“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people…it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.” John Adams, second President of the United States.
I write this column on Christmas Eve. At the Christmas Eve Divine Service, I attended tonight, our church building was packed with believers. Pastor Rutz preached from the well-known Bible passage of Luke, chapter two. This passage relates the birth of Jesus. It also declares peace. Not peace between nations or peace between men. Because Jesus was there, in the lowly manger, among barnyard animals, the angels declare that there is now peace between God, the creator of all, and his rebellious creatures, human beings. We were, and still are, at war with god, our creator. This war spills over into our relations with each other, nation against nation, people against people, husband against wife, parents against their own children. The real war, however, is between God and his highest creation, Adam and Eve and their generations of children.
After the Christmas Eve Divine Service in 1958, my wife, Janette, and I became engaged. Pastor Wuggazer preached from the well-known Bible passage of Luke, chapter two, the same text that Pastor Rutz used. Janette and I were married a year-and-a-half later, in 1960. This year we celebrated our 62nd wedding anniversary.
Other noteworthy events in 1958 were: The atomic submarine, Nautilus sailed under the North Polar ice cap, the French elected Charles de Gaulle to head the new 5th Republic of France, Boris Pasternack wrote “Dr. Zhivago,” and the New York Yankees won the World Series.
On Christmas Eve 1968, the crew of the space ship, Apollo 8, gave an unexpected message to the people of the United States and the World. They began reading the creation account from the book of Genesis, chapter one.
William Alders said: “We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. He then read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, And God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness.”
James Lovell read: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Frank Borman read: “And God said, “let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He, Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
Commander Borman finished by saying, “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.
God has given to us, no strings attached, merely by his grace, the peace treaty that solves our eternal problem of death. The little child, born in a stable over two thousand years ago, was true God and True man. By His death on the cross, our sins have been marked: “paid in full.” Jesus was our “scape goat.” God put our sins on His head. Jesus’ death on the cross paid for our sins. Our war with God is over. God signed the peace treaty with the blood of Jesus. We need to do nothing. Just believe God’s Word.
Let us give thanks to God for the blessing of peace he gave to us over two thousand years ago through the birth, life and death of His Son, Jesus.
Mike Lang, Chairman, Union County Republican Committee