Partaking Of The Lord’s Table: The Everlasting Bread

I owe my sincere gratitude to God, for choosing to call and consecrate an unworthy, frail, human vessel to His service. I am also profoundly grateful to God for the gift of my dear wife, Gloria Omayi Dicey, she has proved to be a suitable helper from the Lord.

I joyfully extend my appreciation to my precious brother, Paul Rapoza for his work in editting and creating the platform through which my desire (and the desire of several others) to publish the gospel in writing has found expression. In this flowing tide of gratitude, I also thank my dear Sister, April Smithe for taking the time to write the foreword. Not forgetting, my dear brothers; Ukpenevi Solomon, James Patrick, Uzoma Emeahu, and Emmanuel T. Adenyiyi for their valuable contributions in editing before final publication.

God richly bless you all.

E.G. Dicey

Jos, Nigeria.

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Foreword

On September 5, 2005 I had a dream where the Holy Spirit showed me I would be entering a new season. I had no idea what this season would entail but as a babe in Christ, I eagerly embraced it as God's will. It didn't take long to realize I had just stepped into the wilderness season. The change was so abrupt that it felt as if God had disappeared. Not long after this, all my Christian friends abandoned me. However, during this season God began to do a new work within me. He began to teach what the true Christian life looks like.

Every follower of Christ will be called into the wilderness for a season of testing. For those who yield their hearts to Christ, in humble obedience, His life will be made manifest through them in service.

Even Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tested. When He walked into the wilderness after His baptism, Satan tempted Jesus by offering Him the kingdoms of the world. In today's terminology, that would amount to fame and fortune and, unfortunately, this same offer is being promoted in and through many Christian congregations today. But we must ask ourselves, is this the message Jesus promoted? Is this the example we see established during the ministry of Christ as laid out in Scripture?

In this book, Partakers of the Lord's Table: the Everlasting Bread, the author captures the heart of the gospel message and exposes the misconceptions about the Satanic offer of health, wealth, and fame, while bringing a deeper understanding of the work of Christ in the life of each believer.

April Smithee

Oklahoma, USA

October, 2022

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AUTHOR’S PREFACE

The prophet Jonah entered the city of Nineveh with a message from God. This message came with an ultimatum. Quite against the prophet’s wish, the proclamation of it would bring Nineveh to repentance and consequently, the aversion of an impending judgment. The power and influence of Jonah’s message did not come through any kind of enticing speech. It came through his unalloyed loyalty to God expressed in the delivery of God’s message as he received it. His loyalty was the result of those three days he spent in the belly of the whale. In those three days he went through a pruning process in which he submissively buried his personal vindictive interest in Nineveh. By the time he came forth from the whale’s belly, he was bound up with a single interest, which was to deliver God’s message to Nineveh. So there is a sense in which he forfeited his personal interest, disappointed his expectation and broke his heart to fulfill God’s interest to bring Nineveh to repentance.

Our Lord alludes to Jonah’s experience in the belly of the whale as a figure of His death (Matthew 12:40). The implication of this to His messengers is that they would have to bury their personal interest by sinking into His death. After which they come forth in the power of His resurrection bound up with a single interest in the world; not survival, not comfort, not commendation, not financial abundance, absolutely nothing except the interest of God in bringing sinners to repentance and establishing them in saving faith through the pure message of the gospel. Certainly this will mean they, through the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, offer to God the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart made unfit for the pursuit of earthly gains. And as the Lord Himself heals the broken hearted, He mends their hearts and makes it serviceable to the will of God.

Christ appoints people such as these to be shepherds over His flock; to feed His flock with understanding in the knowledge of His will. And as it is required in stewardship to be found faithful, the true shepherds of Christ will die in His death; laying down their lives, not to fleece His flock, but to feed them with the truth of God’s word as Christ commanded.

This book is written under the weight of the responsibility to feed the flock of Christ. At the heart of its entire message lies a dual purpose of bringing sinners to the obedience of saving faith in Christ Jesus and establishing the saints in saving faith unto sanctification.

God grant that through this short piece of work, sinners will come to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus and the saints will find nourishment to be established in the true doctrines of the faith. Amen!

Ebinen Gogo Dicey

Jos, Nigeria.

August, 2022.

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CHAPTER ONE

BORN THAT HUMANS MAY NO MORE DIE

“….This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but is now been revealed through the appearing of our savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” – 2 Timothy 1:9 -10. (NIV)

The New Testament shows that there are two appearances of Christ i.e. the first appearing and the second appearing. Each of these appearance has a distinct form and purpose. The first appearance is meant to put away sins, the second appearance is meant to perfect the saints (of Hebrews 9:26, 28).

This chapter is particularly concerned with the first appearance. The first appearing occurred through the process of birth. There was the human side in which Jesus Christ was conceived in a woman’s womb and went through the natural gestation period of nine months before He was born a complete human. There was also the divine side in which He was conceived in the woman’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit without the agency of a male semen. So in Jesus Christ we see God fully manifest in a human body, not by some mystical appearance but by birth. Hence, Jesus Christ is completely human and completely God. This unity is termed the “hypostatic union”.

Being born of a woman, Jesus Christ lived a complete and perfect human life. He grew as a child, played perhaps as a child, learnt a human language, acquired a professional skill and worked as any other human adult would. In essence, He lived as a human in a normal human society. However, His life in the society was marked by the uniqueness of His character. This man had an impeccable character that is not traceable to any human but God Himself; a character which rightly identifies Him as the Son of God.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” – John 1:14.

Jesus Christ began His ministry when He turned thirty according to the gospels. The gospels are not very elaborate about what He was doing before age thirty. But we get glimpses of that from what people said about Him as recorded in the gospels;

“Is not this the carpenter’s son?” – Matthew 13:55

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” – Mark 6:3

From these verses, it can be deduced that Jesus Christ lived with His parents and siblings and worked as an apprentice in carpentry under His foster father, Joseph. Perhaps, he worked as a professional carpenter afterwards to support His mother and siblings. Another striking feature in the life of Jesus was that He was filled with the Holy Spirit and was led to do whatever He did by the same Spirit. After being baptized by John the Baptist at the river Jordan, Mark’s gospel records that He was immediately driven by the Spirit into the wilderness where He fasted forty days. During this period He was severely tempted by the devil. He overcame all these temptations through His disciplined subjection to the Holy Spirit. He did not use His inherent powers for self-gratification, neither did he use it to impress people with the spectacular to make them marvel at Him. Lastly He did not seek for glory in the glamour and glitter of this present world. If He did, He certainly would have fallen for the temptation of the devil and proved disloyal to God the Father. On the contrary, He proved His loyalty by subjecting Himself to the Father’s will through the power of the Holy Spirit.

At the commencement of His ministry, He taught, healed supernaturally and performed extraordinary miracles as He travelled from place to place. In all these He was not driven by the lower human passion for fame, power and glory. Hence, He did not build a massive religious enterprise to make a name for Himself or seek for large followership; things He could have very well achieved with the powers He possessed. He was passionate about one thing; fulfilling the will of His Father. This singular passion of His life marked Him out as a humble and compassionate man. He was a man who lived in perfect communion with the Father and prayer was a primary activity of His life; an activity which He carried out mostly in the early hours of the morning.

But the world He had come into is dominated by sin and is at enmity with God. It was a world under the displeasure of God and as such, all humans are under a death sentence from which there was no way of escape. The human struggle to escape from the pangs of death is as old as the first man and would hopelessly continue.

