THREE STRIKES
In the book of Genesis, we are told that: “…God formed man of the dust of the ground…”(Genesis 2:7) and that man was to “…have dominion over…all the earth…” (Genesis 1:26) and “subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). So man was really told to take control “over all the earth” (Genesis 1:26) in God’s place.
Now in those days, God was apparently the friend of man and came down to earth and could be heard “…walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” (Genesis 3:8). I would imagine that He was disappointed when the friendship with man was broken and mankind went essentially its own way.
Now the idea of man subduing and having dominion over the earth did not come about due to the pride and greed which developed in man after the separation from God. The resultant misbehaviour and activity became so rampant that God almost wiped mankind off the face of the earth, but He did not entirely do so. Instead, He set down a series of Laws by which man should live and thereby perhaps regain his proper position on the earth. Man, however, did not follow the meaning of these laws either and continued to have wars and conflicts, and repeatedly to behave in disobedience to what God desired.
Now I can imagine God saying: “I created man as the most intelligent species on earth and yet all they seem to exhibit is foolish behaviour. I came to earth as a friend but perhaps I need to do something different to really understand how these humans think.” So, He decided to come back to earth a second time as a human Himself in order to have a better understanding of how we think. Thus one morning, about 2000 years ago, He returned this time as a babe in humble circumstances in an effort to understand us better. His only announcement was to shepherds by angels who pronounced “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14). 1 John later stated that: “…the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world…” (1John 4:14).
Again, unfortunately, mankind was not receptive to God’s plan. Instead of being in agreement with what God had planned, Jesus was persecuted and condemned. Instead of man having salvation and at last having “…control and dominion over all the earth…” (Genesis 1:26) and subduing it, earth has developed control over us and tends to subdue mankind. Floods, tornados, hurricanes, rains, winds, and climate changes of all types, along with innumerable conflicts, and now recurring and ongoing pestilences, all show just how much control nature and natural forces have over us.
I wonder if God perhaps thought that the 10 Laws He proclaimed initially were too much for mankind to follow so He even made it simpler - instead of 10 Commandments, He gave only two: love God, and love each other. How much simpler could it be? “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). If this is done there should be no problem with the second commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”(Mark 12:31).
There is a saying in baseball ‘Three strikes and you’re out.’ Even with the simplicity with which God proclaimed the commandments, we still don’t seem to get it. When God came as friend, we discarded Him; when He came as saviour, we condemned Him; when He comes a third time it will be as The King of kings and Lord of all lords. He will come in all His power and glory and this time He will do the choosing. Those who have accepted Him, He will likewise accept; those who have rejected Him will in turn be rejected.
So this Christmas, although it is not the actual day of Christ’s birth, it has been accepted as the day we commemorate such. So perhaps we should remember that this day should be regarded as a Holy Day and not just a holiday. Christmas really means Christ’s Mass.
And that should give us all something to think about.
So do have a Happy Holy Day and a Merry Christ-Mass
p.s.: There will no writings for the next two weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment