Reformed Church of Hastings

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” {Galatians 4:4-5}

This article has the date it was loaded onto the Reformed Church of Hastings website stamped on the top. Today will be the same date or later. Yesterday was the day before today and tomorrow never comes! Time is an inescapable part of human existence. If you don’t believe me, look in the mirror to remind yourself of this relentless reality! We all have a date of birth defining the day, month and year on which we were born.

The calendar we now use was invented by a Roman monk called Dionysius in 526AD. His idea was to make 0AD the year of the birth of the Jesus Christ, but he made a mistake of several years. The best guess we have for Jesus’ birth is the spring of 6BC.   So why do many people remember Christ’s birth on the 25th December? There is no evidence that the birth of Christ was celebrated by the early church. It was not until the 4th century AD that there was a celebration on what we now call “Christmas day”. Many historians think that this date was chosen to coincide with the winter solstice, incorporating the pagan rituals of Mithra, the Iranian god of light, and the Roman wild merry making which took place during the festival of ‘Saturnalia’. Historians suggest that some church leaders hoped that by encouraging the celebration of the birth of Christ at the same time as the winter solstice they would be able to better promote Christianity.

The Bible contains many ‘date-stamps’, but does not give us Christ’s birth date. The Bible references the well-documented historic period of Augustus Caesar’s reign over the Roman Empire as being the period in which Jesus was born; ‘when Quirinius was governor of Syria’. The birth of the Christ had been anticipated for some 4,000 years beforehand. At that time our common ancestor Adam broke the law of God in the garden of Eden and God promised that a descendent of Eve would conquer Satan. Over 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophets Isaiah and Micah foretold that He would be born to a virgin in a place called Bethlehem.

The significance of the birth of Jesus is not the exact date when He was born, but that He was born “when the fullness of time had come”; that is, at precisely the right time. When Jesus was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, God, in the person of His Son, became flesh; without ever ceasing to be divine. When Jesus was born, God the Father required of Him {just as He does for every man, woman and child} that he obey God’s holy law.

Unlike you and me, Jesus did this perfectly. He died as the only truly innocent person who has ever lived. It is because of this historic fact that Jesus makes it possible for all those who believe on him to be adopted by God as sons and daughters. Now that is something to celebrate, whatever the time of the year!

Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me; I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart.” {Psalm 40:7-8}

About 3000 years ago an ex-shepherd boy became a great king. In Psalm 40, this great king makes a promise to be ruled by someone far greater than himself: God. He promises to obey God’s law, which was written down in the scroll of the Old Testament scriptures. David committed to do what God wanted, not because he had to, but because it was his delight to please God.

King David’s intentions were good. Sadly however, he did not deliver on his desire to obey God. Later in his reign this king took another man’s wife for his own and then had her husband killed as he tried to cover his treacherous tracks. In general, King David was a good king, but he couldn’t do what God wanted him to do all the time; anymore than you or I can.

 About 2000 years ago a carpenter’s adopted son became the greatest of all Kings. Jesus Christ came into this world in a unique supernatural event. He was born to a virgin woman but had no human father. God, in the person of the Son, became man, without ever ceasing to be God.

We remember the coming of God’s Only Son at Christmas time. Born, as previously predicted, in king David’s birthplace; Bethlehem. Born to live in perfect obedience to the will of God His Father amidst a life of temptation, suffering and trouble. Born to be a greater king than his human ancestor David. Born to die a truly innocent man. The Christ of Christmas is the Christ of Easter.

The good news of great joy that the angel announced at the birth of Jesus was not that another flawed king like David had arrived, but that a perfect King, a Saviour, had come into the world. The good news is that God promises to save from death everyone who believes in His Son Jesus Christ.

To believe in Christ is to turn to God and seek his forgiveness for not doing His will and to firmly trust that Jesus Christ has fully paid the price for all that you have done against God’s perfect law. If you are such a person this Christmas, give glory to God in the highest. If you are not, seek the Christ of Christmas today!

Life is short and many people seem to spend the first half looking forward with hopes and plans and the second half looking back, sometimes with fond memories, sometimes with shattered dreams. As I am now into the second phase of life, I have wished that I’d read a brochure entitled “the things they don’t tell you about growing old” to prepare me ahead of time.

In my earlier years I often wondered why senior gents wore singlets under their shirts, why older people found background noise distracting and why those with grey hair tend to prefer the familiar over the novel and new. Now being post-mid-life, I’m starting to find these things out by experience! I’ve also realized that I had already been told about growing old in the Bible. A wise writer in this Book describes aging this way:

“When the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets”. {Ecclesiastes 12:3-6}   Here is a vivid description of what it is like to grow older with weaker muscles, failing eyesight, loss of teeth, impaired hearing, erratic sleeping, fear of this dangerous world, white hair, unsteady walking, reduced appetites and finally death. This is not a pretty picture; one which the writer says ends with “the dust returning to the ground it came from”.

Even though advances in modern medicine have somewhat eased the pain and discomfort of the aging process, physical death remains unavoidable. The writer of Ecclesiastes penned this miserable, but accurate, description of aging because he wanted to provide some vital wisdom:

‘Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”’ {Ecclesiastes 12:1}

Reader of this article; whatever age you are, this is timeless good advice. God has created us all, and whether or not you and I reach the advanced stages of life with its many challenges, we will all meet our Maker one day. Now is the time to remember Him and to ask yourself “Am I at peace with my Creator today?”

The only way to be right with God and to conquer the debilitating aging process forever is through Jesus Christ, in whom death is swallowed up in victory. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” John 3:36a.

