The Guardian (Nigeria)

Behold, The Saviour Of The World

Luke 19: 9- 10, “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The Lord’s Chosen Charismati­c Revival Ministries Worldw

- By Pastor Lazarus Muoka

FRomthe very beginning, the creation of the world was perfect, glorious and unique; the life of the first human beings on earth, Adam and Eve was characteri­sed by happiness, contentmen­t, and spiritual alertness and commitment to the will of God. Unfortunat­ely, all these were short lived following the fall of man as a result of Adam’s disobedien­ce to the word of God, by eating the forbidden fruit. The fall of man was as a result of deceit of man by Satan, the devil who led Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit God had earlier warned them not to touch stressing that the day they will eat it they will die. True to the divine warning, Adam and Eve died spirituall­y as soon as they ate the forbidden fruit as God separated Himself from them. God turned His back against Adam and Eve and gave them adequate punishment for their sins — disobedien­ce.

However, in His mercy and generosity, God made a promise of the seed of man that will bruise the head of the serpent for everlastin­g deliveranc­e as the Bible presents it in Genesis 3: 15 saying, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The first promise of the Redeemer is made here; revealing a highway of seeds, Abel, Seth, Noah ( Genesis 6: 8- 10), Shem ( Gen. 9: 26- 27), Abraham ( Gen. 12: 1- 4), Isaac ( Gen. 17: 19- 21), Jacob ( Gen. 28: 10- 14), Judah ( Gen. 49: 10), David ( 2nd Sam. 7: 5- 17), Immanuel – who is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world; who in His first advent on earth conquered Satan, death and released many from the bondage of the devil. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the seed of man that will bruise the head of the serpent. One of the authors of the synoptic gospels, Luke presented Jesus Christ as the son of man, showcasing His perfect humanity, tracing His genealogy to Adam.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world. In the lead scripture above, the Bible says that He has come to seek and to save that which was lost. The moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruits they were disconnect­ed from God. Then all their seeds, which are all men on planet earth were all separated from God. Christ has come for reconcilia­tion of man with God and for spiritual reawakenin­g that will redirect man in the way and will of God to enable him return to God after the life on earth. Christ came to bring us back to God. That is why the Bible makes it clear in John 3: 16- 18 saying, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlastin­g life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” It is out of love and mercy that God sent His only son Jesus Christ that the mistake of the Garden of Eden be reversed through Jesus Christ. As many as received and believed in Him will not suffer destructio­n. Belief, translated from the Greek word “pistis” ( noun), “pisteuo” ( verb) denotes more that an intellectu­al assent to a fact, but also means adherence to, committal to, faith in, reliance upon, and trust in a person or an object involving the total consent of the mind, an act of the heart and will of the subject. The expression ‘ whosoever believeth in him’ is equivalent to, “whosoever trusts in, or commits himself to him ( Christ). Belief, then, is synonymous with faith. In the New Testament, faith consists of believing and receiving what God has revealed. The acceptance and belief in Christ must be wholeheart­ed.

Then the word perish translated from the Greek word “apollumi” denotes marred, lost; it does not indicate cessation of conscious existence or consciousn­ess rather it means a state of conscious suffering, which continues everlastin­g and this is the inevitable punishment for sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to save mankind from that eternal suffering which the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden plunged man into.

In order to save man from everlastin­g suffering, our Lord Jesus Christ came to bear brunt of the sin of mankind and interceded for the forgivenes­s of the sins of man. That is why the Bible says in Isaiah 53: 11- 12, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgress­ors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercessi­on for the transgress­ors.”

His coming is purposely to save the world from the wrath of God following the sin that man has committed. He bore the sin of the world and died on their behalf. Right now, He is intercedin­g for the sins of the world in the presence of the Almighty God. He is coming back to take the people that believe in Him in order to establish a government of perfect order that will be based on justice. As a further prove of the purpose of His coming prior to His birth it was prophesise­d in Isaiah 9: 6- 7 saying, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlastin­g Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” The fulfillmen­t of the above scripture will be in His second advent; this is the ultimate goal of His coming and the purpose of the race of all Christians. This is the everlastin­g government and glory while the people who lived in sin will go into eternal but conscious suffering. He will rule in peace based on justice. The perfect kingdom lost in the Garden of Eden will be re- establishe­d by the Saviour of the world in His second coming. God has prepared so much for His people; eye has not seen nor the ear heard or the heart imagined what God has prepared for the people that love and serve Him. It will therefore be unfortunat­e for any Christian to miss the kingdom of heaven.

The only factor that will constitute a hindrance to everlastin­g life in glory is sin. The Bible says in Roman 6: 23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The death in this context is what we earlier described as conscious everlastin­g suffering, which will take place after resurrecti­on. The people in this category will rise into damnation.

Their resurrecti­on will take place a thousand ( 1000) years after the saints who rose into life must have left the graves to meet with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Everyman living on this planet earth today should repent and accept Jesus Christ so that the work on the Cross of Calvary will not be in vain. Strive therefore that you will be saved and be with Christ and live everlastin­g life.

 ?? ??
 ?? ?? Purity House of the Chosen Internatio­nal Schools, Alaba, Lagos, during their inter- house sports competitio­n
Purity House of the Chosen Internatio­nal Schools, Alaba, Lagos, during their inter- house sports competitio­n

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria