The Southern Cross and the Gospel

The Southern Cross and the Gospel

As I listened to Faith -FM (3ABN radio with local content added) on the way to church this morning I was listening to a talk on the gospel and the following from Martin Luther was quoted ,

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.                           Martin Luther

This started me thinking about the stars in the night sky here in Australia. So after church I went home and did a little research. (For all you astronomy experts reading this please bear with me, and my little knowledge of the stars).

One of the most significant star constellations we see here in the southern hemisphere is the Southern Cross, or Crux (The True Cross) which is made up of five stars arranged just like the stars on the Australian and New Zealand flags. Situated within the same region are two other constellations which also form crosses, the Diamond Cross (Carina constellation) and the False Cross (Vela constellation). The thing about these last two crosses is that they can be mistaken for the real one, especially the False Cross, which is regularly mistaken for the true.

 The Southern Cross or Crux is used for navigation on both land and sea to find due south. (http://www.csiro.au/helix/sciencemail/activities/crux.html)

To find the True Cross you must first seek out the Two Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri in the Centaurus constellation), which are two very bright stars to the left of the True Cross which are almost in line with the cross bar of the Crux but if you draw a line through them it should go near the top star in the Southern Cross.

So how does this tie into the gospel?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." John 1:1, 2

“Jesus, God’s dear Son, had the pre-eminence over all the angelic host. He was one with the Father before the angels were created”. (The Spirit of Prophecy Vol. 1 pg. 17.1)