The Christmas story

 Does God want to be near us?

He breathed into Adam – how much nearer can you get?

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit had been so in love with each other that they wanted to share that love with created beings.

When God breathed into Adam he became like the Almighty, an image of his Creator. One of God’s qualities he still lacked. He could not produce more humans like himself. The Lord created Eve to make that possible. Out of the love relationship between Adam and Eve they could continue the process of bringing more people into the world.

Sadly, to be made like God was not enough for them. They wanted to be like him but independently from him, possessing knowledge of both good AND evil. This trait was passed on to every one of their descendants. The result was that we are born with a tendency to say NO to God. We have a sinful nature and have no choice in the matter.

This all sounds quite unfair since we don’t get the same opportunity as our first parents to remain sin-free. But God is not unfair. He planned a new Adam. Not by breathing into a clay image again; this time he entered the womb of a virgin. When he grew up he lived the kind of live Adam should have lived, not in paradise, but in a sin-sick world.

Just like Adam and Eve rejected intimacy with God, the world he now entered did not want him. They tried to kill him while he was a baby and he had to take refuge in Egypt. When he was in the prime of his life the religious and civil courts condemned him to die in the most cruel way they could imagine.

By killing the only righteous man who ever lived the true nature of the world was exposed. Those who are willing to admit that the human race is evil have taken the first step toward their salvation. The next step is to accept responsibility for hurting God and others and seeking forgiveness.

The redeemed are those who believe they have been forgiven for Christ’s sake. In other words they believe God forgave them because the Son of Man suffered in their place. They become reconciled to their Creator and will be even closer to him than Adam was.

After his resurrection Jesus breathed on his apostles and said: “receive the Holy Spirit”. New life was created in them and the Lord breathes new life into everyone who responds to the good news by receiving Jesus as Saviour. This is what it means to be born again.

Woorde

Afrikaans tot Zulu
Sus en Daan en Koeloe
As jy nie verstaan
Vlieg dan na die maan
Dit is mos wat Ouma sê
Wanneer sy tog net wil hê
Kinders moet weer kinders wees
In plaas van TV, speel en lees.

Haar geslag is siek en sat
Van mense wat net woorde vat
Sê wat hulle nie bedoel
Al wat tel is: is dit cool
Wil jy weet wat woorde doen?
Plaas jou in die hoorder skoen
Woorde kan jou pamperlang
Maar is dit wat jy verlang?

In ‘n spreuk van Salomo
Vertel hy ons van woorde so:
Ek het meer behae
In ‘n vriend se slae
As soene van een wat verraai
Mooi broodjies bak maar jakkalsdraai
Die tong gee lewe of maak dood
Verdoem of red jou uit jou nood.

The bridegroom from heaven

 I always thought Genesis 2:24 should have read differently. The books of Moses clearly advocate a male dominated culture. In my view it should have been "... a woman will leave her father and mother ...". That was in fact the practice in Israel and the Middle East. A woman was under the guardianship of her father until she got married when her husband became her guardian. In South Africa, until 1984, a woman married in community of property was regarded a minor in law. Her legal rights were the same as those of an under age child.

So why does Genesis 2:24 read: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife ...". When 'therefore' is encountered in a reading one should read the sentence before it to see what it's there for! Genesis 2:23 contains Adam's exclamation: "... bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh ...". But what has that to do with a man leaving father and mother?

In the books of the prophets Israel is referred to as the wife of her Maker. Genesis 2:24 gives us a clue that her heavenly husband would leave his home and take on flesh and be joined to her, becoming one with her.

The most famous rabbi of all time used parables to explain the Kingdom of Heaven. In one of them he said it is like a man who discovered a treasure hidden in a field. He covered it up and was so delighted that he sold all his possession and bought the field. This parable can be explained as follows:

The field is the earth which was given to man as described in Genesis 1:28 and Psalm 8:6. All plants and animals were given to mankind to care for. We have not been very good at it. For the most part we have been fighting over which man would be in charge. The treasure is the righteous people, the elect, the chosen ones. The new owner sold his position in heaven to live with his bride.

But how does she become bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh? For this to happen he had to shed his blood and obtain a new body. This he did, and when his people are resurrected they receive the same type of body: "... when he appears we shall be like him ..."!

The above thoughts are not original. They were first hinted at by the second most famous expounder of the Law of Moses who said Genesis 2:24 contained a mystery.

Rainbow Nation

Rainbow Nation don’t cry

Beloved country don’t you die

While your children sigh

Saying why oh why

Why this why now

Could we not somehow

See the writing on the wall

And make a better call

Having won the world cup

Is our time now up

Are we now has been

On the African scene

We are not lying down

For a virus with a crown

Seen miracles before

Lord, give us one more

Is our money down the drain

Was our hard work all in vain

How are we supposed to cope

If there isn’t any hope

We in the South

Shall say with one mouth

Nkosi sikelela

Hallelujah amen selah

There’s a God up in the sky

He will hear us when we cry

We must never give up praying

Listen to what he is saying

A defender of the poor

Our sickness he will cure

In our pain he’s very near

And he sees our every tear

He will drive away our fear.

Trust

In the minds of most people, especially young people, the words ''obey" and "obedience" create a negative impression. No-one is eager to blindly obey a command issued by an unknown person. Our default mindset is to be suspicious and even distrustful of the unknown.

When we are distrustful of a trustworthy person, however, it hurts both the person and ourselves. Adam and Eve were seduced into breaking the single commandment their Creator had given them. This could only happen after distrust in the Almighty had been sown and taken root in their hearts. He had expressly warned Adam that death would be the immediate consequence of eating the forbidden fruit.

The human condition has not changed. Our natural tendency is to want life and what it has to offer independently from the one who created life. That is what Adam got after he had eaten the forbidden fruit. But the innocent relationship he had previously had with God died.

The cost of discipleship

 It is a human tendency to "brand" people by something they have done or are known for. Bible headings often label people in a way the gospel writers never did. When Jesus told the parable of a Samaritan who had compassion on the victim of a robbery, he did not call the Samaritan "good".

In the same way neither did Matthew, Mark or Luke refer to a "rich young man". In Mark 10:17 the word used for him is simply "one". In Matthew 19:20 he is "a young man" and in Luke 18:18 he is called "a certain ruler".

Thousands, if not millions of people living today should similarly consider themselves rich, young and "ruling". The young man led a full and exemplary life in which he also seemed to be successful. But he was not sure about his eternal destiny. He desperately wanted to make sure he would be counted among the "righteous", those who would live forever.

Jesus loved him and wanted the very best for him, but his criteria for discipleship were much stricter than the man had anticipated. Jesus is not happy to be an "add on" to our lives. From the very first words he spoke to the end of the conversation his intention was to get this fact across.

Firstly, Jesus was not opposed to the ruler calling him "good", as long as he was willing to acknowledge that the attribute "good" belongs exclusively to God. Then, as a kind of teaser he referred the man to the upbringing he must have had in a Jewish household. He must have learnt "the law". When asked "which commandments" Jesus conspicuously omitted the "first table" commandments which relate to God. He only quoted the commandments which refer to our behavior towards other humans.

Finally the young man was ready to receive the clincher: "Give up your present life and follow me". If he could put two and two together he would notice that Jesus equated the first commandments with following him. In other words, Jesus was making a not too subtle claim of divinity.

The immediate benefit of following Jesus would be the promise of an eternal "treasure in heaven". The man went away sad but had much to meditate on: Did he really prefer an eternal treasure to earthly treasures?