However, God loves the world and His will towards her was not to destroy her but to save her from the dominance of sin, reconcile her to Himself and deliver her from the grip of death. Jesus Christ was sent into this world to fulfill the will of God. So the ultimate goal for which He was sent into this world by birth was to redeem the human race from the power of sin and death in line with the will of God. Everything else He did - His impeccable life style, His teachings, the healings and miracles He did - has its culmination in fulfilling the will of God to redeem the human race. Jesus was born to take away sin and abolish death so that every human may possess His life and live in genuine fellowship with the Father to fulfill His will like Jesus did. Hence, He was not just an exemplary teacher, a miracle worker, and healer. Much more than all that, He is the Redeemer of the human race. He was born that men and women may no more die. He lived a life that exemplifies a perfect human life to all humans in order to reproduce that quality of life in all who believe in Him.

He should have being embraced and highly honoured by the religious and political world. But that was not the case, He was rather rejected, persecuted and finally crucified as a criminal. All these go a long way to show that the world in which He lived was a world that hated God, including everything that proceeds from God and reflects His character.

The question is why did God allow the one He sent to redeem the world to be killed by those He came to redeem? The answer lies within the supreme counsel of God which ruled that it is better for one man to die than whole nations should perish. So Jesus Christ, the righteous and only perfect man that ever lived was delivered into the hands of wicked men to be killed according to the will and foreknowledge of God. His death is thus expedient to the salvation of the human race. The next chapter takes a close look at the significance of His death to the salvation of the human race.

Conclusively, the life that Jesus lived on earth is one of the ingredients that constitutes the gospel meal on the Lord’s Table. It is the eternal life that God promised to those who believe in Jesus. Come to Jesus Christ this very moment and receive this great life so you can live a worthy life consecrated to the will of God. Amen!

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CHAPTER TWO

THE DEATH OF CHRIST AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

“… Christ died for sins according to the scriptures” – 1 Corinthians 15:3

The first man and woman lived in the exquisite beauty of a Garden called Eden. They were perfectly robed in God’s glory and God provided every material thing they needed for their sustenance in the Garden. But they chose to rebel against God and their disobedience resulted in an overwhelming sense of nudity, which made them cover themselves with fig leaves. Their disobedience doubtless led to the loss of something essential to their dignity as humans. The fig leaves with which they covered themselves was not an adequate substitute for what they lost. It could not avail them the sense of dignity and confidence they desperately needed to stand before God. When God approached, they went into hiding because of shame.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden”

– Gen 3: 6 - 8

What did they lose through their disobedience? Every material thing God had given them for their comfort was still there. So it can be safely concluded that what they lost was not altogether outside of themselves. It was within them, right inside of them. It was something inside of them which made them feel at home with God, intimate with Him and confident before Him. This was nothing other than the nature of God within them. This nature is the essential constituent of God’s eternal glory. It transcends every material thing God had created. Hence they could not substitute it with anything material to obtain the same sense of confidence in God, cordiality and intimacy with Him. The loss of this nature was a colossal loss and if recovery is left to their invention, it is an irrecoverable loss. It is also worthy of note that after they lost God’s nature, they possessed within them, a contrary nature that was void of God’s glory.

Prior to this loss, they lived on earth through their relationship with God. As they kept within the boundary of obedience to God, they related intimately with Him from within and had all their material needs according to His bountiful provision. So within them was God and without was an ample measure of material provision for their comfort and enjoyment. Sadly, they upset this order through their disobedience. Thus their inner capacity for intimacy with God was lost and their life on earth was reduced from its exalted purpose of glorifying God to a struggle to meet material needs; a struggle for physical survival that ends in death according to God’s judgment. This whole state of affairs summarises what theologians term “The Fall”.

Adding to this, the offspring of the first man and woman which now constitute the human race would inherit their nature and also exist in their fallen state. Thus all humans live lives that are void of God’s nature and glory. Since humans were originally created for God’s glory (the glory which is now lost through disobedience), they seek for glory in substitutes. Just as their ancestral parents sought to replace the lost glory with fig leaves, modern humanity also seeks glory in possessions, power, position, fame, knowledge etc. The tragedy of it all is that they are driven by a nature that is at odds with God. All of these, like the fig leaves, cannot bestow on people the needed confidence to approach God and get intimate with Him. It is a stark reality that the world in all her achievements is drifting farther and farther away from God. With all the advancement in economy, science and technology, the moral foundation of human lives is rapidly collapsing. People are living on the brink of self-destruction because they possess a nature that keeps them apart from God; a nature that is void of the splendor and glory of God for which they were originally created.

But God in the depth of His unsearchable ways and wisdom would not allow the human race to continue eternally in this fallen state. By a firm judgment, He made allowance for death, which made all humans become mortal. This appears to be a punitive measure but in it lies hidden a divine plan to preserve the human race eternally in an incorruptible state.

“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever:

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So He drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” – Genesis 3:22-24

If the first man had access to the tree of life, he would have made himself immortal in his fallen state. This would mean he and his offspring would live forever in their fallen state. So God made room for death as a means to redeem humanity from her fallen nature and reconcile her back to Himself. Thus in executing judgment for disobedience, He was mercifully making room for redemption. God gave the first indication of this when He had an animal killed and used its skin to make coats with which He clothed the first man and woman.

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them:” - Genesis 3:21

This slain animal was a figure of Christ who would be slain to clothe humanity with the nature of God and restore the lost glory of God to humanity.

So the death of Christ is God’s restorative medium to clothe humanity once again with the incorruptible nature of God. It stands unique and apart from the death of every other human. It is the sole determinant of the eternal destiny of every member of the human race. This is not overstating the fact but a presentation of the truth as it really is. Every human dies as a direct result of disobedience; the disobedience of one man. The disobedience of this man left the human race completely destitute of the nature of God. Hence all humans lost the inner capacity to relate intimately with God. The human race lost the ability to confidently approach God and glorify Him as they were originally created to do. For instead of God’s nature, another nature that is void of God’s glory dominated the entire race and made her a race of sinners living with an inner destitution of God’s incorruptible nature and glory.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23

Being destitute of God’s glory within, everyone inadvertently seeks to be robed in a glory of human invention derived from the material world. The end of this quest is death and rightly so because God is desperately avoided. The whole problem of the human race is summed up in this inner destitution which is the outcome of disobedience.

For the most part, it is assumed that the human problem is political and so systems of government are invented and resorted to as a solution. But the very spearheads and functionaries of these systems are humans driven by a corrupt nature, seeking their own glory rather than God’s glory. Thus the greed and ambition of a few works to upset the common good of all which glorifies God. The solution does not lie in inventing systems and formulating laws, it lies in changing the nature of humans. The corrupt human nature must be changed to God’s incorruptible nature. The problem began with a disobedient man and it will be resolved by an obedient man.

The duality of obedience and death is the only means of restoring God’s nature and glory in humans. The death of Christ is absolutely serviceable to this purpose in a very unique way because unlike the death of every other human, it is the result of obedience. (Refer to Philippians 2:5). It squarely addresses the problems which ensued from the sin of the first man and destroys the fallen nature, making room for every individual to possess God’s incorruptible nature within.

And here the death of Christ fully addresses two fundamental factors in restoring God’s nature in humans, namely;

Putting away the sins springing from the fallen nature.

Judgment and final annihilation of the fallen nature.

Let’s assume a factory is producing a life-threatening adulterated product and pushing it into the market. The first thing a responsible government should do is to get rid of the product from the market, but that will not be all. They should also move to destroy the factory producing the adulterated product. If they don’t, more of the product will infiltrate the market while they are attempting to remove it. While the government is at these, they will also warn the people about the danger of the adulterated product.

This is exactly what the governmental order of God which rests on Jesus Christ as King is doing for the human race. The prophet Isaiah sounds it quite loudly:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder.” Isaiah 9:6

Sin imposes a destruction of eternal proportion on the human race. It is the adulteration of life that leads to eternal destruction. Jesus Christ must bear it all away by becoming the sacrificial lamb who would be slain to take away the sins of the world in order to save the world. John the Baptist saw Him and declared;

“Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world” – John 1:29.

