2018 | Week of December 24 | #1288

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” If you think that verse sounds out-of-place—you’re right. Usually, I quote Hosea 4:6 at the end of this program. This week of Christmas, I think it’s very appropriate to talk about why that verse is so important to us at Wisconsin Family Council and to families in Wisconsin.

Hosea 4 is God’s indictment of Israel for wandering away from the knowledge of Him. He describes the state of Israel’s society as deceitful, murderous, violent, languishing, and unfaithful—in other words, the Israelites were livings as those who have no knowledge of God, no knowledge of the Truth.

That same indictment could describe our own society today. What our society needs, and needs desperately, is the Truth, with a capital T. Laws and public policy are important because bad policy perpetuates and promotes oppression and pathology. Unless the Truth informs and undergirds those policies and laws, they will damage and destroy society.

Our society is experiencing a crisis—a crisis of the ignorance of Truth, an ignorance of God. You don’t have to look far to see the terrible consequences of that ignorance. So many of the things our world cries for and vainly tries to fulfill are found in the person of Christ: peace, love, true justice, fulfillment, meaning and lasting joy, to name a few.

Hear this prophecy of Christ’s birth from the prophet Isaiah in chapter 9:6-7.
6     For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7    Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Was there ever a more wonderful pronouncement of a coming government? In less than two weeks, we will have some changes in government both here in Wisconsin and in Washington. Our response to this new government could be excitement, dismay, or ambivalence. However, our response to the glory of the incarnation on Earth of the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, over 2,000 years ago should be sheer exuberance and excitement.

Christ’s birth in the rural town of Bethlehem, during a time of siege and oppression in the land of Judea, was the beginning of a brand new government: one whose representatives do not fight with the sword, but with the Truth.

Our circumstances today are not terribly different, in substance, from that of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ’s birth. After all, human nature hasn’t changed. Outside of Christ, we are still depraved. Therefore, corruption still government, and irresponsibility and recklessness still threaten the economy. Promiscuity and a cult of self still seriously threaten the family unit and the welfare of children. A conflicting mix of godlessness and all sorts of so-called spirituality undermine the true knowledge of God.

But Christ, praise God, came into the world; and His followers, armed with His Grace and Truth, turned the Roman Empire on its head. When the Word became flesh, and dwelt among men, they “…beheld His Glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, NKJV) That same Grace and Truth which guided the lives of the first Christians still guides and informs our lives today.

The knowledge of that Grace and Truth is the key to saving the families, communities, state and nation we love. What better time to acquire and teach that knowledge than at this Christmas season when we celebrate the incarnation of The Truth, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, who is The Way, The Truth and The Life?

Celebrating the birth of Christ is a good beginning, but even better is that we let our worship and celebration this Christmas spur us on to a continued  growing knowledge of God and of Truth that will compel us to a radical life—one that will turn our own society upside down with the life-giving, freedom-giving Truth of the knowledge of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”