Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
As the autumn winds bring cooler air and the days get shorter, nature reveals
the age old cycle of God’s design for the earth. I absolutely love how the seasons
in Britain are so distinct, creation gives clear signs of the upcoming shift, long
before the grandiose autumnal colour palette kicks in. A few weeks ago my
family and I went for a long stroll, on one of those balmy late summer evenings.
The signs of autumn’s approach were all there, apples hanging low on the trees,
blackberry brambles bursting with fruit, squirrels and jays hoarding up nuts and
stinging nettles growing tall and tatty. I know a lot of folks shudder at the
thought of autumn arriving, because it means winter isn’t close behind. But I
love this season, because in Australia, the change of seasons is far less
pronounced. Save for a few rare pockets where deciduous trees have been
introduced by European settlers, the native trees of the Great Southern Land
are evergreen. Eucalyptus trees dominate the continent and all year round their
slender olive green leaves remain on the tree, unless of course a koala munches
them. When we moved to the UK, experiencing the seasons, was like living in
the storybooks read to me as a child.
The world is full of wonderful beauty, the great tragedy of the human race of
course is that the vast majority of people never stop to give thanks to the One
who made the natural world in all of its abundant complexity. The vast majority
of people admire the flora and fauna of the world and stop there, in a sort of
godless idolatry. [Romans 1:25] It’s a tragedy because the created world
proclaims day and night the glory of God who made everything. From the
smallest amoeba to the towering height of Mount Everest God’s design is
stamped all over His creation, like a billion billboards all boldly proclaiming ‘GOD
MADE ME!’ [Romans 1:20, Isaiah 55:12]. Theologians call this God’s ‘general
revelation’, it’s a broad brushstroke through all the cosmos, that reveals the
glory of the Maker of all. Even though many blindly miss out on finding God
through this means, there are certainly a great deal of folks who come to Saving
Faith, through the beauty of creation causing them to seek the One who made
it. For Katerina, part of her faith journey towards accepting Jesus was
discovering the Fibonacci sequence, a spiralling mathematical code that is
present in countless natural processes, from seashells, to beehives, to galaxies
and our human inner ear. The sequence was famously observed by a man called
Fibonacci in 1200 AD, each succeeding number is the sum of the two numbers
that precede it, for example 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55 and so on - ad infinitum! For
Kat and countless others, this was a clear evidence that someone had
intelligently designed the universe. God could have easily chosen to obfuscate
evidence of His fingerprints all over creation, but He lovingly chose to leave clear
signs of His glorious power all over everything. However, even all of the signs
pointing towards God in the natural world are not enough to know Him
personally, to understand His character or to learn how we can relate to God.
In order to know Him personally, God also has a ‘special’ or specific revelation
of Himself for humanity. This may occur through dreams, visions and even
physical appearances throughout history and most importantly, God reveals
Himself, His intentions and His character to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. All
of these special revelations are recorded for us in the changeless words of the
Bible. Scripture chronicles for us, the Lord’s interactions with humanity, our
special place in creation, the rebellion of sinful mankind and the many
interactions of God with humans down through the ages, culminating in the
coming of the Saviour who died and rose again to make a way for us to know
and love God again. God carefully orchestrated the content of the Bible through
the agency of human authors so that it is available to all humankind. [2 Timothy
3:16-17]. The one and only way of salvation is open to all who would accept
Christ and live. This specific revelation from God is the kindest of all of His
mercies. And yet, like the general revelation of nature, many reject it or miss the
point entirely.
What means then, does God use to spread this wonderful message of hope?!
Who or what does He use to reach the lost for Christ so that they too can hear
about the God that loves and cherishes them? Who desperately desires to have
a saving relationship with them? The simple and awe inspiring answer is that
God has entrusted this sacred duty to us! Every saved Christian has a duty to
share what they have learned about Christ and the narrow way of eternal life.
“For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then,
can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in
the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone
preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is
written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” – Romans
10:13-15
So, as the beauty of autumn sweeps across the landscape, and the trees of the
National Forest are yet again painted red, brown and gold by their Creator be
sure to pause to give thanks to God who made it all, but equally importantly stop
to tell others about the wonderful God who made all the beauty of the earth,
share with them that He is not distant and cold, but near and that He desperately
desires to know and love them.
May God bless you and keep you,
Rev’d Brett
October 2021
Reverend Andrew Rhoades