They Deserve the Least Act of Love, but Jesus Says to Pray for Them

Some days ago, I was with a group of people and we encountered a person who had cheated me badly many years ago. It was apparent that life wasn’t dealing very nicely with him, and the people around me noticed it. I wasn’t interested in any of the chitchats because I didn’t want to have to say hello to him. I may love him, because the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost which I have (Romans 5:5) and I am not capable of hate; but I do not like him and I do not have to pretend that I do. So I did not talk to or say hello to him. But when someone by me made a comment about his sorry state, I thought in my heart that it served him right. I mean, “Anyone who did what he did should not move forward in life.” So I thought. But God didn’t think so. In fact, a few minutes later, God told me, “Temi, you have to pray for him.”

“Pray for him? No! Of course not. What kind of prayer am I to pray for him?” That was the least thought that could have naturally crossed my mind. I knew God was talking to me, and I know how He gets to me. He gave me a scripture – Luke 6:28b, “...and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Boom!!!

“OK. I understand that Lord. But I have forgiven him. I have moved on and I do not even remember that this individual exists. So why do I need to bring him up again in prayers?”

God so merciful made me understand that when I forgave him, and when I healed, and when I moved on, I did all that for myself. But when I pray for him, I do that for him – it means I consciously ask God to do something good for him. That is love at its peak. Remember Romans 5:8? “…in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Now I had no choice. I had to pray for him. And I did … today … almost a week later. Haha.

I’ve pondered on this phrase from Luke 6 since that day last week and I believe strongly that God wants someone who’s reading this to do the same too.

First, let’s examine that scripture from verse 27, because that’s where the sentence begins in the King James Version of the Bible.

“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Luke 6:27-28.

In the above passage, Jesus highlights four categories of least likely people that you should express varying degrees of kindness to.

First are your enemies. Enemies are those who do not like you and who ordinarily do not wish you well. They may or may not cause you physical harm, but they definitely do not want you to prosper. God says to love them. We all agree that it’s really difficult to love people who are apparently our enemies.

Those who hate you aren’t very much different from your enemies. However, they may be a little bit more scary than your enemies because those who hate you can pretend to be your friends and perpetrate evil that could cause you harm. Jesus says, “Do good to them. Be like your Father and be kind to them (Luke 6:35-36).” God help us!. Jesus, really??? Arrghhh!!!!!!!!

Next are those, who beyond secret or obvious hatred, go to the extent of placing curses on you. Jesus says, “Bless them.” I personally do not find this one particularly hard to do, because I understand the scriptures that say Christ was made a curse for me (Galatians 3:13) so I can’t be cursed, and that a curse causeless will not come to stay (Proverbs 26:2). So that’s not too hard. They, in fact, need blessings. Hehe.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say we should pray for some people. They are the least likely ones that deserve any act of kindness, but Jesus says, “Pray for them.” Those which despitefully use you – pray for them. “Wow!!! Why LORD, why? Not these ones! They are worse than enemies, haters, and cursers put together. They express their hatred, disdain and contempt for me with all they’ve got.” They do not deserve mercy. We all know that. Even God agrees. But really, who does? Now that you have Jesus, God says, “Pray for them.”

I know it’s difficult. But God will give you the strength to, just like He did me tonight. I mentioned the names of several people who have despitefully used me over the years and prayed for them from my heart. It is for them, but trust me, you’ll benefit from it too.

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So, you my sister friend who was/is being sexually abused, Jesus says, “Pray for him/them who abused/s you.”

And to you who was a victim of pedophilia. It’s really horrible. I agree. And Jesus agrees too, but He says, “Pray for him.”

That lover boy who was exploited by the girl he loved. She drained you of all your cash – owned and borrowed. It super hurts; but oh please, pray for that sister. She needs Jesus.

Oh dear reader, who is despitefully used every day by your boss. You understand errands better than you understand how to do what you were trained for. You probably went to the company to develop your IT skills, and what you have developed is your tenacity to stand in long queues at the bank. You understand the various dimensions of a bank queue at different hours of the day than you understand the various sizes of an A4 or A3 paper. Coupled with that, rather than have you improve on your programming skills, your boss prefers you improve on your driving skills because he wants his family to be in safe hands while you chauffeur them to and fro the airport. Yeah, and your salary never comes in on time too. It’s unthinkable, but Jesus says, “Pray for him.”

And to that maid – (she probably won’t be able to read this because she’s not even allowed to eat on the dining table with the kids, let alone touch a computer). She gets whipped for crimes she did not commit – crimes her “madam” knows the kids committed. If you know her, will you please tell her that Jesus says she should pray for her boss?

However you have been despitefully used, abused, or insulted, Jesus is telling us that our forgiveness isn’t complete until we’ve prayed for these ones who do not deserve our prayers.

Please, will you pray with me?

Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you loving me and for teaching me this hard truth today. I pray for (mention their names here). Please bless him/her. If he/she isn’t saved, please, let him/her come to know you and accept your gift of salvation. If he/she is in trouble, please, deliver him/her. Send helpers to him/her. Make him/her fruitful. If he/she feels bad about what he/she did, please, help him/her to forgive him/herself. This I pray from my heart Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Abraham's Challenge! ---- Romans 4

It had been quite a while that I spoke to my bestie who lives halfway across the world from me. So yesterday, when we spoke, we should have had a handful of stuff to catch up on. Our conversation started with pleasantries that sounded so pitiful from both our ends. We both realized how sorry we sounded and just burst out laughing. You see, we are each going through confusing times in our individual lives and sometimes, although we tell ourselves we’re catching up, we really have nothing new to tell each other.

Before I continue…………

So, I know lately I’ve been telling y’all about trusting God a lot. Well, this is Temi’s Race! And Temi’s race isn’t very yuppy yuppy at the moment. Besides, I know quite a number of believers asides from me who are going through challenging times right now, and will appreciate any encouragement from the Word that they can latch unto until the stormy wind passes. Therefore, this article is for my bestie, Simi; my bosom friend, Chika, my mom, Lola, my sisters, Fiyin & Komi; my friend, Olumide, and every other child of God whose faith needs to be stirred up… Here’s a challenge from Abraham!

Anyway, about an hour after Simi and I spoke, sharing our tales of woes, I picked up my Bible to study. My study for yesterday was Romans 4:13-25. It is a passage about Abraham’s faith; and even though I knew what the passage was about before I studied it last night, it was very timely. Here are some of my jottings that I think you may find useful:

1.   Abraham and his seed received a blessing from the Lord, not because of anything he did, but just because He believed God. (Note that, if you’re a Christian, then you are a seed of Abraham. And that means you have the blessings of Abraham.) – Romans 4:13

2.   The promises made to Abraham aren’t for those who fulfill the law. They are ONLY for those who believe. – Romans 4:14

3.   Abraham believed God because of God’s mighty abilities. If you’ve seen or heard or read about God’s wonders in your life and in the lives of others, you have more than enough reasons to trust him on this matter (you know what your “this matter” is). Abraham knew that God could raise the dead and can bring something from nothing (Romans 4:17b). At that time, those have not been demonstrated in Abraham’s personal life; but he just believed. He held on to the God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that one could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

4.   Abraham believed in hope against hope. “Who against hope believed in hope…” (Romans 4:18a). I personally think that this means that despite the fact that there was nothing around him that seemed hopeful; that nothing around him impelled him to believe, he still believed. He was certain beyond all impossibilities that he would become the father of nations just as God had promised/spoken.

Permit me to describe Abraham’s hopeless situation in two short sentences:

a.    He was a hundred year old childless man with a dead body and was supposed to be the father of nations.

b.   His wife, Sarah, was a little younger; but with a dead womb. She was to be the one to bare the first child for Father-of-nations, Abraham.

Nevertheless, he believed in hope against hope…

5.   He was not weak in faith. A weak faith is a legalistic one (See Romans 14). Remember I said Abraham's faith didn't have anything to do with fulfilling the law? A strong faith looks to God's ability. A weak faith looks to man's ability.

6.   He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief. Stagger (Gr: diakrino) in that passage literally means ‘to separate’, ‘to make a distinction’ or ‘to withdraw from’. So it means, Abraham did not make the mistake of distancing himself or separating himself, his mind, his imagination from the promises of God. He did not second-guess God and say, “Am I sure I heard God well?” He gave no place at all to unbelief. For one whose body was described as dead, I think he does very well to challenge all of us. Our situations aren’t nearly as hopeless as his, yet we give up very quickly. Impatience makes us to throw in the towel and just give up on God. God made this promise to Abraham when he was seventy-five years old; and at 100, he was still holding on.

Challenge #1: Keep holding on. Stagger not!

7.   He was strong in faith and gave glory to God. Wow! One could ask, “… gave glory to God for what?” What was glorious around him? That’s where faith speaks louder than doubt.

Challenge #2: Praise God in the storm. Please, praise God in this storm. I tell you brothers and sisters, God owes you nothing. If you die today, He’ll remain God. If you live for 100 years, He’ll remain God. Praise Him. Satan can’t stand when you praise God amidst trials. Praise God even when nothing around you encourages you to. Just praise Him. It’s all about Him. That’s what I’ve been doing, and I tell you, it has helped wane off depression and sadness a great deal. Don’t do it one time. Do it all the time. When you see that sadness and depression setting in again, begin to praise God!

8.   He was fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. I just can't stop wondering what made Abraham “fully persuaded”. Or did Apostle Paul use wrong grammar there? Fully persuaded!!! His body was dead; Sarah’s womb was dead. 25 years since the promise and nothing had shown up. Yet, he was FULLY persuaded. I don’t understand this one myself, but that brings us to …

Challenge #3: Be fully persuaded! God has not told a single lie since He became God (and that is, since forever), and He’s not about to start now. Don’t think you’re that special that God is going to change who He is on your matter… Pssh… He has never been unfaithful. Not once. Trust me; He won’t start unfaithfulness with you. Be fully persuaded that what He promised, He shall bring to pass.