Thus the Son of God expiates for all the sinful acts of the human race by taking them away in His death. The Son of God who had no sin in His nature and thus committed no sin was made to bear the many sins of the sinful human race in His own body upon the cross in order to put their sins out of God’s sight.

“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree…” – 1 Peter 2:24

“For Christ also hath suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust…” – 1Peter 3:18

He is the free gift from God who came as a result of the many sins of the human race to put away sins once and for all through His death.

“But the free gift is of many offences unto justification” – Romans 5:16

So God is freely offering every member of the human race the privilege of putting their many personal sins out of His sight by receiving Jesus Christ His Son and bringing their lives under His rule.

Therefore, the thieves, sexually immoral, liars, murderers, backbiters, all sinners of every sort can put away their sins of stealing, immorality, lies, murder and all manner of sins from God’s sight through the death of Christ. They can do this by receiving Jesus Christ and submitting themselves to Him as their Lord. This is the first step towards restoration and God can look at all who so embrace Christ and say of them in perfect righteousness, “I find no fault, no sin in them and in my sight, they are blameless.” But those who reject Him have opted to retain their many sins in the sight of God. For such, God has nothing to offer but wrath upon wrath that results invariably in eternal damnation.

“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.” – John 3:18.

Then again the death of Christ addresses the nature of sin; the factory from whence all sins are produced. If the death of Christ only put away sinful acts from God’s sight and leaves the sin nature unscratched, then more and more sins will spring from the nature of sin in humans. But Christ not only put sin away in His death, He also crucified the sin nature in humans.

“…God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” – Romans 8:3

Judicially, it holds true that in every believer, the sin nature is crucified in the crucifixion of Christ. In essence, everyone who believes in Christ has died in the death of Christ. As such the sin nature is put to death in them and has thus lost its dominion over their souls. The New Testament resounds this with clarity:

“…if one died for all, then were all dead” – 2Corinthians 5:14.

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins…” – 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV).

“For He that is dead is freed from sin” – Romans 6:7.

This judicial death is a sentence that has been executed in Christ. However its execution in anyone awaits the person’s faith in Christ and unreserved obedience to Him. It can therefore be asserted that the obedience of faith leads believers to actually die the death of Christ by which their sin nature is destroyed. And as faith and obedience are a daily part of the believer’s life so is dying in the death of Christ a daily affair. Paul states;

“…I die daily”- 1Corinthians 15:32.

So every believer is sentenced to die in the death of Christ. This sentence is mostly executed through disagreeable people and circumstances that they personally face as a result of their personal faith and obedience to Christ. These disagreeable people and circumstances constitute what Jesus terms the personal cross which His followers must bear as they trust and obey Him.

“Then said Jesus to His disciples, if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” – Matthew 16:24.

These adverse conditions remain the doorway through which the death of Christ realizes the death of the sin nature within the believer; making room for the believer to be robed in the nature of God thus denying the expression of the sin nature. The apostle therefore enjoins:

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lust thereof” – Romans 13:14

There it is dear brethren! Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the express image and glory of God by whom we confidently approach God, relate intimately with Him and live for the one thing for which we were created – the fulfilment of His will to His eternal glory. And as we do, we understand that life is no longer about our struggle for survival. We know that all our needs are fully supplied by the Father according to the riches of His glorious nature within us which compels us to do His will. Christ has made the provision available through His death, Hallelujah!!! We dare to trust and obey Him and take back this glorious restoration through His provision.

“I take Thee, my spirit’s spotless garment” – Dr. A.B. Simpson

Today, God warns everyone about the danger of sin. He is calling everyone to come to Jesus to put away their sins from His sight and crucify their sin nature through Jesus’ death. For this is the only way by which everyone can approach Him. He conveys His call in the gospel of Jesus Christ which He has committed to us. Thus He has made us His mouth piece to proclaim remission of sins and reconciliation with God through the death of Christ to all people. And every time we sit at the Lord’s Table to observe the communion in remembrance of Him, we reaffirm our commitment to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (of 1 Corinthians 11:26). Amen and Amen!!

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CHAPTER THREE

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST AND ITS MORAL IMPLICATION

“…as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” – Romans 6:4

The death of Christ in its real significance is not just the death of an individual, it is representative in essence. It is the death of the human race under the dominance of the fallen nature. The first man birthed this race through His disobedience. Christ the second man ended this race through His obedience unto death. Death is the end of life, so the death of Christ put an end to human life that’s ruled by the fallen nature. In a letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to Christ as the last Adam, inferring that the offspring of Adam ends in Christ (of 1 Corinthians 15:45).

But putting an end to Adam’s offspring was not the ultimate end of God’s plan in Christ. God intended to birth a new race of humans through Christ. He fulfilled this plan by raising Jesus Christ from the dead. Thus the resurrection of Jesus ushered in the birth of a new race who are ruled by the nature of Christ. So in Christ, there is the death of the offspring of Adam through Christ’s death. There is also the birth of the offspring of Christ through His resurrection. Anyone who God incorporates into Christ through the instrumentality of faith is at once dead in Christ and born in Christ. This means that the life which has an ancestry traceable to Adam is passed away and a new life whose ancestry is traced to Christ emerges. Thus Paul writes with precision;

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” – 2 Corinthians 5:17.

This scripture is often quoted in Christendom without realizing the profundity of it. It implies that the old sinful life dies in Christ and makes room for a new life. Therefore a person who will come to Christ must have first estimated his or her life and come to the conclusion that there is nothing good in his or her sinful life (Romans 7:18). Then the individual must consent inwardly to the execution of the death sentence on his or her sinful life. This execution stretches to everything associated with that life; it would include the loss of everything pleasant or unpleasant that supports, nourishes and dignifies the old life. And there is an awful lot to that; perhaps it constitutes a great possession which has been actually or potentially acquired in the old life for survival, comfort or glory.

A person must be willing to incur the loss of all that for Christ. This remains the only way by which God makes a person dependent on Christ and by default, effects the work of the cross which actively puts the old nature to death. It is important to emphasize here that the old sin nature is not put to death by the mere abnegation of all things. Abnegating all things only secures that dependence on Christ by which His work on the cross effectively puts the old sin nature to death. Then in utter dependence on Christ who has now become all to the individual, a new life begins to grow and manifest in and through the individual by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus old things actually pass away and all things become new; a new condition of heart, a new inclination of affection, a new way of thinking, and a new way of life, all of which are tuned to Christ. This is probably why Jesus insists that anyone who will possess real life must be willing to lose his or her life for Him.

“…he that looseth his life for my sake shall find it” – Mathew 10:39.

In the gospels, we read of a rich young man who was morally clean and upright. This young man’s heart was in a state of enquiry. So He came to Jesus and asked what he must do to gain eternal life. Jesus in response asked him to keep the commandments. The young man wanted to be sure of the commandments to keep. Jesus pointed to the Ten Commandments given through Moses. The man said he had observed all from his youth and still wanted to know what he lacked. Jesus points to his wealth, “sell all you have and give to the poor then come and follow Me”.¹ Jesus was asking the man to forfeit his life-time acquisition in which his life, sustenance, comfort and glory is constituted to become dependent on Him and follow Him. Jesus indicates that is the way for him to possess eternal life. The general principle is that everything that supports and sustains the old life must be given up for Christ. In the context of this general principle, the specific reference for this rich young man was his wealth. The specific reference to what must be forfeited according to the general principle differs from person to person. It is a matter of deliberately forsaking what constitutes everything to become entirely dependent on Jesus Christ. The rich man understood Jesus very clearly and Jesus was careful to make sure he did. What was his response? He turned away from Jesus sorrowfully because his life was bound up with his great possession and he was not willing to lose his life.

