God’s Answer to the Culture of Death
Errol C. Fernandes—HLI Bombay
Christmas 2004

Christmas is our celebration of the birth in the flesh of God’s eternal Son. The entire mood of the season is one of festive joy, a joy that is inseparable from life itself. We sing deeply moving songs of the Divine Child and His Virgin Mother, of peace to men of good will, of God-with-us Emmanuel, and exhort one another to come and adore our newborn King.

The Culture of Death is the last thing we want to think of at Christmas. After all, who wants to think of death when we would rather celebrate new life? Who wants to think of violence when we are proclaiming peace? Who wants to think of abortion and infanticide when we are joyfully recalling the most important birth in history? And yet, the Gospel tempers the joy of the nativity with sorrow – the mindless massacre of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem. We rejoice that God has become a man; but are reminded that man will always be tempted to play God.

The Christmas celebration of life, to be seen in its proper context, must be placed in contrast with the culture of death. Christmas is not meant to be an escape from the harsh reality of evil in the world; rather, it is a time when we are reminded of the continuous conflict between good and evil, life and death, truth and falsehood, light and darkness. And challenged to take our stand, personally and corporately. The good news of salvation, which is God’s offer of new life, is necessitated by the bad news of sin and its consequence – the spirit of death. “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16 17).

The perverse genius of suspicion. Even so, man fell prey to the deception of what the holy father so aptly calls “the perverse genius of suspicion” (DeV37), which presents God our Creator and Benefactor, as someone who withholds good things from us. It denies the truth that “God created human beings to be immoral, he made them as an image of his own nature; Death came into the world through the devil’s envy…” (Wisdom 2:23-24).

Eve believed the serpent’s lie that ‘You will not surely die… For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And so she “took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:4, 5, 6).
A liar and a murderer. Referring to Satan, Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Deception goes hand-in-hand with death. But truth is the assurance of freedom. “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31 32).

God’s response to man’s choice of sin and death was a renewed offer of life, in the promise of the Redeemer. His own Word of Truth made flesh would crush the head of the lying, death-dealing serpent: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (I John 3:8).

God’s offer of salvation in Jesus respects the free will on mankind. Man down the ages has had to choose between God’s way and the way of the world. When God led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, He spoke to them through Moses: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19 20).

The state of the world today, largely loveless, violent and immoral, is the state that mankind has chosen. To depart from the way of life is to choose death. “Do not invite death by the error of your life, or bring destruction by the work of your hands; because God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living” (Wisdom 1:12-13). Ironically, many who claim to be fighting on the side of life follow and promote a lifestyle that invites death. This was particularly evident during the recent observation of “World Aids Day” which, in the name of spreading “the message, not virus”, spreads the deviant and false message of promiscuity “protected” by the failure prone condom and so, in fact, actively helps to spread AIDS.

The partnership between darkness and death has never been more evident than it is today. Claiming to “know good and evil” man has arrogantly sought to rewrite the moral code. Licentiousness posing as freedom has largely overturned time-tested and accepted norms of sexual morality. Political correctness is replacing God’s law as the criterion for deciding between right and wrong. What the Bible expressly forbids as sin and even promoted as “normal”.

Freedom is truly free, but licentiousness carries a high price tag. The world is paying it today. Unprecedented levels of crime, violence, war and even genocide. An estimated 80-100 million pre-born children killed every year by abortions. Increasing numbers of women and children sold into prostitution. School - going children exposed to morally indifferent (and sometimes downright smutty) sex education and the free distribution of condoms, giving in to the urge to experiment with sex. Teenage pregnancies, mostly ending in abortion. The rampant spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including the sure killer AIDS, is fast wiping out the work force (which comprises the “sexually active” age group”) in more and more countries, destroying economies and leaving helpless dependents.

Is this any time to talk about Christmas? It certainly is. As darkness and death threaten to engulf mankind, our thoughts are directed once again to the coming of God’s Promised Saviour. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4).
Christmas reminds us of many truths that hold a lesson for mankind: the dignity and sacredness of human life; the preciousness of every child; the importance of chastity for the single and the married, as inseparable from true love; the acceptance of responsibility; and through it all, the faithfulness of God. Christmas is a reminder of God’s offer to undo the effect of our sin, the darkened culture of death, and return to His way, the way of light and life.