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S
ome Christians believe that work is bad,
that it is a curse brought about by Adam
and Eve’s sin left uncorrected. This mistaken
belief can cause people to feel that what
they do in their jobs every day is not impor-
tant to God, or at the very least, is not as
important as the work of missionaries. This is
not true as Genesis 1:25-31 teaches us.
First we learn that God Himself works as
evidenced by the labour involved in creation
and the fact that He rested on the seventh
day. Then we discover that man was made on
the sixth day in His image (v 26) and that he
was granted dominion over creation. This
means that man has to work to tend creation.
Clearly the tending of God’s creation is work,
noble work, for God looked upon His labours
and declared them “very good” (v 31).
Very Good Work (Genesis 1:1-31)
| Bro Isaac Kapa (Tongaren, Kenya)
It must not escape our notice, either, that
work was declared good before sin entered
the world, in other words, work did not result
from the fall and therefore is not a curse. We
see this idea again in Genesis 2 when God
“took the man and put him in the Garden of
Eden to tend and keep it” (v 15).
Let us approach each day’s labour, whether
at a job or doing activities to help our family,
with our awareness of the dignity and nobility
God granted in creation. May God give us
work till our life shall end, and life till our
work is done, and may God take our life after
the work is finished. Amen
Men at The Gate ~ 2014 Report
| Bro Lothar Kassier (Pinetown, South Africa)
E
very opportunity in these closing times of
Gentile times has merit to strengthen our
faith.
This year ‘Men at The Gate’ was held in
Durban at the Ecclesial Hall and Bro Anthony
Oosthuizen was the presenter dealing with
the theme of “Responsibilities of the Man of
God in the Family.” The outline of the
presentation was well planned and illustrated
in book form for everyone who attended to
take home.
Bro Anthony dealt with the main topic under
three sub titles:
1. The importance of our Private Worship
2. The real purpose of daily readings
3. Marriage; a gift from God for Life
These were all timely reminders to brethren.
It was emphasised how private worship of
prayer and meditation is important for the
continuity of the body of Christ. This was
supported by many scriptural examples.
Under the topic of the purpose of daily
readings, we were reminded of how
important this is. We live in an age where,
according to statistics, fewer and fewer daily
readings are done in the brotherhood. We
have to be imitators of God, just as Jesus
was, and this is only possible by daily
reminders from the Word. It was emphasized
that the Truth is a “Bible Culture” and not a
“European Culture”.
The third part dealt with marriage. It was a
timely reminder to be made aware of the
basic principles of marriage, because they
are currently under threat.
We broke up into discussion groups at the end
of the meeting and a report back was given.
May it be that the coming of Christ will soon
put an end to the rulership of man in this
time of perplexity.