The principle stated afore cannot be ignored as far as the Christian life is concerned. The integrity of God in granting remission through the death of Christ necessitates this. Forgiveness must be the ground for the manifestation of a life that is the exact opposite of the life that produced the sins which are hitherto forgiven. Anything short of this throws an affront on the character of God. In other words, forgiveness must be accompanied by a changed life otherwise it is unworthy of God. The point is that God does not grant forgiveness to an individual without changing the life of the individual. Hence the resurrection of Christ is proof that God offers forgiveness through the death of Christ because it births in the forgiven sinner, a new life that is different from the life which produced all the sins that are now forgiven.

The moral and spiritual implication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that a new life of righteousness is born and made to grow in every believer on the grounds and only on the grounds of losing the old life of sin in the death of Christ. There is no grounds for mixtures here, the old life must be lost in other to gain the new. Without the loss of the old, there is no room for gaining the new. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes this realizable and obtainable to everyone who is willing to receive it.

The tragedy today is that there are many who are zealously working for Christ, yea building massive Christianized enterprises while cleaving tenaciously to their old lives. They avoid the cross by all means because it spells death to their dearly loved lives and so they cannot possess and manifest the new life. Yet these folks would not let go of the things of Christ. Their involvement in the work of Christ is not particularly for the interest of Christ but to feed their flesh and earthly cravings. Paul wrote of them

“For, as I have often told you before and now I tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ, their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things” – Philippians 3:18 – 19.

Again, the old life is not compatible with the Holy Spirit, as such the Holy Spirit cannot fellowship or work with those who live by it. The Holy Spirit can only fellowship and work with those who possess the new life on the grounds of the resurrection. It could be rightly affirmed that the Holy Spirit lives and works with humans only on the grounds of the death of Christ by which the old life is put to death and the resurrection of Christ by which the new life is born. Thus anyone who does not believe in the Christ revealed in the Holy Scriptures is destitute of His effective work in redemption. Such cannot receive the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit cannot live or work in them. This is a position that can be taken with a justified dogmatism. Great care has being taken to put emphases on the Christ revealed in the Holy Scriptures because various versions of Christ are preached in the world that are completely strange and inconsistent with the Christ revealed in the Scriptures. To believe in these pseudo versions of Christ is to also be destitute of the redemptive work of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. Jesus states it clearly:

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive…” – John 14:16-17.

Going by this assertion of undeniable truth, the Holy Spirit is not in Islam, He is not in all the other false religions that deny the deity or the humanity of Christ. He is not even in the false Christian teachings that commercialise Christ and make Him out to be a means of getting rich.

In summary, the resurrection of Christ is the means by which God makes sinners who believe in Christ upright i.e. justifies them. It is also the grounds upon which they are able to receive the Holy Spirit who empowers them to live righteously, soberly and godly as witnesses to Christ and His redemptive work in this present age. In this way, the resurrection of Jesus Christ secures the hope of immortality in every believer. The teaching about the resurrection of Jesus is another ingredient in the gospel meal that is served us on the Lord’s Table. It does make it tasteful and well nourishing.

¹ Mathew 19:16 - 22

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CHAPTER FOUR

THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST AND HIS ADVOCACY

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” – Romans 8:34

In the birth of Christ, God gave to us an exemplary teacher and a perfect redeemer. In the death of Christ, God provided us a complete propitiation for our sins. Through the resurrection of Christ, God offers to us a justified life. And through the ascension of Jesus Christ, which is the focus of this chapter, God has given Christ to us as our advocate; our representative before God, the one who silences the voice of our accuser before God. John the beloved, writes:

“And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” – 1 John2:1

In legal terms, an advocate takes on the responsibility of proving with convincing evidence the innocence of his accused client. And in spiritual terms, there is such a one as the accuser of the brethren who accuses them day and night before God the supreme judge.

“…the accuser of our brethren … which accused them before our God day and night” – Rev 12:10

The brethren therefore need an advocate who will stand before God in their defense. Who is the man that can ascend to heaven to stand before God’s impeccable holiness and uncompromising justice to plead the justification of people who are guilty of sin? Unless that man has substantial evidence to back His plea, the judicial order according to God’s holiness will ensure that such a man is cast out of God’s presence as an abomination.

“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord” – Proverbs 17:15

Likewise the accuser of the brethren must have strong evidence to back his accusations else he will also be cast out as an abomination before God. So one of either our advocate or our accuser will be cast out of the presence of God or stand before the presence of God. It depends wholly on the evidence they provide. The whole thing takes the form of a legal battle.

Jesus Christ is the Man who took on the responsibility of an advocate for us. He ascended to heaven to fulfill this responsibility. But before ascending, He first descended. Descending was necessary due to the expedience of evidence in relation to His responsibility. He had to ascend to heaven from the deepest abyss in order to secure unquestionable evidence for our justification. In the judicial order of God, sins must be paid for. In essence, sins can only be overlooked when there is a satisfactory payment for it. Hence the one who will plead the innocence of people who are guilty of sin must provide a satisfactory payment; an acceptable propitiation for sin. It is in relation to this that Jesus Christ descended to the lowest abyss. In order to provide this propitiation, He took on a priestly role to offer the acceptable sacrifice to God for the propitiation of our sins. And as the priest of God to us, He knew there was not a sacrifice in all the world that was serviceable to this purpose except Himself.

His agonizing prayer in Gethsemane depicts clearly the inevitability of offering Himself to God as a propitiatory sacrifice for us. He put His back to the wall and determinedly went to the death of the cross; enduring the cross, seeing it through from start to finish with all the sufferings involved until at last He cried out in uttermost agony “It is finished”. He had successfully offered Himself a propitiatory sacrifice to God; providing in Himself, the needed evidence for our justification. Thus Jesus descended to the deepest abyss of death from whence He resurrected and ascended to heaven both as our advocate and the propitiation for our sins.

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world” – 1 John 2:1-2

He pleads our innocence with the substantial evidence of His blood; His very life. The judge rules in our favour and what happens to our accuser? He is cast out of the presence of God.

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” – Revelations 12:10

Jesus Christ has thus won the legal battle for our justification. He is the right Man that stands before God for us, without whom judgment would be against us, as Luther puts it in His hymn “A mighty fortress is our God”;

“Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving will be losing,

Where not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God’s own choosing,

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus it is He!

Lord Sabaoth is His name,

From age to age the same:

And He must win the battle.”

The scriptures state that judgment came on the human race through sin (of Romans 5: 18). The magnitude of the judgment on those found guilty of sin reveals the greatness of the victory of Christ which secures our justification. But what is the magnitude of this judgment? The judgment for sin is way beyond poverty, sickness, physical death and other painful conditions of this life. These conditions are only temporal, the judgment that results from sin has eternal implications. It comes on the guilty sinner in the form of a hardened heart which gives the devil control over the sinful soul. The hardened heart makes the sinner a slave of sin and the devil. The horror of it is that the soul continues in this slavery, abounding more and more in iniquity and provoking the Most High God to wrath until God’s wrath is justly poured out on it in the fullest measure. The horror of living under this judgment is the wrath of God. The measure of the greatness of the advocacy and sacrifice of Jesus should be weighed in relation to God’s judgment and the wrath which follows. It is a travesty to make the goal of Christ’s sacrifice and advocacy a matter of poverty alleviation and physical healing. Christ did not sacrifice Himself and present Himself to God as our advocate merely to deliver us from poverty and sickness. He did all of that to deliver us from God’s judgment and the impending wrath that follows.

