Our Own Kind

In the first chapter of the Bible in Genesis, we read of God creating the heavens, earth, plants and living creatures.  God created all living things to reproduce after their own kind, and we observe this happening to this day.  Over and over it is repeated that grass and fruit trees produced seeds that yielded according to their kind; birds, fish and living creatures brought forth after their own kind.  Genesis 1:26-27 reads, "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Mankind is distinct from all other living creatures because we have been created in the image of God who put eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11), breathed into Adam the breath of life and made him a living soul.  All human beings today share the common ancestry of Adam and Eve, and after the great flood all descended from Noah and his family whom God spared from death.  Though there are different ethnicities, languages and homelands that distinguish human beings from one another, we are all human kind.  God has united us as mankind, yet man's natural tendency is to divide, to focus on differences rather that the one LORD who created us in His own image.

I read an article recently that illustrated well a misconception that conflates various ethnicities to mean different kinds.  A Hispanic border patrol recruit who could be stationed at the U.S. and Mexico border was asked, "How do you feel about arresting your own kind?"  The recruit responded, "They didn‘t come in the right way. So, they aren‘t my kind."  The premise to this question was deeply flawed from a biblical perspective, for every human being is our "own kind."  It is a great shame as people created in the image of God we would view some people as our kind but dismiss other human beings because of their ethnicity or because they entered a country illegally--that any person would be viewed as less than human.  While the question was intended to be provocative, Christians ought to be peacemakers who extend grace to every nation, tribe and tongue because we have all been created in the image of God who loves us all.

The early church experienced growing pains in walking in grace towards other believers when it was customary for Jews to separate themselves from Gentiles.  Walking uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel means we are not to call unclean what God has cleansed, for Jews to put upon Gentiles the burden of keeping the Law of Moses, or for Gentiles to compel Jews to forsake their God-honouring traditions.  The love of God ought to govern us to do good towards all--especially those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).  God's love helps us to be considerate of people's differences and to celebrate them rather than force people to conform to our preferences.  May the love of Christ be expressed through us to all people, untainted by bigotry, racism and partiality.

Jesus in His World

"Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

John 8:12

How blessed we are that God has given His only begotten Son Jesus to be the Saviour of the world!  One thing I love about the Bible is how Jesus is the central figure in it from beginning to end.  The first verse of Genesis tells us, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  The Gospel of John starts this way in John 1:1-3:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."  The celebration of Christmas reminds Christians how God did not remain distant from the world or mankind He created, but God put on human flesh in the person of Jesus so we might know Him and so He could save us from our sins.

The apostle John began his first epistle in 1 John 1:1-3 with his eyewitness account of Jesus:  "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life--² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us--³ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."  Jesus is the light of the world, the Word of life, the Word that became flesh, and He has manifested eternal life to us through the Gospel.  God is eternal and living, and from Him all living things have come.  Life has never been observed as arising spontaneously or by any means from what was not living.

Life is truly wonderful, and because this world is teeming with life the enormity of the implications of life's existence may be lost on us.  The fact we are alive is a little thing in itself, but it points to the clear fact life has been passed down to us.  Go all the way to the beginning and the living, eternal God was there--one God revealed in the Father, Son (Word) and Holy Spirit.  This reality impacts not only our past but our present and future.  Knowing we have been created by God for God, we ought to live our lives to glorify, praise and serve Him.  Having received assurance of eternal life by faith in Jesus, we are content knowing when we put off this mortal frame we will be gathered to the presence of our Saviour in eternal glory where we will live with Him forever with His redeemed saints.

It would be tragic to be alive and not realise our living Creator and His divine purpose for living.  We would be remiss to see the sun rise every day and not consider Jesus Christ is the light of the world who spoke the sun into existence.  To light the candles of the Menorah without recognising Jesus is the light of the world would be to miss praising God who always does miracles, who breathed life into dust and made man, who came as the light of the world to a world darkened by the spectre of sin and death.  To give and receive gifts on Christmas without realising Jesus is the greatest gift ever given we ought to treasure every day is to miss out on who is most important.  We can be central in our thoughts and little worlds we try to maintain for ourselves, but how blessed we are to make Jesus central and serve Him.  May the LORD open our eyes to perceive God as central in His word and His world God allows us to inhabit for a season.

