yet they endure because He says so.
So live like salt that preserves, light that reveals, and faith that observes — under the loving gaze of the Architect who still whispers the universe into cohesion.
Sources & Further Reading
1. Oxford University Press. How Empty Is an Atom? in Physics in Context, 2023. https://academic.oup.com/book/985/chapter/137840897
— Explains atomic emptiness and how electromagnetic fields create perceived solidity.
2. Physics World. Wave–Particle Duality Quantified for the First Time, 2014. https://physicsworld.com/a/wave-particle-duality-quantified-for-the-first-time/
— Experimental confirmation that photons display simultaneous wave and particle behavior.
3. Kim, Y.-H. et al. A Proposed Interpretation of the Wave–Particle Duality. PNAS, 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9689755/
— Reviews experimental frameworks showing the dual nature of matter and observation’s role.
4. Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete? Physical Review, 1935.
— Foundational discussion of measurement, reality, and observation in quantum physics.
5. Heisenberg, W. Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. Harper, 1958.
— Reflects on uncertainty, observation, and the philosophical limits of measurement.