“And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” – 1 Thessalonians 1:10

The tragedy of the human race is that she lives under God’s judgment because of sin. The good news for the human race is that Christ by His advocacy and sacrifice has rescued every member of the human race who believes in Him from this judgment. God’s judgment for sin is a reality in human life and Christ’s deliverance from this judgment is also a reality in human life. An individual under God’s judgment is a slave to sin. The individual has a hardened heart and is abounding in sin, treasuring up wrath upon wrath against himself or herself.

“But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of god; - Romans 2:5

But the individual who has escaped judgment by faith in Christ has his or her heart regenerated and made tender by the Holy Spirit. Such a person will be rich in good works, treasuring up an eternal reward from God.

“Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil…But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good…” – Romans 2:9 – 10.

The rate at which iniquity is abounding in the world leaves no doubt about the fact that the world is under God’s judgment. But Christ is the place of shelter from this judgment. If it is raining profusely, we will not be able to prevent ourselves from getting wet by stopping the rain but we can find shelter under a roof. So while the rain is falling, we are kept from getting wet. See, the judgment of God is active upon this world, that’s why iniquity abounds in the world. We may not be able to lift the judgment and stop the tide of flowing iniquity in the world. But we can take shelter in Christ and escape the judgment that is upon the world so that we are not carried along in the tide of her iniquity. Yes! We can come under the shelter of Christ by trusting entirely on Him. Our sins will be forgiven, judgment will be passed over and the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon us to regenerate our hearts, renew our minds and empower us to abound in good works according to the will of God. So while the world revels in iniquity, we abound in good works for God’s glory.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my words and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” – John 5:24 (NIV).

It has been established earlier that our accuser before God has been cast down from heaven. But he has now come down to earth. He is fully aware that there is no hope for him to gain victory over us before God because of Jesus our advocate. However, he still believes he has one last option for victory over us. That option is to overthrow our faith in Christ Jesus. He knows that we unite with Jesus Christ as our advocate by our faith in Him (Christ Jesus). So the old devil reasons that if he can overthrow our faith in Christ (and by implication separate us from Christ) then he can bring us once again under judgment because then we would have no advocate before God. And this line of reason is right because Jesus Himself said;

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” – Matthew 10:31 – 33.

So the devil is desperately out to overthrow our faith and we are exhorted to hold fast the profession of our faith.

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us HOLD FAST OUR PROFESSION. – Hebrews 4:14

The devil is determinedly out to overthrow our faith and we have to determinedly hold fast to it. The implication for us is that we are at war with the devil. Why, he is desperate to make us deny our faith in Christ either forcefully or willingly. He will stop at nothing to fulfill his end. He employs persecution and engineers all manner of tribulation within his power to compel us to deny our faith. If that does not work, he employs the attraction and lure of this world to make us deny our faith willingly. If all these still do not achieve his aim, he then comes with a smiling face, disguising as a friend and brother who holds to the same faith and would even join us to fight for our faith. Thus he transforms himself to an angel of light (of 2 Corinthians 11:14). His purpose is to corrupt our faith with seductive doctrines to make us turn away from the true doctrines of our faith.

These are the strategies he employs to overthrow our faith and he has in his employ, a network of demonic forces and human agents who are instrumental to the implementation of his strategies. In the face of this, the call for us is to stand up in defense of our faith. It is a call to take up the whole amour of God in order to fight for our faith. Pay close attention to the scriptures!

“Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.” – Ephesians 6:11

“FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:12

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write to you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS” – Jude 1:3²

All these exhortations are trumpet calls, alerting us of a real war aimed at overthrowing our faith. The enemy of our faith will by no means give up on his intentions and the only way we can defend our faith is to overcome him, not by negotiating with him. We are not to negotiate conditions for peace with him but to resist and overcome him by our faith. For it is written:

“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfastly in the faith…” – 1 Peter 5:8-9

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” – Revelations 12:11.

This scripture in Revelation speaks prophetically about our victory and it comes through our faith. Therefore we must hold to our faith as our most prized possession on earth. Our faith in Christ should be more precious to us than life itself. This means we would rather forfeit our lives than forfeit our faith as the scripture puts it; “and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Defending our faith will require a commitment to hold firmly to the faith even in the face of death. It involves resisting even to death any doctrine or practice which contradicts and perverts the pure doctrines of our faith. So much emphasis is here placed on embracing and holding firmly to faith in Christ Jesus. This is because it is the only way we unite with Jesus as our advocate and hope in the face of our sins, the devil’s accusations and God’s righteous judgment.

Adding to this, victory is guaranteed to us in this warfare because the judgment of God is not against us but in our favour through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has secured the audience of the Father for us; something which the devil does not have. The Father listens to our prayer through Jesus Christ not the accusations of the devil. Here on earth we have the right on the authority of Jesus Christ to plead our cause before the Father. Jesus said;

“At that day ye shall ask in my name and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you;

For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.” John 16:26 – 27.

Jesus here implies that we have direct access to the Father on the grounds of His authority. This does not in any way nullify His role as our advocate but makes it possible for us to relate directly to the Father through Him. He is our Way to the Father; not a way we pass through and leave behind but the Way in which we live and walk daily in relation to the Father. This access we have is the devil’s sore point as far as this warfare is concerned. When we utilize it in prayer, we are strengthened in every way to withstand his wiles. Not only that, we also bring all his devices and activities to nothing. Hence part of the devil’s strategy is to pull down our strong hold of prayer. One of his means of achieving this is to preoccupy us with the cares of this life so that the busy activities of making a living leaves us no time to pray. He deceives us with a false philosophy that overrates the value and power of money so that we give our time completely to the pursuit of it at the expense of prayer. But in reality, John Bunyan made a valid point when he said;

“The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver”

It is true that money answers to everything that is of this present world but in the order of God, how we get money and how we use money ought to be dependent on prayer. In this way we escape the bondage of servitude to money that the devil employs to keep us away from prayer.

Factually speaking, the New Testament places great premium on prayer. In a letter to the Ephesians, Paul insists that after we have taken up the whole amour of God; the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, we must pray always (of Ephesians 6:13-18). Elsewhere, he instructs us to pray without ceasing (1Thessalonians 5:17). And Jesus taught that we ought to be persistent in prayer (Luke 18:1-8). It is important to state here that the use of prayer is to sustain our faith in the face of the devil’s desperate quest to overthrow it. When our faith is thus sustained, we overcome the devil by it and we freely fulfill the will of God on earth through faith.

Beloved, fulfilling the will of God is the nourishing meal we are called to partake of on the Lord’s Table. This is the table the Lord has prepared before us in the presence of our enemies (Psalms 23:5). Jesus says

“…My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me…” – John 4:34

Yes! Through faith we can fulfill the will of God here on earth even in the presence of the devil’s stiffest opposition.

So Jesus Christ, through His advocacy and sacrifice, offers us forgiveness of sins, salvation from God’s judgment and the gift of the Holy Spirit to regenerate our hearts, renew our minds and empower us to do the will of God unto eternal life. He invites us to come under the shelter of His love by entrusting our lives to Him. He is all we need, and we have to heed His call because this world is passing away but those who do the will of God will abide forever (1John 2:17). Amen.

² Emphasis are mine

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CHAPTER FIVE

A SHARED LIFE: THE UNION OF CHRIST WITH THE CHURCH

“For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” – Ephesians 5:30-32

The apostle here makes reference to the union of the first man and woman. He skilfully applies this union to the union between Christ and the church; implying that the union of the first man and woman in their unimpaired state is a figure of the mystic union between Christ and the church. His point being that the union between husbands and wives in their redemptive state should also follow in the same order as in the beginning i.e. it should portray the union between Christ and the church. Based on this, the following can be deduced:

The marriage union between husbands (male) and wives (female) is built on love and submission. On the part of the husbands, they are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. And on the part of the wives, submission to their husbands just as the church submits to Christ (Ephesians 5:22 – 25).

