We were in the Waterberg for the
long weekend. At the lodge we stayed at we went for a guided walk
to a cave with Bushmen paintings in. On our way to the cave the
guides showed us an interesting plant. The plant looked dead. It
was dried up and withered. The guide broke a part of the plant off
and gave it to us. He said we must put it in water and the next
morning there would be green leaves sprouting out everywhere. He
said they called it the 'resurrection bush', the Jesus of the bush.
And sure enough he was right. The next morning the piece of plant
was lush and green, it was a beautiful sight to see. Something that
looked dead was now very much alive. This made me think. We were on
our way to the Bushmen paintings and I realized that the Bushmen
knew about this plant too. But did they understand what it meant? I
have heard a lot of Christians asking whether the Bushmen ever knew
about Jesus. Will they go to heaven even though they never had a
Bible or had missionaries that went to them? These questions
reminded me of a text verse in Romans 1:19, 20
"For the truth about God is known
to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts.
From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and
sky and all that God had made. They can clearly see His invisible
qualities - His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no
excuse whatsoever for not knowing God."
Also see Psalm 19:1 - 4
"The heavens tell of the glory of
God. The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day
they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They
speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the
skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their
words to all the world. "
The Lord speaks through His
Creation and He shares the Gospel in various ways for people to
see. And then He sends His Holy Spirit to minister to people's
hearts. He would have ministered to the Bushmen's hearts too and
all other tribes of people in areas where the Gospel has never been
preached before. God would never be unfair to them. For those
people that have never heard the gospel before, He shares it
through nature. He uses nature to communicate His love for them and
then He Himself come in the form of the Holy Spirit and knocks at
the heart of each of them. Then it is up to the person himself to
decide what he will do with this revelation. Will he start
worshipping statues of wood and declare that they made the world?
Would he start to worship his ancestors and believe that they
somehow had a hand in all of this? Or would he listen to the call
on his heart and look at nature all around him and believe in a God
who made it all possible? God knows what the person decides, it is
not for us to try and explain it away.
And if someone decides to follow
Him, He will make a way to tell them about the Gospel of Jesus. I
repeat, He will make a way. In Revelation it is stated
that even angels will start preaching the Gospel during the
tribulation and I don't see any reason why God couldn't use angels
to preach today as well.
I have heard about an outreach
going to an African country to show the Jesus movie to them in
their language. And when the actor came on screen that plays the
role of Jesus, there was a commotion in the crowd and upon enquiry
they heard that these people have seen this man before and He had
told them the Gospel. Now the actor had obviously never been there,
so it must have been an angel displaying the image of Christ and
sharing the Good News with them. Isn't it amazing?
God would never leave the human
race to its own fate without giving each a chance. He is faithful
and true and He is the righteous Judge, never unfair in His
rulings. He gave the resurrection bush and He will use even that to
preach His salvation of new life!
Thank you Father that You never
leave us be. You are so amazing, so wonderful and thank you that
You give each of us a chance. We are so grateful and we praise You
for it. Help us also to be willing if You want to send us to
someone with the Good News of Jesus. In Jesus' Name. Amen