Mark Ramsay, Assistant Principal
Recently, in Year 8 Mathematics, students created a scale drawing of the footprint of the Kuyper Hall. For many students, their first effort was a rectangle. Then the extra rooms on the side and back of the Hall were added (which I like to call the “sticky-out-bits”). Finally, doors were added to the drawings as well. Each stage in this process made the scale drawing that little bit more accurate and reflective of reality. And if the students had more time, I’m sure they would have been able to produce some amazing scale drawings. They have been exploring similar skills in other subjects. In Technology classes, some of the Year 8 students have created digital models that represent the 3-dimensional nature of buildings.
However, as good as it is, no drawing is able to properly replicate the actual Hall; the Hall is real and has a function. A drawing, or even a scale model, can only ever represent the reality and the function; it can help us understand what the real Hall is like, but it cannot do what the real Hall can do.
Early in the Old Testament, God asked His people to make a Tabernacle where they could meet with Him. Later, God asked King Solomon to build a Temple in Jerusalem to replace the Tabernacle. This is documented in the Bible, in the book of 1 Kings. Both the Tabernacle and the Temple, though, were only models of a profound reality. The reality is that God meets his people in Jesus. In John 1, the writer says that Jesus “tabernacled” with people. In John 2, Jesus refers to himself as the Temple. Therefore, the Tabernacle and the Temple can help us to understand what Jesus is able to do. Jesus allows us to come face-to-face with God. Jesus deals with our sin problem. Jesus opens a way for us to have eternal life.
It would be such a shame if I treasured the scale drawing of the Hall and ignored the real Hall, where I can enjoy Celebrations, and sport, and Seussical! It would be even more of a shame if I treasured temples and church buildings, but ignored Jesus. Only in Him can we enjoy meeting with God, experience forgiveness, and look forward to eternal life.