Author: Proud Mpofu

By Martin Morrison

Christopher Ash wisely says the following, “It is hard to keep God out of sex. Carl Jung once remarked that when people brought sexual questions to him, they invariably turned out to be religious, and when they brought religious questions to him, they always turned out to be sexual. No doubt this is an exaggeration, but it is hard to keep God out of sex”.
In Ian McEwan’s harrowing novel Atonement (shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2001), there is a defining moment in which the lovers Robbie and Cecilia first make love in the modern sense of sexual union and in the older sense of declaration in word. At the moment of words, the author comments, “Robbie had no religious belief, but it was impossible not to think of an invisible presence or witness in the room, and that these words spoken aloud were like signatures on an unseen contract”. In a haunting novel almost devoid of grace and remote from true atonement, this “religious” moment shines like a beacon from beyond. Sex with love and (in this novel) followed by costly faithfulness is imbued with a deep significance.

We cannot think seriously about sex without the unseen presence of God. Whatever our histories or beliefs we want to be able to feel that our actions have been justifiable and defensible, “in the sight of heaven”. We are right to want to think this, for sex is significant. Sex cannot be understood, primarily as a self-contained physical act. It cannot be understood purely in terms of human relationships. It can only be understood as a part of the great story of men, women and God.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed”. Genesis 2:24 – 25.

Go to any Christian bookstore and browse the section on marriage and you will find lots of books for engaged couples, books on how to be a better husband or better wife, lots of titles on parenthood. Those are important issues, but they do tend to emphasize the inward-looking side of marriage, while ignoring the outward-looking aspects. We have privatised and individualised marriage, and forgotten that God ordained marriage as a cornerstone of society and community. We have tended to talk about marriage as a personal commitment rather than as a foundational relationship for the good and safety of all people.

Genesis 2:24 – 25 affirms a number of key principles.

Firstly, the first human relationship ordained by God for the good of society is not your work colleagues, or class of students or a soccer team, or even being a parent, but a marriage. One man, one woman, for one life, to the exclusion of all others.

Secondly, marriage was instituted by God from the very beginning and hard-wired into human society. It is part of the natural order of things. Fish swim in water, beasts walk in the fields, birds fly in the air, and men and women marry. It is not something that slowly developed over time or was devised by human thinking. It has been part of human life from the beginning.

Thirdly, marriage was established to fulfil the creation mandate, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…”, Genesis 1:28. Adam and Eve were given jobs to do. They were told to fill the earth, to steward the earth’s resources, to have authority over creatures and to labour in the garden. In other words, they were expected to work and be productive. In Genesis 2:15 we read that God put man in the Garden of Eden to work it, and take care of it. Then God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him”, Genesis 2:18. The Hebrew word fit literally means “like opposite him”, like him but opposite of him – a description of the complementary characteristics of men and women.

“Marriage is instituted by God so that human beings can fulfil the creation mandate. Marriage is necessary to help the human race do the jobs it is meant to do; to work, to be stewards of creation, to have children and to raise them to be productive. Marriage is foundational to all this human activity”. Mike Judge, The Christian Institute.

In our western world, this kind of thinking was generally accepted by most people until the last fifty to sixty years. As recently as 1996, President Clinton signed into law The Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 or commonly called The Welfare Reform Act. The major reason for this Act was the exponential growth in welfare recipients following various welfare programmes from the 1960’s, and that many of these programmes encouraged greater numbers of non- marital families with all their attendant dependencies on the welfare state. Overwhelming evidence was provided to Congress, that the impact of the current welfare system hugely increased non-marital pregnancies, child abuse and sexually transmitted diseases.

The result was quite remarkable and almost unbelievable to our present cultural climate! Congress made the following findings:
a) Marriage is the foundation of a successful society
b) Marriage is an essential institution of a successful society which promotes the interests of children.
c) The promotion of responsible fatherhood and motherhood is integral to successful child rearing and the well-being of children.