The marriage union is meant to abide and continue without divorce just like the union of Christ and the church which it portrays. The difference being that the marriage union is a mortal relationship which ends only when mortal life ceases. But, the union between Christ and the church is an eternal relationship that continues beyond the existence of mortal life.

This chapter is particularly dedicated to the mystic union between Christ and the church, which is pre-figured in the union of the first man and woman. However, it is essential to look more closely into the figure of this mystic union. So this brings us way back to the beginning of human existence:

“And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but FOR ADAM THERE WAS NOT FOUND AN HELP MEET FOR HIM. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said; This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF MAN. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.” – Genesis 2:18-24.

The man was first created before the woman. He was surrounded by a host of other creatures and was responsible for naming all the other creatures. However, he could not find companionship with any of these creatures perhaps because of the dissimilarities between his nature and theirs. What he needed was a creature of same nature; one with whom he could communicate, share thoughts and carryout his work. Since he could not find these in the other creatures, God proceeded to meet his need. He placed the man in a deep sleep and from his side, He took out a rib with which he formed the woman and brought her to the man. The woman was formed in such a way that in union with the man she could produce after their kind through the agency of the man’s seed. This was to fulfill God’s purpose of replenishing the earth with humans. The design was established but the purpose was thwarted when their innocent nature was corrupted through disobedience. Instead of producing incorruptible humans to replenish the earth, they produced corrupt humans and replenished the earth with same. The result was that wickedness filled the earth and this was grievous in God’s sight. The design which was originally intended to fill the earth with humans who are united with God in nature and living together in mutual love, now fills the earth with humans who are separated from God in nature. They are ferocious and without mercy to one another. The corruption had so invaded human nature that all the thoughts and imaginations of the human heart became consistently evil (Genesis 5:5).Sadly, the marriage union which was designed to produce godly humans (Malachai 2:15) now produces corrupt humans. All humans conceived in the womb are estranged from God and born with a wicked nature.

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” – Psalms 58:3

God had to address the situation, and he did not think of eliminating the established design for procreation. Rather He established another design for regenerating the human race in order to lift her out of her corruptible state to an incorruptible state. So another kind of union emerged. While the marriage union procreated and produced corrupt humans, this other union regenerates and produces incorruptible humans. This union is the union of Jesus Christ and the church.

Jesus Christ came into the world as the only human with an incorruptible nature. He was conceived in the woman’s womb without the agency of a man’s seed but by the Holy Spirit. Thus He was a distinct human because His nature was not corrupt with sin. He is the perfect expression of God in human nature so He is God in human form. Just like it was for the first man, there was no one on earth who possessed a similar nature to Jesus Christ. He was totally in a league of His own; towering heights above all other humans in holiness. God’s purpose for Him in this world was to destroy the corrupt human nature and impart His own incorruptible nature to humans in order to make all humans become sinless like Him.

Earlier on it was made clear that God put the first man to sleep in other to raise out of him the woman (a creature of like nature) for him. He awoke from sleep to find this creature to his delight. This prefigures God putting Christ to death and the figure of sleep was used to depict the fact that Christ would resurrect from the dead just as the first man awoke out of sleep. And as the woman was formed out of the life of the first man through his sleep, so the church is formed out of the life of Christ through His death. Christ resurrects from the dead to find the church presented to Him in His own nature; pure, blameless, without spot or wrinkle; a suitable companion. Thus Christ is united with the church in an incorruptible state and both share a common life. In this state the church lives with Christ in the world in order to fulfill His purpose of regenerating the human race. The church is formed in such a way that in union with Christ she is able to birth regenerated humans after the kind of Christ through the agency of Christ’s seed, which is the gospel. And as a wife in union with her husband receives his seed to produce after his kind so does the church in union with Christ receive His gospel to produce after His kind.

The church is the wife of Christ and her union with Him is God’s means of regenerating the human race to replenish the earth with an incorruptible humanity. The church came to existence through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. She consists of every member of the human race who puts his or her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus receives forgiveness of sins through His death to live in personal union with Him by the power of His resurrection.

This age is the church age; it is the time given to her to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to birth regenerated humans in the likeness of Christ Jesus. God has allowed this world to remain and continue so that the church can accomplish this purpose. This is the business of the church in this world and she has been left here to carry it out through her union with Christ who has promised;

“…I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” – Matthew 28:20.

We who believe in Christ are the members of the body of Christ i.e. the church. The value of our lives to God will be determined by how much value we place on Christ. This will in turn determine the measure of our involvement in His gospel. If we value Christ above all else in this world our involvement in His gospel will be at the expense of everything else.

In judges, we read of the song of Deborah (Judges 5:1). In the preceding narrative, Israel goes to war against Canaan; a war that appeared to have no chance of victory for Israel. But at the end the Lord helped Israel to victory. Deborah’s song was a song of victory. In this song, she questions “Why did Dan remain in ships?” (Judges 5:17). Apparently, Dan did not participate in the war. He stood aloof on ships because he was taken up with his commercial interests. Dan could not get involved at the expense of his merchandise. He valued making money above the interest of the Lord. There is no “well done” for him in this song of victory.

We live in a highly commercialized society, nearly everything is for sale. The pressure this places on everyone living in the world is that of making money. In the midst of this, Jesus Christ speaks up:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” – Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

Jesus says in essence, we cannot serve God’s interest and a commercial interest at the same time. We will have to forfeit the one for the other or vice versa. If we value Christ above all else we will serve Him at the expense of any pecuniary interest.

Does this imply a preclusion from any involvement in commerce? Certainly not, it does mean that our commercial involvements will be with the aim of laying up treasure in heaven not on earth.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” – Matthew 6: 19-20

In other words, our involvement in commerce should not be a self-centered quest for financial accumulation. It is rather a quest to make money so we can joyfully spend it all for the interest of Christ. The idea is to make all the money we can so we can spend all the money we have in the service of Christ. We are not to make money with the aim of storing it up to become a god we look to for survival. Far from that, it should be food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, water for the thirsty, shelter to the homeless, medicine for the sick etc. Jesus says when we use our money to do these for the least of his brethren who need it, we do it to Him (of Matthew 25:35-40). The preaching of the gospel should be accompanied by this good work of caring for the poor (Galatians 2:9-10). This can be achieved with our money and most importantly with a heart that loves Jesus. In the light of this, Paul exhorts;

“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” – Ephesians” 4:28

In a world were financial security is commonly the paramount pursuit, this concept can only be embraced when we esteem Jesus Christ above money and count Him worthy to receive our riches (of Revelation 5:12). It is not so much about how much we spend but that we spend what we have with a heart that loves and values Christ above all else. In all we must aim at a priceless “well done” from our Lord in His song of victory.

It is a common law that rewards are often determined by value. God Himself will reward us according to the value of our lives to Him in this world. What we will get out of this world at the end will be a just reward for how we lived and what we did in the world. In this world, our faith is like a race. All the athletes in a race run to obtain the highest medal but only one athlete wins it. Two others will obtain medals of lower ranking and the majority will be ‘also ran’ i.e. mere participants. Likewise in this faith, very few will obtain eternal rewards through faith in Christ. The majority will be saved by the skin of their teeth through the same faith. It depends largely on the value we place on Christ and the measure of our involvement in His gospel here. And Paul says;

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” - 1Corinthians 9:24

In essence, don’t be a mere participant in the race, be a medalist.

We are certainly approaching the end of this world. As we approach the tape at the end of this life let us not arrive there with a sad consciousness of all that we must now leave behind or of all that we failed to do. Let us arrive there with the same consciousness Paul had when he wrote;

“Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give to me…” – 2Timothy 4:8.

Finally, to everyone who is yet to receive Christ and find the assurance of salvation in Him, right now Christ is pursuing His purpose to regenerate humans through the church. Hence the gospel is preached; calling every human to put their trust in Christ and become a part of His church; to be united with Christ and share in His life through His death and resurrection. It is certainly a privileged invitation to every human. However, the time is fast approaching when this world will come to an end and everyone who is not found in union with Christ will be condemned to everlasting damnation. The gospel has just reached your heart, believe in Jesus Christ, commit yourself to Him and you will be saved from your sins into union with Him. Your time is now! And if you don’t know how to pray, just say “LORD JESUS COME INTO MY HEART AND SAVE ME FROM THE GUILT AND POWER OF MY SINS.”

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” – Romans 10:13.

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CHAPTER SIX

THE CUP OF THE LORD AND THE WITNESS OF THE SAINTS

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” – John 7:37

This call of Jesus is clearly to the souls who are thirsty. The only qualification required for those who will come to Him and drink is thirst. For except a person is thirsty he or she cannot come to Him to drink. A person who is not thirsty for what Jesus came to give, may come to Him for many other things but not for the drink Jesus is offering. What exactly is the thirst Jesus is referring to? First of all, it is not a thirst that any created thing can satisfy. It is a thirst for God Himself, this thirst is expressed in the Psalms;

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” – Psalms 63:1

I strethch forth my hands unto thee; my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land” – Psalms 143:6

The entrance of sin into human life, has driven the human soul far away from God. The human race have lost God entirely and therein lies the dearth the Psalms metaphorically describes as a thirsty land. The fruitless search to make up for this deficiency has been the occupation of all humans since the fall away from God. People are chasing after things because they erroneously think that things will quench their thirst. The very attempt to quench this thirst with creature elements leaves the soul in a lamentable state. But Jesus Christ came into this world to quench that thirst. He did not come to offer things which avail nothing in assuaging our thirst, He came to offer us God Himself.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” – Romans 6:23

And except a person is thirsty for God Himself, he or she may come to Jesus but will eventually turn away from Him because of the cup Jesus is offering him or her to drink. So, the drink Jesus offers is the offence that turns away those who come to Him for anything other than God. What exactly is this offensive drink?

In the travail of our Lord in Gethsemane, He prayed to the Father about a cup which became imperative for Him to drink (Matthew 26:39-42). It is this same cup that Jesus Christ offers to those who come to Him. The cup represents His suffering unto death by which He atoned for the sin of mankind and also crucified the sinful human nature in His body. It is the cup He had to drink to become a curse for us so that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. …That we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit” – Galatians 3:13-14.

He drank of this cup until He cried out, “It is finished”. He fully accomplished the work of redemption so that whoever believes in Him is redeemed from death to possess eternal life within. The cup He drank is the antidote to sin, it is the medicine for the sinful soul. It is the pure and stainless life which He lived in fellowship with the Father and was appointed to suffering, sorrow, grief and death to remit the sins of the world. This is the same life that He offers through His death to all who come to Him. When He cried out; “If anyone thirsts, let Him come to Me and drink”, He was and is still inviting everyone who is thirsty for God to come to Him and receive the same pure and stainless life which He lived. So then all who heed His call can receive His life and live in fellowship with the Father. The implication of this to all who receive and live this life by believing in Jesus Christ is that they are appointed to suffer as He suffered in this world.

“For unto you it is given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe but also to suffer for His sake” – Philipians1:29

The life which brings us into the fellowship of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ also identifies us with the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. For the Father will do with us what He did with the Lord Jesus Christ. What did the Father do with the Lord Jesus Christ?

“…it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. 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” – Isaiah 53:10-11.

The Father bruised and put the Son to grief as He made his soul an offering for sin. Through the offering of his soul for sin, Jesus Christ the Son of God will raise seed after His kind i.e. sons of God. In God’s plan, these sons will be raised through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ from people of every nation, every tribe and every tongue who believe in Him. The people will need to hear about Jesus Christ before they believe and someone must preach to them about Jesus Christ before they can hear. Who will preach to them about Jesus Christ? It is those of us who have already believed in Jesus Christ, received His life through His death and have thus become sons of God. We who believe in Jesus Christ are the ones the Father will put to grief and make our souls an offering as He did with the Lord Jesus Christ. The only distinction being that our souls are not offered for sin because only the soul of the Lord Jesus Christ was offered for sin once and for all. Rather, our souls are offered for the testimony and proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ to people of every nation, every tribe and every tongue. Jesus Christ offered His soul to atone for sins through the eternal Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). His offering is today efficacious in cleansing us from all sin. In like manner, the gospel will be effectively preached in the world, when we offer our souls to God through the eternal Spirit. The offering of our souls to God through the eternal Holy Spirit will result in the outflow of the Holy Spirit from within us in the proclamation of the gospel. This is what Jesus Christ meant when He said, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.”

The suffering involved in offering our souls to God is suffering on behalf of Jesus Christ. It means that as Jesus suffered and died on our behalf to make atonement for our sins, we also who receive His life through His death will suffer and may even die as His representatives to make His name known in the world so that people can believe in Him and become sons of God through His atoning sacrifice. The apostles counted this as a great privilege hence they rejoiced in their suffering and nearly all of them died gruesomely for the sake of Christ, just as it is written;

“For thy sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” – Romans 8:36

What did Christ offer them as a consolation? Nothing but God Himself and they also wanted nothing but God Himself! They drank the cup Jesus Christ offered to finish. They persevered under their lot to the end because through the revelation of Jesus Christ, they saw the invisible God.

It was through the perseverance of the apostles that the testimony of Jesus Christ spread throughout the Gentile nations of their times. They received the life of Jesus Christ, embraced suffering on His behalf and testified of Him in this world. Thus with their lives and their message, they set for us a shining example of following in the footsteps of the Lord; enduring as our Lord endured to fulfill God’s redemptive purpose in the world. Out of genuine love and appreciation to the Lord, they drank of the same cup that the Lord drank and stood as witnesses to Him in their times. This is how the psalms expresses it;

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” - Psalms 116:12 - 14

God grant that through the power of the Holy Spirit, we may in reality be partakers of Christ; partakers of His life, of His suffering, of His death, resurrection and finally of His eternal glory. Amen

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CHAPTER SEVEN

THE SECOND APPEARING AND THE ETERNAL GLORY OF THE SAINTS

“…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” – Acts 1:11

In the first chapter of this book, it was pointed out that there are two appearances of Jesus Christ. The first appearance was as stated, the appearance of Christ in human form through the virgin birth. The purpose of Christ’s first appearance was to accomplish the work of redemption. After accomplishing the work in His death, He resurrected and ascended to heaven. His ascension ushered in an era on earth called the last days according to the dispensation of God. This era is to be culminated in the second appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the second appearing the accomplished work of Christ will be fully realized in the saints resulting in the perfection of salvation; this perfection includes the redemption of the saints from mortality to immortality. The whole import is that the mortal bodies of the saints will be redeemed from its mortal state to an immortal state. In this state death becomes extinct forever because sin has been perfectly put out of existence. This is the hope of the saints in this last days. It is termed hope because it is yet expected with the certainty that it will be realized.

“And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” – Romans 8:23-24.