The “Missing Link” refers to the lack of evidence for a bridge, or link, between one species and another. For example, the theory of evolution says that the origin of the land-based cow is to be found in the ocean-going whale which has gradually changed through many mutations into the animal upon which the New Zealand dairy industry now relies. If this whale-to-cow transition had occurred, we would expect to find numerous fossils showing life forms which were part-whale and part-cow in varying proportions. They are ‘missing’. {Not only from the fossil record, but also from the mind of any sensible person trying to think of how a part-whale/part-cow would function with a transitional hybrid anatomy}.

Likewise, if we, as human beings, evolved from apes, then there should be many examples of the progression from ape through ape-man to man. Many attempts have been made to find such fossils. Perhaps the most famous was the discovery in 1974 of the skeleton of “Lucy”, classified as an australopith {southern ape}. Her skull is so incomplete that it has been described as being mostly ‘imagination made of plaster of paris’. The examples of partial skeletons and bone fragments which have been presented as evidence of the ‘missing link’ between ape and man are extremely few (e.g. AL 129-1, Karabo, Selam, STS 5,14,71, Taung child).

Evolutionists don’t tend to speak about ‘missing links’ anymore; because most have accepted that these transitional fossil forms simply don’t exist. Evolutionary theory itself has evolved into the idea of rapid, punctuated, change. The suggestion now is that species jump from one stable form to another, leaving no record of the change made. This conveniently removes the need to find the missing link, but leaves an even bigger problem: no evidence that one species has actually become another species. What remains then, is the obvious conclusion that whales have always been whales, cows cows, apes apes and people people; each species reproducing only after its kind. This is exactly what the Bible teaches and it fits the facts more simply and more accurately than any evolutionary theory yet devised by man.

Did you know that in addition to the Bible teaching us about species, the Word of God also speaks about The Missing Link? Not an imaginary bridge between different species, but the living connection between God and new man. This link has been missing since man, the creature, rebelled against God, the Creator. The good news is that this link can be found! The bridge is not a bunch of dead ape/man bones, but a living God/man: Jesus Christ. He is The Missing Link. He is real. He does exist. He may be found. The starting place for discovering Him is not in a fossil-dig, but in a unique book: the Bible. “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near”. {Isaiah 55:5}

Have you ever wondered what God looks like? Well if you have, you’re not alone.   Approx. 3,500 years ago Moses was talking to the Almighty One and he wanted to have a full-on up-close personal look. He boldly asked God  “Please show me your glory.” {Exodus 33:18}
Now, there was a big problem with this request. God put it this way “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” This man had a very close relationship with the Divine Redeemer of His people, yet could not look fully upon God Himself.
God kindly solved the difficulty by hiding Moses in the crevice of a rock, passing by him, and covering Moses with His hand so that only God’s back, but not His face, could be seen.  Remember that God is Spirit, not physical. He does not have body parts. The words “face”, “back” and “hand” here describe in human terms something of the mystery of this partial revealing of God, without defining His appearance.
We need to understand that God is not like us. He is not a created being. He is absolutely Holy. He is set-apart from all people, who are not holy. Moses was not a holy man. Just as neither you nor I are naturally holy people. The Holy and the not-holy cannot mix. They cannot occupy the same zone. A bit like oil and water, fire and ice, or light and darkness.
As He passed by Moses, God described Himself as being compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving those who have rebelled against Him, but not leaving the guilty unpunished. Moses was exposed to the holy, just and wonderful character of God as He heard these words.
1,500 years later, God became Man in the person of His Son, the Christ. Jesus has shown mankind the invisible God. Jesus explains God the Father to us. God’s compassion and love are shown in that He forgives all who repent of their sins and put their trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
In the future, Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth. When He returns all those who belong to Him will see His face, the face of God. They will be truly holy as God is holy. There will be no need for these holy ones to be hidden in cracks in the rocks, for they will see God and know Him as He knows them. This is a future far far better than the very best 2011 can offer!
Pastor David WaldronReformed Church of Hastings

If you ask most people the question: “How old is the earth?”, they will most likely reply “billions of years”. However, this idea is a relatively new one. Until a few hundred years ago, the earth was thought to be thousands, not billions of years old.

In the late 18th century, geologist James Hutton wrote that the history of our globe must be explained by what can be seen to be happening now. His starting point was that “no powers are to be employed that are not natural to the globe”. Following Hutton, scientists like William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) calculated the age of the earth to be many millions of years. The development of radiometric dating methods (e.g. carbon-14, potassium-argon) later pushed the estimated age of the earth out to about 4.5 billion years.

So doesn’t that prove that the earth is old? No, not necessarily. There are some major problems with radiometric dating; an analysis technique based on the physical process whereby a ‘parent’ isotope decays to form a ‘daughter’ element. A number of untestable assumptions are made to date rocks (e.g. a constant rate of decay, an isolated system in which no parent or daughter element can be added or lost, and a known amount of the daughter element present initially). By adjusting these assumptions, radiometric dating may be used to simulate ‘proof’ for a wide range of ages.

There is an old idea that the earth is actually relatively young; probably less than 10,000 years. Before dismissing this notion as utterly ridiculous (along with a flat earth, or flying unicorns), pause for a moment to consider the sense in this theory.

Current earth processes and rock formations can be accurately and reasonably explained by a young earth which underwent a global cataclysmic flooding. This major tectonic and climatic event would account for a radical change in the structure of all land masses and ocean basins and in the composition of the atmosphere.

The biggest problem many scientists have with the young-earth theory is not that it doesn’t explain what we observe today, but that it simply doesn’t give enough time. Time for billions of years of chance evolution to produce men and women from microbes. The theory of evolution and the theory of a young earth cannot both be true.

Wouldn’t it be helpful in deciding between these two ideas if we could hear from a person who was actually there when the earth was first formed? Well, we can. His name is God and He has written down in the Bible exactly what happened at the beginning.

Rev. David Waldron

Reformed Church of Hastings