The growing trend that cohabitation before marriage is a wise and prudent way to find out whether you are compatible, a so-called trial before entering marriage, is a false concept. Evidence from various sources, show that the divorce rate has been significantly higher for couples who have cohabited before marriage, than for those who have not.

Recent research has shown that children born to a cohabiting couple are twice more likely than those born to a married couple, to experience family breakdown. Children who have suffered family breakdown and consequently live in one parent homes, are significantly more likely to experience domestic violence, economic deprivation, academic failure and serious psychological problems. Similarly with divorce, even ten years after the divorce of their parents, children felt less protected, less cared for, less comforted than children in intact families. Significantly, children of divorce are much more likely to divorce themselves. These, of course, are averages. There are shining exceptions, but the averages cannot be denied.

Fourthly, Genesis 2:24 – 25 teaches us that marriage is universal. There are certain things that are only meant for Christians. Such as the Lord’s Supper or Christian Baptism. These are not for all people, but only for God’s people. But there are other things in the Bible that are meant for all people everywhere, throughout time. The unlawfulness of murder is meant for everyone. You do not have to be a Christian to believe that murder is wrong. The unlawfulness of lying is universal, not only for Christians. Some things are universal. They are part of the nature of things. Theologians call this natural law.

Marriage is universal. It is part of the nature of things. Marriage is not something peculiar to Christians. It is what theologians call the creation ordinance. Throughout history and throughout cultures it is universal. Yes, it has at times come under attack. Yes, there have been times when it has been distorted and twisted. But generally speaking, ever since the world began men and women have been committing themselves to each other in lifelong marriages.

It is important that we recognize that marriage is universal, because some Christians fall into the trap of thinking that marriage is just a Christian institution. This means that we should not accept the false divide between civil marriage and religious marriage. Some say, let the state define civil marriage if it wants to, and we will keep quiet, as long as those of us who are religious, can practise our own religious marriages. This is incorrect. Marriage is universal, it cannot be split into civil and religious lines. There is only one definition of marriage, namely one man, one woman, together for life, to the exclusion of all others. The definition stands, whether the ceremony is civil or religious. Just as murder is universally wrong, so marriage is universally right.

For further reading: Marriage: Sex in the Service of God, Christopher Ash; The Biblical Basis of Marriage, Mike Judge, The Christian Institute; How the West Really Lost God, Mary Eberstadt.

By Martin Morrison

“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food”, Genesis 2:8 – 9.

The source of all beauty, all art, all music, all the aesthetically satisfying elements of life, is God. People can so often forget that. It did not arise out of the primordial slime or by chance nor fate. In Genesis 1, after every day or step of creation, God makes this profound statement, “And God saw that it was good”. And then at the end of the chapter, God looks at his whole created order and says, “And behold, it was very good”, Genesis 1:31. The words very good are a celebration of God’s wonderful world. It’s a celebration of the goodness of creation. There is a sense of joy and delight in creation. I sometimes feel pity for those who refuse to acknowledge that there is a God, because when they are bursting with thankfulness at a glorious sunset, they have no one to thank!

The same principle is taught in Genesis 2:8 -9, “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden and …every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food”. So, God not only created a good world, but placed within that good world, beautiful trees and delicious food. It tells us that God is more than a utilitarian God. Obviously, God is concerned about our bodies and our souls. But he is equally concerned about beauty that is pleasing to the eye, an environment that is delightful to explore, food that melts in your mouth!

One of the indescribable joys of being a Christian, is that we can enjoy and celebrate the wonders of God’s world. We can delight and thank God for all the good things in life: Mozart, art, flowers, gardens, beetles, friendship, rap music, sex, spiced food, cappuccino coffee, chocolate. There are countless things in creation, which have no economic value whatsoever, but they are there because they are beautiful. And simply by being beautiful they give glory to God. They fulfil the purpose for which God created them. That is their value and their value is inestimable.