Rich in Christ

In speaking, my Grandpa was able to make a point without requiring many words.  Once in my late twenties, a cousin and I accompanied him for a visit to his cabin in the woods of northern California.  Were were eating pizza after fishing and I left a portion of the crust uneaten on my plate that was especially hard and dry.  He looked at the scrap of crust and asked with dead seriousness, "What, are you rich?"  He was of an era and mindset that good manners demands one eats everything on the plate, and to leave any bits behind was a claim to wealth, entitlement and superiority.  I felt justified to leave the crust because it was tough to swallow, but to escape the ire of a man I respected I powered it down.

Just today I came across an article which says how much money Australians need to have to consider themselves rich.  The article asserts, "...the average Australian must be earning a jawdropping $389,118 per year to feel rich."  That's a pretty specific number, and I have no idea how this amount was settled on--which is $50K more than last year.  In the eyes of those interviewed, it takes a lot of money to feel rich.  I strongly suspect should people make this amount of money annually, they may be surprised that the feeling of richness remains elusive.  Even more would be needed to secure that "I'm rich" feeling that remains out of reach.  The working definition I have for being rich is similar to my Grandpa's view:  the rich can afford to pay others to do for them what they don't feel like doing themselves.

I believe it is possible not only to feel rich but be rich with nothing of monetary value because of who Jesus Christ is for all who trust in Him.  The smallest blessing becomes an overwhelming bonus from our Father's hand.  Paul wrote to Christians in 2 Corinthians 8:8-9, "I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."  The richest person on the planet cannot compare with the richness of God who created and owns all things.  God has all power, wealth, authority and majesty, yet God became poor for our sakes in the Person of Jesus Christ so we might become rich.  This does not speak of our financial net worth but the enduring richness of a relationship with God, fellowship with God's people and being made citizens of God's everlasting kingdom.  Jesus taught where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.

The context of Paul's words to the Corinthian church were encouragement to make good on their word to contribute financially to the church in Jerusalem that was struggling.  Perhaps after agreeing to gather a contribution the Corinthian's reserves looked to be running low:  how would they fare if plunged into poverty?  Paul encouraged them to remember Jesus who became poor to enrich them beyond what money could buy, and God's sincere love prompts us to give to meet the needs of others generously.  God can use our financial situation and decisions to help us realise what we see as the true riches--making and saving money on earth or storing up treasure in heaven by faith and obedience to Jesus Christ?  Comparing ourselves to others makes us see how little we have and leads to envy and discontent, but by Christ becoming poor we have all things and abound (Phil. 4:18).  Rather than chasing the feeling of being rich, let us find contentment and rest in Christ who is our all in all.

The Messiah Identified

I love the intricate amount of detail God provides in His word.  I don't know how many fellows named "Anah" there have been since creation, but we are given an interesting tidbit in Genesis 36:24 about Anah the son of Zibeon:  "The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon." (NIV)  People who read this would say, "Oh, that Anah."  Discovering hot springs while grazing Zibeon's donkeys would narrow down things a bit.

The Bible speaks about real people who were recognisable and distinguished from others.  It is not a collection of fanciful tales but an accurate record of people, and sometimes we are told about their appearance.  When confronted with a message of rebuke from an unknown man, 2 Kings 1:7-8 tells us king Ahaziah was able to easily identify Elijah:  "Then he said to them, "What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words?" ⁸ So they answered him, "A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist." And he said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."  Perhaps it was not until John the Baptist the leather girdle became a trademark look (Mark 1:6).

The Scripture that distinguished Anah from other men name Anah and Elijah by his hairiness and wardrobe choice also provides a clear description of the Messiah who was to come.  He would be born of a virgin, as it is written in Matthew 1:23:  "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."  The Son of God would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and also live in Egypt for a season (Matthew 2:15).  The promised Messiah would also be raised in Nazareth as Jesus was in Matthew 2:23.  Put all these things together and it is clear this Jesus is very singular and unique.

The birth of Jesus was announced by angels to shepherds who watched their flocks by night outside Bethlehem, and wise men from the east came far to worship Him, having seen His star that led them to where the Child was.  John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Christ when the Spirit like a dove descended and remained on Jesus after He was baptised in John 1:32-34:  "And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."  This is the same Jesus over whom the voice of God boomed from the heavens at His baptism as well as on the mount of transfiguration, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

The Bible is full of evidence that affirms Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah sent to save His people from their sins.  Many people in Israel were not sure who Jesus was, but without a doubt Jesus knew the Father in heaven and the purpose for which He had been sent.  Concerning Himself He said in John 3:14-16:  "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  As Jesus said would happen many times, He died on a cross, rose from the dead and ascended alive into heaven in the sight of His disciples.  This is the Jesus I remember and celebrate this Christmas and every day, the Son of God who is the greatest gift anyone by faith can receive.