Origins

Word Origins

Whether you are a history buff or a modern day go-with-the-flow-and-times kind of guy or gal, you are impacted by the language of the day. Each word we use has an origin, a beginning point. How is language introduced and how do words change meaning over time? We have all experienced word usage transformations, with ugly terms being dressed up to sound compelling (I need not mention the worst of the bunch so prolifically and readily used by young and old in every day obscene and unchallenged expression); and beautiful terms overused so that their meaning is watered down and they carry no power at all: words like authentic, awesome, and a term that particularly pertains to God Almighty, I AM, used by humans without recognition of the glory of God revealed in these, the shortest of words.

News

Yesterday I heard that the word news means north east west and south. I looked up the etymology and while this seems a lovely idea, news derives from the word tidings, which means: announcement of an event. I like this very much, all of it dear reader, because think on when you last heard the words, (glad) tidings and in what context? Need I lead you back in time to origins, to a babe born to a virgin, nestled in a manger two thousand years ago? 

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (Luke 2:10). This angelic announcement was for all people and this means you, and me: news worthy of being spread, across the world, to the ends of the earth, to the north, the east, the west and the south. The King was about to enter the world

Jesus' words carry undeniable power

Fast forward to this pronouncement from a fully grown man, God incarnate, (incarnate is yet another word that society has debased by adding re to the word, as in re-incarnation) 

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14). 

What did Jesus authoritatively declare? It is this, that the Good News, the Gospel of salvation through Him was to be spread among the nations, to all four corners of the earth: the N (North) E (East) W (West) S (South). Good news, as they say, travels fast, and is it not true that bad news travels even faster dear one? 

Heaven had come down to man, as in Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Man met God in the flesh, and there is no turning back from His truth once it resounds in your soul. This news has spread, and continues to do so across the world And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29). The virgin birth, the Good News.

Some bad news too, take heed
Jesus is Sovereign, King, from babe to fully grown man His "impact", a word in common usage today, has stretched before time and extends beyond eternity (lets not wrap our heads around this one shall we? Who has time to visit a psychiatrist today?). His coming was announced hundreds of years prior to his arrival. His presence was felt and has reverberated throughout the centuries and His warning, His very timely warning, is this and then shall the end come.

This is either good news, bad news, or no news at all, depending on your perceptive. It is good news for those that love Him, and eagerly anticipate being in His presence permanently. It is bad news for those that do not believe, because the end will come and they will be denied a place in His kingdom. It is no news at all, if this message is ineffectual and nonsensical and so, I ask you

Do you believe?
Do you believe Jesus is, was, and always will be, God, the Great I AM? If you feel the least bit of fright as you read, this is good dear one, because this matter is not to be taken at all lightly: 

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worth in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13)

Time Travel
News has now travelled to you and through you, do you accept it as truth? If news is an acronym for cardinal directions, for the four points represented in N, E, W, S and the kingdom is to be preached across the world unto all nations, do you, dear reader, receive this as good news? 

God connects our past and our present, and nothing is lost on Him. He uses time, He uses words,
and He uses our intellect to connect the dots, when we give ourselves over to His pointing, His direction, His good use of us.

Is it your time, to bow before the King, Immanuel, God, among us?

Is it, dear reader, time?