It pains me when I drive around some parts of the city, and there are townhouses and office blocks which are unbelievably ugly. They are purely functional. Purely utilitarian. Like some of the old apartment blocks in communist Russia, blocks of cement, steel and glass. Totally cold and heartless, totally uninviting, an in-your-face expression of a two-dimensional philosophy which has no God and therefore no beauty! The two so often go together. I know full well, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but ugly is self-evident! Surely, instead of a block of classrooms that has no beauty or character, all it needs is an architect who thinks of a gable, or wall paint that compliments the colour of the roof. All it needs is someone to plant some trees, to bring shade and character and a softness to the eye.

By Martin Morrison

A stone struck me rather violently on my thigh one afternoon, whilst walking next to a road. No, it wasn’t anyone who disliked me, but a passing car that threw up the stone in its wake. I also remember that for some time afterwards, I checked anxiously whether there was an approaching car and if so, allowing the car to pass before walking over the same spot. Some may call that being cautious, others paranoia!

I mention that rather random event, because Paul’s behaviour in his first missionary journey seems positively strange. We are told in Acts 14: 19 that when he was preaching the Gospel in Lystra, present day Turkey, the crowd stoned him and dragged him out of the city supposing him to be dead. He wasn’t dead. But instead of abandoning Lystra and heading for friendlier shores, he gets up and returns to the very people who had just stoned him. Luke, the author of Acts continues by telling us that he then goes to Derbe to preach the Gospel and then returns to Lystra, “…..strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God”. Acts 14: 22.

I cannot imagine what it feels like being stoned, when the purpose of the carefully aimed stones is to kill you. Do you try and duck your head or move your body? Do you cry out in terror? Do you try and remember who threw the most vicious stone and plan revenge in your heart? Are your emotions filled with anger and bitterness, or is it just fear and disbelief? I find it almost unimaginable to put myself in the shoes of Paul.

The question that genuinely puzzles me, is why after surviving this lynching mob in Lystra, he returns to the very people who stoned him, not once but twice. In fact, he returns to Lystra a third time on his second missionary journey. (Acts 16:1). Surely, such behaviour is abnormal human behaviour? Come to think of it, it is abnormal!

But then we read about Paul’s purpose, that drove his life. In Acts 20, Paul is in Ephesus, saying goodbye to his very dear brothers and sisters in Christ knowing that he will never see them again. It is an understandably emotional scene. There’s much weeping and embracing as he says his final goodbye.

Before leaving them he gives a most memorable farewell. Most striking for our purposes is vs 22 – 24,”And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God”.

So here we find the reason for Paul’s seemingly abnormal behaviour. The overriding purpose in Paul’s life was a divine sense of call, a divine sense of obligation, a divine sense of mission. He felt himself on a divine assignment. Being what? To testify to the gospel of the grace of God. No other religion or spirituality preaches the gospel of grace. Yet Paul who had experienced that divine grace on the Damascus road, was compelled to share this gospel, until his life was spent. Nothing was more precious, nothing more valuable. Even his own life.

A life lived without purpose is a wasted life. What greater and more magnificent purpose than to live for God and eternity. To live to share the gospel of the grace of God through our words, our talents, our money, our time, our love.

I wonder if we can say with Paul, I do not see the purpose of my life being me and my comfort and my rights and my well-being. No, I am so infinitely privileged that my purpose is so much more than me and my little life. My divine assignment is to live and testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

For further Reading: Don’t Waste your Life. John Piper. Available on Amazon Kindle.
My grateful thanks to Panganayi Sithole who drew my attention to the above passages and thought.

By Martin Morrison

Why doesn’t anybody have any time today? Where did all the time go? We’ve all said or heard that many times. What is time? Where did it come from?

Question: Was time there before God created the world?
Answer: No, God created time. God is the author of time.

Here is a concept our finite minds are barely able to handle. God lives beyond time and is never limited to any moment of time. God transcends time. God is external to time. God is timelessly eternal. God has no beginning and no end. He always is. God exists, but never came into existence.

Moses testified to God’s eternity, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God”, Psalm 90:1 – 2.

