There is an unemployed man that comes around to my house about once a month. Since i am at home doing my Masters work, i am invariably the one that answers the gate. Over the past 6 months or so, we have developed a sort of a relationship. I chat to him about where he stays, how he gets money etc. Every time we talk-he tells me how good God has been to him, and everytime he tells me of some other horrendous thing that has happened to him. From getting arrested for ‘loitering’ to having his socks stolen or being mugged and almost getting his finger bitten off…because he was holding on to his money so tight! This is not fair…However, I know that God is great and that this is well within his control and purposes…and i know that one day in eternity i will marvel at how good God has been throughout history.

One day this will all be over…and what a glorious day that will be-when people like my friend are clothed forever in the righteousness of Christ…and no longer need to grovel for some change…because they will be eternally blessed with every imaginable blessing…

Praise God

At my church we have a slot during the service called: Lets get thinking, where we address current issues or theological questions…stuff like that…I had the dubious honour this last week of answering the question: What about the people who have never heard about Jesus? So people that live in utterly remote places, babies that die, people born with no cognition of the world around them…

My knee jerk reaction was: I don’t actually know!? So I did some biblical research, listened to John Chapman on this issue and read a little of what JI Packer had to say…this is what i came up with:

Judgment is on the basis of how much information God has shown you about himself:

In the gospel of Matthew we read about Jesus’ comments on three cities where he did lots of miracles.

Matt 11:20-24: “…Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sack cloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you were performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you!”

Although he proved who he was…they didn’t repent. He concludes by saying that on Judgment Day it will be better to be Sodom (the most sinful city ever recorded) than to know who Jesus is and not repent… If Sodom had seen what these people had seen then it would have repented!

The basis of judgment is on what you know. To say it another way: you cannot be blamed for something that you could not have ever known!
In that case we then to take a quick look at ways that God reveals himself…

There are only two ways:

Specific Revelation-through the bible…which obviously excludes our subject,

and General Revelation: through the creation that surrounds us.

In Romans Paul tells us that “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” -

So, one method that God reveals himself is through all the things he made. Everyone receives this revelation of God, just by virtue of living in God’s world! This means that no-one can deny knowing something about God…

Everyone knows something about God:

Even if someone has never heard of Jesus, they still know something of God…we have seen his goodness through all he has made, but we do not respond to him in righteousness…rather we reject him by living our own way: and Paul tells us that that rejection of the revelation of God through creation makes us guilty.

So, then, if everyone knows God is there by virtue of what he has made, then it all depends on what we do with this knowledge. Paul says that we “suppress the truth” and “exchange the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and reptiles”. People have the propensity to smother, deny and quench the awareness that general revelation gives them about God.

So then, it is not how much you know…but what you do with what you know: it is only God that knows at the end of the day, how much someone in Guatemala or Alaska knows. Only God knows. And only God knows what they have done with that general revelation…which leads us to our third point:

God is completely righteous.

While the guilt that exists in us all can only be cured by Christ on the cross…God is completely righteous. This means that he will deal with people that have never heard the gospel in a manner that is right. I do not know how exactly he will do it…but on that day no-one will be able to turn around to God and say: “you really stuffed this up God! You didn’t do the right thing” No…everyone will say: “that is right…you could not have been fair, and done it another way…”

In closing though…while those people exist and it is our calling as Christians to go to the ends of the earth…it is also a good time to consider our own standing with God-if you have been in this church for any amount of time, then you will know that God is good, that he sent his son to deal with our sin problem, and that it is our response to that message that determines our standing on Judgment Day…we rely on what Jesus has already done for us….not on anything else! Let me turn the question onto us…since we have the special revelation contained in the bible…

How much do we know?! What is our response to the righteous creator of the universe?

I am slowly getting the hang of this whole blog thing…i can see that it has a highly addictive nature! This is my first real introduction to the blogosphere so it has been quite an opportunity to see all that i have missing out on!

Most of my days are spent working on my architectural thesis. So i thought i would post an image of my design for anyone interested…

May 27th 1994 is the first memory i have of the word ‘apartheid’. It was of course the day that Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president of the Republic of South Africa. The proudest day in this countries history. When the images of people lining up to vote were shown on tv-the thought for me was: ‘that is the way it should always have been…’ and anything else seems perverse in retrospect. How is it possible that one people group can achieve total domination over another, on the premise that they are in some way inferior? The sort of division that South Africa endured…and is still recovering from-is one based purely on pride.

You see, there is actually one thing that binds every single person together with an undeniable tether: all of us are bad. No-one can turn around to anyone else, least of all themselves, and say: ‘i have wronged no person’, for that is a blind statement with no chance of holding water. Once we have been levelled by this truth-we have to ask ourselves…where to? What happens next? The conclusion is fairly hopeless-one can try and live morally from that point on-and try and forget that, firstly, there is no hope of achieving even this goal…and secondly-we are tarnished by our previous behaviour. These questions have led me to ask more questions, and i can honestly say that i have found answers in the bible-because it describes the world in terms that i can see around me-everyone falls short…i can agree. We live in a world tarnished and marred by our short falls, and there is no hope within the human race itself.

Where is hope? Only in the King, Jesus…he offers hope in abundance. Why? Because he doesn’t say-here is the road map, go and do it yourself. No, he agrees with me, and says ‘you are completely unworthy, there is no hope within you…i will do it for you!’ I would find it impossible to read another religious manuscript that describes life in one way, and then when i enter the world i see nothing that is the same-the bible is different, and our response to it needs to be different, you see-i can read about reality, and then go and live in reality. I do not need to read one thing and have to live in another. It would be like playing football under the instruction of a cricket manual! I see hopelessness, and the bible tells me the world has no hope…

Jesus died for us, because he knows this, and loves you.

I do see people trying to convince themselves that there is still hope…how can there be? There isn’t.

One thing that apartheid has left for us here in South Africa, is a plethora of opportunities to serve others and show them love! There are deep scar, and wide racial and economic barriers-but if we are all sinners saved only by grace…then we are in a position to be humble and serve. We need to be involved in these ministries of mercy. Christian should be at the forefront of social action, why? because we are the one’s that truly have a reason to reach out.

The church in South Africa needs to be separate. Together. Jesus calls us out of this world to live lives that are holy, set apart, separate…the context? Within a united and indivisible church body regardless of race, economic standing or education background. There is nothing else that will unite a country, any country-nothing that can break the devides between slave and freeman…

Because of the saving work of Christ Jesus on the cross, the South African church should be separate. Together.

So, I’ve now entered the ethereal world of blogging-not too sure what form this page will take, but it will contain my thoughts on society and culture, my Lord Jesus, some architecture…or just the ramblings of a 20-something reformed Christian living in a post-apartheid South Africa…trying to come to grips with questions that we are continually faced with…questions of world view for example: Where did i come from? Why am i here? Where am i going?

I would like to analyse my surroundings-so mainly media and culture, and determine some answers, or thoughts, or more questions…or more specifically, questions that i am currently dealing with.

Please join me…