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A recent cover of the Light magazine

This is a picture of Cumbria, England on a beautiful autumn day. From the side of the lake known as Derwentwater, it looks towards the 2,000 feet high Causey Pike, also known as 'Napoleon’s face'. This nickname came about because of the unusual outline of the peak from the distance. The lake is approximately three miles long and half a mile wide, with rocky crags and beautiful green fells dropping down to the water's edge. There are also extensive woodlands in the surrounding area that reach down to the lake shore line and seem to sink into the waters.

As we look at this peaceful scene, we might imagine what it looked like at the time of the creation. Before the creation of man, God had taken the barren earth and begun his wonderful work to separate the water from the land and to clothe it with foliage, trees, and grass. When the first man, Adam, was created, one of his first tasks was to name the animal creation that had preceded him; thus, perfect harmony reigned in this idyllic period.

Many of the problems in the world have been brought about by disobedience of God's commands. Now, after some 6,000 years of man's rule upon the earth, we see little more than violence, greed, and his inhumanity towards his fellow men. Those who show compassion and understanding to those who live and work around them, often find themselves the butt of jokes and ridicule. In contrast, the God of the Bible sets out the way that He would have us behave, illustrated in the life of his Son Jesus.

Autumn begins the process of trees and foliage shedding their leaves to die back in a winter ‘sleep’, awaiting reawakening to life in the following Spring. In this natural event, Scripture portrays God's promises to those who will obey Him. The Apostle Paul wrote:

‘Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:’ [Romans 6.4,5]