John records the words of God, “I am the Alpha and Omega, …who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”, Revelation 1:8. Since God is everlasting, his perception of time is not like ours. We experience one moment followed by another moment. We experience time successively and sequentially. We have a definite past, present and future. We cannot transcend time. We are in time and formed by time. Time for us, is like the air we breathe. We rarely notice it. We cannot escape it. We are bound by time.

God who is everlasting, perceives time differently. God sees and experiences time all at once. He lives in the past, the present and the future all at once. He is, he was and he is to come, all at the same time. For God, all time is like an eternal present. As Aquinas said, God sees all things together, and not successively. As I said, we can barely handle this!!

Stephen Charnock uses the illustration of the sea in contrast to a river. A river changes, moving from place to place, sometimes even shifting its location or its destination, depending on its environment. It is highly susceptible to being affected by something external to itself. Not so the ocean. It’s as if it never changed. Always in the same place; always the same body of water from year to year. It’s fixed and stable. If a river ever came into contest with an ocean, there would be no contest. The ocean would swallow up the river. The sea is such a vast body of water that it remains constant. God is more like an ocean than a river. While the river of time is always changing and developing, the ocean of the divine remains constant, consistent, and invariable. He is changed by no succession of moments, for he has none. God who is infinite and eternal, doesn’t change.

C S Lewis helps us to understand the difference between our time and God’s time in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. When Lucy goes through the wardrobe into the land of Narnia, when she returns hours later, it’s as if no time has passed back on earth. Her brothers and sisters don’t believe her story at all. But then the Professor backs up her story, that there really is another world through the back of the wardrobe.

“But there was no time, said Susan. Lucy had had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than a minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours. That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true, said the Professor. If there really is a door in this house that leads to some other world, I should not be at all surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time. But do you really mean, sir, said Peter, that there could be other worlds, all over the place, just around the corner, like that? Nothing is more probable, said the Professor”.

So, God is the creator of time. He lives beyond our time in another sphere of existence.
God not only created time, but he divides time into portions, seasons and years.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.  And let them be days and years”, Genesis 1:14.

One of the striking features of Genesis 1-2, is its focus on time. The chapter is constructed as a week of seven days, whether they are 24 hour days or a period of time.

God created the sun and moon, in order that there may be ordered time, structured time. God has created a natural rhythm for our good. There are 24 hours per day, every day. There is a rhythm of six days work and one day rest, every week. There is a rhythm of 52 weeks per year, every year. There is summer, autumn, winter, spring, every year. There is dry and wet, hot and cold, dark and light.

By Martin Morrison

G. K. Chesterton is one of my literary heroes. He fought the secular world of the 19th and 20th centuries with words and truth. He was a journalist by profession and wrote thousands of articles, dozens of books and was a regular speaker and lecturer. He has often been called the prince of paradox. Here are some rather amusing comments he made off the cuff during question time at a lecture:

If you were stranded on a desert island with only one book, what book would you choose? Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding.

What are your thoughts on democracy?
Well, if we really believed in democracy, we would not be debating what we should do with the poor; the poor would be debating about what to do about us.

One of my favourite quotes is: The worst moment for an atheist is when he feels a profound sense of gratitude and has no-one to thank.

I love that last quote. In its true form, gratitude is profoundly Christian. It assumes that there is a Creator who took the initiative to act in some or other way. That act resulted in some form of beauty or truth. As creatures we observe that beauty and respond in gratitude. As Chesterton explains, gratitude is pointless if there is no-one to thank. Perhaps Chesterton was reminded by Paul, that one of the signs of the ungodly is not to honour God or give thanks to him.

However, as Christians, one of the distinguishing marks of a Christian is constant thankfulness. Paul instructs us to, “….give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Ephesians 5:20. Gratitude will mainly focus on the past and the present. You focus on what you have and where it comes from. You focus on the extraordinary privilege of God’s blessings big and small in the present.