So the saints before the first appearing and the saints after the first appearing all have hope. The distinction is that the hope of the former is the first appearing while that of the latter is the second appearing. Before the first appearing, the prophets pointed to the hope of a coming messiah who would remit sins through suffering and death, bring justification by conquering sin in a triumphant resurrection, and ascend to heaven from whence He will pour out the Holy Spirit on people who trust in Him. This hope is fully realized in these last days which is the dispensation after the first appearing. In these last days the apostles of Jesus Christ confirm to us that Jesus Christ is the One the prophets pointed to. They, under a sovereign commission from the Almighty God, proclaimed to the human race that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will receive remission of sins on the basis of His death, justification on the bases of His resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon their lives on the bases of His ascension just as the prophets prophesied. This has been fulfilled in many who believe and will still be fulfilled in many who will believe as the same message about Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

“Of which salvation, the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.” 1 Peter 1:10-12

The hope of the second appearing is secured to all who thus receive remission of sins, justification and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The vital effect of these on its recipients in these last days is witnessed in godly living. This way of life does not guarantee the hope of a state of utopia and material wealth in this present era but perfect salvation at the second appearing of the Lord Jesus. Thus those who have been justified and live by the Holy Spirit through faith are not looking for material wealth and a state of utopia in this present world. They are rather searching diligently and waiting patiently for the second appearing of the Lord. The epistles inspire this anticipation:

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober; and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” – 1 Peter 1:13

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.” – 1 John 3:2-3

“Henceforth there is laid up for me, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” – 2 Timothy 4:8

The Hebrew writer employs a fine analogy from the Old Testament to illustrate this;

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” –

Hebrews 9:25-28

In the Old Testament, the high priest entered into the holy of holies with the blood of an animal to make atonement for the sins of the people. This happens annually on a designated day known as the Day of Atonement. While in the holy of holies, the people in the outer court await the emergence of the high priest from the holy of holies. The people rejoice when the awaited high priest emerges from the holy of holies because his emergence implies that his atoning work is accepted. As a result the people are presented blameless before God for one year. The symbols here aptly illustrate the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven with his own blood that was shed on earth for the remission of sin. We are certain that He will appear again from heaven in the same way that He ascended into heaven because his atoning work is accepted. And as the Jews in the outer court await the emergence of their high priest from the holy of holies, the saints in this world also await, nay look for the appearance of Christ from heaven. The confident assertion of the Hebrew writer is that He will appear.

“But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming, we wait;

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the Angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope! Blessed rest of my soul” –

Horatio Sparford

This is no illusion, it is a concrete hope in which the perfection of our salvation; the redemption of our bodies from mortality to immortality finds a blessed anchor. And while this hope tarries many of the saints have fallen asleep and perhaps many more will fall asleep, yet this hope is not invalidated;

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Yes even the saints who die in faith, holding to this hope will resurrect into immortality on that Day. Beloved, herein is the hope of righteousness diligently searched for by those who presently live godly lives through the remission of sins and the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The apostles in all their epistles left nothing amidst in making it clear that the hope of godly living in this present world is anchored on the second appearing.

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” – Titus 2:11-13

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body...” – Philippians 3:20-21

It is therefore a wonder how contemporary Christianity with the scriptures wide open made material gain and a worldly utopia become the hope of godliness. Certainly we acquire material things for our sustenance and for the propagation of the gospel through godliness but we are not to seek for them like the earthly-minded whose hope is bound up with material gain. Jesus in an illustrative discourse warned against the tendency to build hope in material acquisition (Luke 12: 15 – 21). This tendency that Jesus warned against could very well be one of the reasons for what A.W. Tozer termed the decline of apocalyptic expectation. For the Christian who has built or hopes to build security and comfort in worldly acquisition is by no means eager for the return of the Lord. Perhaps the difference between the early church and the contemporary church lies in the fact that the former anchored her hope on the second appearing, while the latter placed her hope on material acquisition in this present world. The early believers looked for a home beyond this world and counted themselves as strangers in this world. Today’s believers have their home in this world and live like settlers rather than sojourners. The point here is that the diligent quest for the second appearing which is an expression of genuine hope in it is missing in these times. The reason is not farfetched from the fact that many have loosened their anchor of hope from the second appearing and fastened it to material gain.

The teaching about the second appearing and a pulsating hope in it is one of the factors that determine the texture of Christianity in every generation. A decline from this hope in any generation will give birth to a materialistic kind of Christianity. Perhaps this is one of the maladies of Christianity in our time; the emphasis of the message and teaching has been shifted from the eternal to the temporal. So we cannot patiently set our minds on a hope that offers an eternal reward. Our minds are rather fixed on that which offers immediate but temporal rewards.

If we were as Peter puts it “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God” (2Peter 3:12), our commitment to Christ Jesus will be much deeper than a commitment to Him for loaves and fishes (material gains). It will be a commitment in which we will be ready to lay down our lives for Him if need be in the hope of obtaining a better resurrection at the second appearing (Hebrews 11:35). This kind of commitment will certainly result in a vigorous propagation of the gospel message in anticipation of the second coming of Christ. Why, the greatest incentive for sincere sacrificial labours in the propagation of the gospel remains the promise of the second coming. History has shown us that those who laboured in the gospel out of a genuine commitment to Christ deferred the hope of their reward to the second appearing. They did not attempt to adjust the message for immediate gain, security and comfort. They lived with the confidence that at the second appearing, they will get the full reward of their labours from the Lord whom they judged faithful. Hence they endured unjust treatment from people, put up with being defamed, and some others surrendered themselves to death for the sake of Christ and His gospel. They were, as it were, counted as sheep for the slaughter for the sake of Christ. They endured all these in the hope of obtaining a better resurrection at the second appearing. These folks were certainly not in pursuit of something temporal in this mortal frame but the reward of an eternal inheritance in an immortal body.

Perhaps the second appearing tarries through the longsuffering of the Lord to make room for the church to grow into perfection and also for sinners to come to repentance. The former enhances the latter i.e. Sinners are likely to come to repentance as the church moves on towards perfection. For the saints are the instruments through which the message of repentance and remission of sins is preached to sinners in this last days. As Jonah was sent to Nineveh so is the church sent to the world in these last days. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to proclaim a warning of impending judgment within a forty-day ultimatum. Those forty days were given to Nineveh out of the longsuffering of God aimed at bringing her to repentance through the proclamation of Jonah’s message. God gave them this time and ensured that Jonah proclaimed this message within that time because He did not want the over five thousand souls living in that city to perish. Nineveh responded to the message in repentance and escaped judgment.

In the same way, God has sent the church into this world in these last days to proclaim the message of repentance and remission of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. This message comes with a warning of an impending judgment that will follow after the second appearing. Out of God’s longsuffering and His unwillingness to let anyone perish, He made allowance for this period designated the last days and is ensuring that the church proclaims the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ in this world. His goal is to bring sinners to repentance and saving faith. So Peter states with precision concerning the promise of the second appearing;

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9

Jesus Christ also confirmed this when He said;

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” – Matthew 24:14

So in spite of the grievous wickedness of this world, God has allowed this world to remain in order to bring her to repentance through the proclamation of the gospel by the church. In God’s plan, the church will continue with this task until the second appearing. The church must therefore be fitted for the task so she can successfully proclaim the message just as Jesus Christ successfully accomplished the work of redemption. Jesus Christ succeeded because the Father sanctified Him and sent Him into the world. Hence Jesus Christ consecrated His life in this world to fulfilling the will of the One who sent Him (John 10:36, John 6:38). Just as the Father sanctified Jesus Christ and sent Him into the world, Jesus Christ through His sacrifice and the ministry of the word sanctifies the church and sends her into the world to proclaim the message of repentance and remission of sins (John 17:17-18). Therefore the church ought to be consecrated to fulfilling the will of God in the proclamation of the message in this world. Her primary objective in this world should then be rapid growth in sanctification and the proclamation of the gospel in all nations of the earth while awaiting the second appearing.

Based on this, it can be surmised that our dire need today is a reformation; a reformation that will reorder our priority and set it on godly living which fastens our hope on the second appearing of our Lord. And with this in place, we will get our expectations right. Then our prayers will be sensibly focused to enhance the tasks of mission and global evangelism as we wait expectantly for the second appearing, which is so evidently imminent.

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The End