Today we spend much time interacting with computers. Automatic teller machines, word processors, and cash registers connected to central computers are all a part of our daily lives. And more is on the way with automated home control and interactive services on cable. In the near future nearly all jobs will be computer mediated and just about all areas of our personal lives will be touched by computers.

The human/computer interface has become an important consideration is designing and using computers. The interface is in some sense a mediator between the human and the machine. It is a transmitter of commands, feedback, and instructions between two very dissimilar entities. In order to perfect this interface, some propose the use of artificial intelligence to give the computer the smarts to understand what the human wants to do. Others conceive of a union of the human and the machine--an android in which the spirit of the human inhabits the machine--or a cyborg in which the machine inhabits the human body. But none of these fantasies seems particularly pleasant. At present, we are more likely to think of the human/machine interface as a symbiotic relationship which compensates for the respective limits of the human and the machine and enhances the faculties of both.

Interestingly, the solution to many of the problems of civilization can be found at critical interfaces--between the farmer and the land, between merchants and goods, between the individual and society, and between mankind and knowledge. Today the emphasis is on the interface between the human and the machine. But for what problem of mankind is the human/computer interface the answer? Or more directly, what is the goal of this bridge between the human and the machine?

Is Technology the Solution to the Problem of Mankind?

Great advances in technology have, to be sure, changed our culture and advanced civilization. The claims for computers and in particular the human/computer interface are essentially threefold. The human/computer interface will assist in our striving for the supreme attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. Access to limitless information systems may be the key our hungry for knowledge. Automated and remote control of servodevices in our physical environment is a step toward omnipotence. Telecomputing and teleconferencing promise to provide a convincing simulation of omnipresence. The argument is that technology is the answer to man's three fundamental desires.

But what about the ultimate problems of a personal sense of meaning and purpose to life? Will progress toward these three goals result in happiness. We find no social indicators that argue that we have risen to a happier state as a function of technology nor that our relationship with computers will in any sense fulfill some sense of destiny. On the contrary, social and personal well-being seems to be at an all time low, and there is little to argue that the man/machine interface will solve our problems at either a personal level or at a societal level. Why? Because the same forces of conflict that have pervaded all of history will continue to exist at all levels of technological achievement. Competition, warring and strife will simply be on the automated battleground of information systems, robotics, and communications.

To me and to millions of others in history, the answer to man's problem is indeed found at an interface, but not between the human and the machines we have create, but instead between us and the God who created us. Meaning, purpose, and destiny is held in the hand of Him who designed us.

What about the Man/Creator Interface?

Why is the interface between God and man relevant? Why can't we go on as though (and as many believe) there is not God? Quite simple--if God exists, we make a grave error in factoring Him out of the system. Many proofs have been set forth as to the existence of God, but these are superfluous to the fact that God has left His indelible stamp--and image-on the design of mankind. He said "Let us make man is our image, in our likeness."

Given that God exists and that He made us, imagine the potential that could be achieved through an interface between the finite and the infinite? But what connection exists between the Creator and the created, how does it work, and how can I interface with it? The answers to these questions depend on the character of God and His purpose for us.

What is Character of the Creator?

Even if one is not comfortable with the idea that God exists, one may nevertheless consider His character if He did exist. Theologians identify two sources of knowledge about God: (a) the revealed nature as recorded in Scripture and (b) the manifest nature as inferred from the physical matrix of His creation. As King David wrote "The heavens declare the glory of God." To expedite the present discussion--we will consider the nature of God from Scripture. The two aspects of particular interest to the us are the following: (a) God loves His creation and He loves us. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." (b) God is righteous and hates sin. According to the Old Testament, He demands perfection and He is committed to punishing sinners. But if anyone thinks that God is being unfair or that they cannot believe in a God who would punish the wicked, that person should consider his own attitudes toward his creations. We demand that our computers and our programs run correctly otherwise we abort, kill, or terminate their processes and debug them without mercy.

Why Did We Fail the System Acceptance Test?

If God created a perfect universe, what happened. In the beginning it was flawless; it had no bugs, those errors in programming that cause a computer to go awry or to bomb--until another agent intervened and corrupted the control program, namely mankind, to access a forbidden database--the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Since then the virus of evil has infected all of us, we have all rebelled against God. Perhaps we thought that we were smarter than God as some imagine that an artificial intelligence program may become smarter than its creator The original design called for Adam and Eve to live forever. But since they had become corrupted processes, God designed that their lives and the lives of all their children should be terminated in order that we do not suffer that corruption for eternity, a sort of infinite loop. Rather we have an opportunity to be reprogrammed and completely debugged.

The Ultimate Interface

Our relationship with God was broken by our sin. Yet it remains our desire to survive and even to reestablish a relationship with the Creator and imbue meaning and purpose back into our otherwise futile runtime existence. But it is clear that we cannot reprogram ourselves. That which is imperfect does not have the transformation function to become perfect. Our help must come from without-- namely, from the System Designer Himself. Within our common set of hopes is a desire for a savior, a teacher, a friend, a shepherd, a messiah. Fortunately, God is merciful and wants to retrieve our lives from the bit bucket. His plan involves an ultimate interface, a gateway that stretches from God in heaven to man on earth. The plan was to send His very own Son into the system itself, the perfect form incarnate in a broken world. And by His life, death, and resurrection He created a pathway. Paul wrote, "There is one mediator between God and Man--the Man Christ Jesus."

Read the Documentation

How can one learn more about this interface? Fortunately, extensive documentation exists on the ultimate interface between God and man. It is the Bible. As with most documentation, it unfortunately sits on the shelf as human muddle through life never becoming proficient at what they are supposed to do. But the truth is that this documentation was meant for you. It contains the answers to life.

The Signon Procedure

How do you access the system for yourself and establish a relationship with God? Many have sought truth, God, and happiness through many different religions and philosophies. But the truth is that there is only one way. Jesus made it exclusive, proprietary, and totally protected when he said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The way, the truth, and the life cannot be copied, and the software protection cannot be broken. No other religions or philosophies can substitute as compatible clones. There is only one password but God will share it with you. It is the name of Jesus. But you must seek the Savior for yourself. He has already opened the channel for you. "For it is by grace that you are saved, not through works so that no one can boast."

Now is the time to get on-line. The password is the name of Jesus, for those who are humble enough to use it. To reestablish your access to God, you must seek the gateway of prayer, and from your heart pray: "Lord, forgive me for my sins. I confess that Jesus is Lord and will believe on His name." The Bible says, "All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved." There is no better guarantee in the world.

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