Ingratitude doesn’t focus on present blessings big or small. Ingratitude doesn’t focus on the beautiful colours of the rainbow. Ingratitude is in perpetual pursuit of the rainbow’s end. No wonder there is no gratitude. Ingratitude is based on phrases such as, “if only” or “perhaps tomorrow” or “It’s my right” or “I’ll get him”.

Not only are there a thousand blessings right now for which we can thank God. But Christians can never exhaust their thankfulness to God for salvation.

•  Thankful that while we were sinners and enemies Christ died for us.
•  Thankful that in Christ our sins have been taken from us as far as the east is from the
  west.
• Thankful that there is now no condemnation for those found in Christ Jesus.
•  Thankful that we are sons and daughters of God.
• Thankful that His Spirit lives within us.
•  Thankful that He has promised to never leave or forsake us.
• Thankful that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
•  Thankful that we await a new heaven and a new earth where there is no mourning,
  crying, pain or death.
•  Thankful that the best is yet to come.
•  Thankful that God will write the final chapter.

Let me close with a last quote from the prince of paradox. “When it comes to life. The critical thing is whether you take things for granted or you take them with gratitude”. It’s your call.

By Martin Morrison

Firstly, it means that we oppose the sin of racism, for every person is created in the image of God, regardless of race, ethnicity, language or culture. Tim Keller in a recent article entitled, The Sin of Racism, argues that it is a sin to violate this principle, the divine truth that all humans have equal dignity and worth as persons created in the image of God. James 3:9, states that to even curse a human being, to address them without respect, violates the image of God. Jesus tell says that cursing a human being, “will be liable to the hell of fire”, Matthew 5: 22. “To presuppose one’s own race or nationality is inherently superior to another, and to treat those of other races and nationalities with a) unfairness or unequal justice, with b) dismissiveness or with c) active contempt is a sin, and one that is danger of the fire of hell”. Tim Keller.

Keller continues and says that God’s law is based on his character. The Lord is literally, no respecter of persons, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome god, who is not partial, and takes no bribe”, Deuteronomy 10:17. The context for this statement is a discussion of race and class prejudice. “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing”, Deuteronomy 10:17 – 18. In Acts 10:34, Peter learns that God shows no partiality on the basis of national or ethnic status. It is a sin to be partial, and discriminatory, because it falls short of God’s character and glory.

In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, there is a magnificent quote by Shylock, a Jew, who is being discriminated against by Christians!

“I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?”

Secondly, it means that we oppose abortion. According to the World Health Organisation, there are approximately, 40 – 50 million abortions per annum. Worldwide, 25% of pregnancies end in abortion. In the UK, girls aged 13 and above may have an abortion without the consent of their parents. This means that at 13 years of age, you cannot drink alcohol, you cannot smoke tobacco, you cannot frequent a pub, you cannot watch certain movies, but you can have an abortion without the consent of your parents! Both the United Nations and Amnesty International campaign that access to abortion is a basic human right. The USA Senate on 25 February 2019, would not pass a bill to protect the lives of children born alive after a failed abortion. The result, “No doctor has a duty to provide medical care to a child born alive after an attempted abortion”. As Al Mohler says, “We are living in a culture of death”.

By Huston Malande

Article from The Gospel Coalition Africa

Life is hard. You don’t have to be a Christian (or an entrepreneur) to know that. Life is just hard, for everyone, everywhere. The ancient curse of Genesis 3 hangs over every endeavour like a dark oppressive cloud.

However, it doesn’t always seem like everyone is struggling. In fact, people who don’t care about Jesus often seem to thrive! Is this not the psalmist’s chief complaint to God in Psalm 73? He contends with God, “They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.”

The Trials of a Christian Entrepreneur

Perhaps the only thing harder than existing in a dark world, is being a living sacrifice and living as the very light that the darkness hates.

It’s harder to be honest in a world full of liars and lies. It’s harder to be generous in a world full of greed. And it’s a lot harder to be profitable in entrepreneurship when the rules of the game – or lack thereof – are skewed against you. In fact, they seem to favour those who live as if they won’t have to answer to God in the end.

