The Death; the focal point!

Of all the redemptive parameters- birth, death, resurrection and accession- the death of Christ is the fulcrum on which the others gravitate their center.

The truth of the whole scripture is positive to the end that the reason for the birth is the death.

The first prophecy of the Messiah contexts his death, “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.” Gen 3:15.

Hence the birth was so He could die!

Moreover, His birth, though crucial, and gravely significant, cannot save anybody. His life became salvation-significant when He gave it in death!

In John 12, Jesus spoke of the fact that death was the reason for His life on the earth, consequently, His birth. He sowed His life in death, and reaped it in the Resurrection.

John 12:24-25

24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Jesus experienced death in every person’s place (Heb. 2:9-11).

It makes good sense to conclude that the God got everything started in the birth of Jesus and got it ended and kept it going in His death and resurrection.

Happy Easter!

On John 1:16…

“And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace” John 1:16.

What Christ gave is His fullness; the abundance blessings of God’s grace, the graciousness of God in its richness and completeness.

The believer in Christ has been blessed with all of God. “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” Ephesians 1:3. Think of all spiritual blessings you can name – grace, adoption, righteousness, anointing, power, sanctification, justification, heaven, wisdom, forgiveness and so on. They are all realities in Salvation.

The Bible says that Christ was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14), and of that “fullness” all that believe have received. Of the plenitude of His mercy, by which he graciously made atonement for sin; and of the plenitude of His wisdom, by which the truth of the Gospel have been revealed, we have all received grace- endless grace.

Colossians 2:9-10 says “in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily” and “we are complete in Him!” All God has, God has given in Christ. There’s nothing more to give. He gave all through His Son!

Salvation is not one of the blessings of God in Christ. Rather, it is all of God’s blessedness given to the man that has faith in the Gospel of His death and resurrection. Sötӗria is a compound word and has broader implications in the Greek. They include; deliverance, preservation, safety, restoration, soundness, freedom, wholesomeness, saving, liberation, healing, health, security, completeness, fullness, salvation. It suggests all that God has done for us in Christ. In Scriptures, we see Sötӗria as the encompassing fullness of God to us.

Salvation is total blessing. We’ve been delivered from the yoke of slavery. The power of darkness and hell has been broken over our lives. We’ve been rescued from a state of spiritual bankruptcy, destitution and despondency. We are now rich towards God! This has nothing to do with what you look like or own on the face of the earth. It’s about what Christ has blessed you with. This is salvation, the fullness of God in Christ..

Hallelujah!

On Proverbs 29:18…

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18.

Vision is a glimpse into God’s plan and purpose for your life. It’s the gradual unfolding of God’s agenda and mandate for ones life. It is the discovery of God’s specific purpose for your living.

Vision is not so much about us – it’s about God. It’s about the desires God imparts to us. Vision is what God wants us to contribute in building His kingdom on earth. Vision is when the Spirit of God brings us to the revelation of God’s ultimate programs for our lives.
Vision is not our private view of the future but the view of our future inspired by God.

Many are at a complete loss to God’s vision for life, having no clue to what exactly God wants them to do with their lives. So many lives are lost in the sea of humanity. But the Scriptures says that, without purpose, people perish.

Vision gives direction, it evokes passion, helps channel emotions. It helps to set priorities and enhance discipline and essential for fulfillment. It makes a man absolute and ready to pursue God’s will.

One of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the believer is to bring him into the adventure of what God has prepared for him. “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searceth all things, yea, the deep things of God…Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” 1 Cor 2:10, 12.

The first place where each one of us should locate God’s vision for our lives is on the pages of scriptures. This is a common ground for all of us. Everyone has equal access to the word of God. The Spirit of God brings the Scriptures home in our hearts. As we relate closely with the word of God there is a revelation by the Spirit that takes place to bring us to what God wants our lives to be.

The Holy Spirit is the one responsible for unfolding divine agenda for our lives as individuals. The Holy Spirit searches out the deep things of God and reveals them to us. This is why we must pray and walk in the Spirit.

On John 19:30…

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” John 19:30.

I’m glad Jesus said “it is finished”. He didn’t say “to be continued.”

When Jesus on the Cross said “it is finished”, He meant He finished the work He came to do on the earth. John 4:34- “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

And the work is the work of salvation. Psalm 74:12- “For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.”

All of God’s work is centered around man. Around saving man. God is willing that all men are saved. “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” 1Tim 2:4.

The hub of Christianity is not to do something for Jesus, rather, it is that Jesus has done everything for you. It is not firstly about working for God, but knowing God’s work for you.

God is not going to do anything more for us than he has already done for us in Christ. That’s why it’s called the Finished Works. Whatever Christ didn’t do at once will never be done again. And whatever Christ has done need not be done again.

Everything that pertain to your eternity was finished by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. He made more-than-sufficient provision for your redemption and forgiveness. He brought you eternal life and purchased you for His glory.

In His finished works, He prepared a room for you in His eternal abode and made you His abode eternally. Hallelujah!

On Acts 20:32…

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” Acts 20:32.

There is an inheritance for the believer, a common heritage among the saints!

The Bible talks about “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). Oh boy! Gods holy people have a rich and glorious inheritance in Him. Hallelujah!

God is a responsible and well organised father. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He is the Ancient of days. He supplied the needs of His children once and for all in the finished work of our salvation.

Ephesians 1 talks about our spiritual blessedness. Verse 11 says “in whom also we have obtained an inheritance…” Reading down, it also says we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit that guarantees our inheritance. You see, God prepared you a rich and glorious inheritance, and He is concerned that you possess it in reality. He literally forced it on you. What a father!

Your part is to acknowledge every good thing He has done for you in Christ. Your wealth, health, success is already settled. If you are in Christ you have no unmet need, you only have an unclaimed inheritance.

You have an inheritance yet to be possessed. The Holy Spirit within is the guarantee of your eternal inheritance and He is the One who will bring you into the knowledge of it. That why the Bible says “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” 1 Cor. 2:12.

As good as your giving or your fasting is, that will not make you have things already given but it’s your acknowledgement (epignosis) of the things already done. Only through knowledge shall the just be delivered into their inheritance.

I commend you to God and to the word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among the sanctified.

Live with the correct mindset of the finished works of Christ and always be of a thankful heart for all He has done. “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” Col. 1:12-14.