After God’s kind

Our second born much loved Son, Ittai A. Paul, turned one today (March 20, 2013) and as we ponder on God’s goodness and faithfulness to us, my beloved wife Sangeetha and I, are ever so grateful to God for having loaned us two precious boys to cherish while we pilgrim on earth.

The Bible records that on the fifth and sixth day, God created the animals that live in the water, the birds that fly in the air, living creatures that live on the earth, every creeping thing, every cattle, and every beast of the earth, each after their own kind (Genesis 1:21, Genesis 1:25). Then on the sixth day, the Triune God in one decided to make man in his image, after the likeness of God the Father, his Holy Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God. (Genesis 1:26). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

In other words, while every other creature that has life was created after their own kind, only us (man) is not made after our own kind, but created after God’s kind. When man took his first breath,  he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7) to live according to the Spirit of God (and not according to the flesh) for God is Spirit (John 4:24). The world glorifies celebrities with physical beauty and charming bodies, and seldom are most celebrities who do not know Jesus Christ celebrated for their soul (living soul).

Points to ponder:
Are you living by the flesh or by God’s Spirit? What are you and I celebrated for?

Our precious second son Ittai, our firstborn Reuben, You and I are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God (Psalm 139:4). We are made after God’s own kind and are wonderful – and that gives us every reason to praise God.

Genesis 1:20-27 (KJV)
²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Psalm 139:14 (KJV)
¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

In life or in death, holding the Fire

It is the first day of Spring in the year of the Lord 2012 and as Spring assures in life, so has the Lord assured in my family’s life, the gift of another life that we have named Ittai Aidan Paul.

The name Ittai comes from the Biblical character, Ittai the Gittite, who swore loyalty to be alongside king David, demonstrating faith and faithfulness, in life or in death, even though he was a Philistine from the land of Gath. Goliath the Gittite was a giant by physical stature, while Ittai the Gittite was a giant in spiritual stature. In Hebrew, Ittai means “the Lord is with me”.
The name Aidan was chosen after the Irish missionary, Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, who is purportedly the Apostle of the English. Aidan is the Anglicised form of the original Old Irish Aodhán which in Gaelic means ‘Fire’ and he is attributed to being the monk holding a flaming torch. A Christian missionary to the English, Aidan is credited for restoring Christianity to Northumbria (which is now NE England and SE Scotland) in the 7th Century. The Venerable Bede, the scholar and historian as well as another 7th century Northumbrian monk, wrote of Aidan: “He neither sought nor loved anything of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately to the poor whatever was given him by kings or rich men. (Legend has it that he gave away the horse which was gifted to him by King Oswald to a passing beggar, because he felt that it would prevent him from talking to the ordinary people.) He traversed both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity. Wherever on his way he saw any, either rich or poor, he invited them, if pagans, to embrace the mystery of the faith; or if they were believers, he sought to strengthen them in their faith and stir them up by words and actions to alms and good works.”

Now as Sangeetha, Reuben and I celebrate the birth our second son, Ittai Aidan Paul, our prayer is that He grows up to be loyal to Jesus Christ, his giver, in life or in death, always holding the Fire of the Holy Spirit high, proving to the world that “The LORD” indeed is with him, and that his acts of good works would be seen by those around him and they may glorify God the Father, who is in heaven.

2 Samuel 15:19-21 (KJV)
¹⁹ Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.
²⁰ Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.
²¹ And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.

Reference: for Aidan: The Independent; April 23, 2008