So how can a Christian venture into entrepreneurship and expect to survive—let alone thrive? For ours is a an incredibly cut-throat business environment. If the estimate is accurate and 95% of all new businesses fail, why would a believer risk their time and money jumping into a pool of sharks? The odds are stacked against believers in every conceivable way.

5 Tips From My Entrepreneurial Journey

The answer to this question could fill the pages of a book. But I’ll give you 5 thoughts that, by God’s grace, have helped me throughout my own 11 year entrepreneurial journey…KEEP READING

By Martin Morrison

Deep down, man is basically good.
Deep down, man is basically evil.

For centuries, thinkers have argued about which of these two opposing statements are true. A good case can be made for each and this is not surprising, because both are true. Mankind is a puzzle. We are capable of the most admirable thoughts and deeds, and the most barbaric evil. The ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles, is remembered by just two sayings, “Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man”, and secondly, “Not to have been born is best”.

Blaise Pascall argued that man is an oxymoron: wretched greatness, great wretchedness, rational animal, mortal spirit, thinking reed. This is the paradox of man. We are both good and evil. We are just a speck of dust in a vast universe; yet we dominate our world and build spacecraft to travel to the very stars that dwarf us.

Just who or what are we, we human beings? The author of Psalm 8 pondered this too:

When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings,
and crowned him with glory and honour.

The most important statement in the Bible made about mankind is in Genesis 1:26 – 27, “Then God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”.

We have already seen that this remarkable statement points us to the fact that mankind is a unique being; mankind is a spiritual being; mankind is a communal being. There are at least three further meanings to this phrase.

Firstly, it indicates that mankind is supreme over creation and is to rule the created order. “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it”, Genesis 1: 26, 28. Man is appointed by God to be his representative ruler or manager on earth. Man is therefore to manage the world on God’s behalf.

Sadly, we have not done very well as managers of God’s estate. We have failed in numerous ways, including failing to provide proper care for the environment. However, there is a “green” danger lurking in the shadows, where certain created things are seen by some of the western elite as having the same or greater rights than human beings. Occasionally, one reads of certain western countries, where legislation gives certain lakes or rivers “personal” rights, seemingly equivalent to those of humans. Or much greater concern is expressed for the poaching of a rhino, than the abortion of an unborn child. Both are abominable, but the one infinitely more than the other!

The principle if Genesis 1:26, 28 is that mankind is the manager of the earth, and that the earth is subject to the dominion of mankind, not the other way round.

Secondly, man is a creative being. In Genesis 1 and 2, God is pre-eminently a God who creates. Man, made in the image of God, consequently has the ability and desire to be creative. Creativity is part of our human nature, which will be fleshed out in countless ways. There is creativity in homemaking, hospitality, engineering, business, organising, teaching and IT. Some express their creativity in music, dance, media, literature or gardening. Others express their creativity in sculpting, painting, cake icing or making Tik Tok movies.

When we use our creative gifts, we are modelling ourselves on God. Being spiritual is not only when we pray and read the Bible! No, spirituality includes all of life. When we use our gifts and talents and creative abilities, we are giving God glory by giving expression to the gifts he has given us. No wonder, we feel joy when we create, because we are modelling ourselves on our Creator.

Lastly, man is male and female in being. Both men and women are equally made in God’s image. They have equal value, equal dignity, equal worth. There is an inherent equality between the sexes. Men and women are different and have different roles in different situations, but there can be no doubt about the equal value and equal dignity of both. That means, that if you are a female, your distinct female characteristics come from God. If you are a man, your distinct characteristics come from God.

How striking, that in a document, written over 3,500 years ago, before any modern constitutions or bill of rights, or feminist movements, God states on the first page of Genesis, that men and women are equal in value, worth and dignity. We cannot under estimate how revolutionary this statement would have been in all ancient cultures! The Christian faith, more than any other major religion, uniquely affirms the value of women.
What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?