I bit my lip yesterday for using negative words on my situation while speaking to Simi. I shouldn’t have. That just reflected unbelief. Like Abraham, let your actions and your words reflect how much you trust God. Remember to give Him all the glory in spite of whatever you’re going through.

HE CAME, HE DIED, HE ROSE

Jesus Christ came to the earth about 2000 years ago. The heavenly bodies announced his arrival with the extraordinary shining of the star which the wise men of the east used in locating the baby – Jesus. Multitudes of angels announced to men the arrival of man’s Saviour. The afore-mentioned is the general way the story of the birth of Jesus Christ is typically enumerated. However, there are certain questions that though subtle, lie on the inner recesses of our mind. The big one is, "how did God have a son to send to save man?" The general answer usually given is that God can do all things!!! My dear friends, you see God interestingly told us these words in Proverbs that: ‘While it is to God’s glory that a matter is concealed, it is to the glory of kings to search out the hidden issue’. So today, as kings, let us dig deep into Scriptures to understand the core of man’s salvation.

GOD CAME

The core of our salvation lies in recognizing that the person born of the Virgin Mary was not just a human, rather the baby in the manger was God in the flesh. 1 Tim. 3:16 describes this as a mystery. It was not public knowledge, it was hidden information. What was hidden was not the birth of the baby! What was hidden was the identity of the baby. The birth of Jesus was described here as God being revealed in the flesh i.e. in human form, with a body. By the very nature of who God is, it is almost unimaginable that God could become manifest in the flesh!!! God is known as the Invisible One! Who no man has ever seen! Who dwells in unapproachable Light! (1Tim. 1:17; 6:16). Here we must evaluate our knowledge with the simple question: ‘Who did God send to save man?’ God didn’t just send his ‘son’, as we are told in John 1:14, the Word of God was made flesh. Sonship came with the birth of the Word of God in human form. The person who came to save man was God himself. To put the entirety of John 1 simply, Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel is the Word of God, He became a human being; this human being is whom we know today as the Son of God and He is Jesus Christ.

GOD LIVED WITH MAN: We need to understand that God in human form is Jesus Christ!!! With this knowledge, comes the understanding of Scriptures that talk about Jesus. For example:

• Isaiah said: the child to be born will be The Mighty God and Everlasting Father (Is. 9:7). The only person who is called God and Father is God and no one else!!!

God in human form lived with humans; this is why He is called Emmanuel – God with us. God faced all the challenges we face today! He experienced hunger (Mark 11:12), tiredness (John4:6), storms (Luke 8:23) and agony (John 11:35), but that was not all, as everyday was a miracle as well. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, restored the disabled, showed man the true definition of man and did many other things that cannot be quantified in writing (John 21:25). However, we need to pay attention to the hints that were left for us by the very words Jesus said about Himself:

• I and the Father are One (John 10:30).

• The Messiah is Lord  (Matt. 22:42-44).

• He said he is: I Am (John 8:58).

It is vital to understand who the Saviour of the world is; to know that the man Jesus Christ (1Tim. 2:15; Titus 2:13) is God revealed in human form! The Son sent by God to save men is God in human form. In order words, it is to us – humans – that the idea of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Persons of Trinity exists; to God, the revelation as God-Jehovah/Father, God-The Word and God-The Spirit are all One and the same. So we must understand that the mystery of salvation lies in the fact that the Son of God, is God in human flesh, even as Jesus points out in John 3:13b (‘Jesus was on earth, yet he said the Son of Man-himself was in heaven at the same time as He was on earth). This is why Col. 1:15 enumerates that the entirety of God resides in Jesus Christ; every single aspect of God is revealed in Jesus Christ. Dear friends, though this is humanly incomprehensible, yet it is the basis of the beautiful mystery of our salvation.

HE DIED

So what made the death of Jesus on the cross special? After all, you may wonder: ‘He died ages ago in a country that has no business with me’. The first aspect of the death of Jesus on the cross is that it is towards God that this death was most important to God. When man does wrong, he does not just hurt himself, he also sins against God even as Joseph and David confirm (Gen. 39:9; Psalm 51:4). So to save man from sin, God also had to be appeased; man had to be saved in the way that pleased God! Is. 53:6 explains that God laid all sin on Jesus. You see this was God’s choice of salvation. To deal with sin, God chose to take all sin (both the sinful nature and the sinful deeds) and place it on Jesus. In death, God united Christ with all men, so that in God’s eyes when Jesus died all men died. Col. 2:20 and 2Cor.5:14b expatiate this; understand that what matters is that on God’s side/perspective, Jesus dying meant all men died! You see, on the cross what God did was to unite the whole of humanity with Christ, such that Christ carried all sin (Is.53:4). The blood of Jesus was shed on the cross so as to deal with sin. Col. 2:14b explains that Jesus nailed trespasses to the cross. By this blood Jesus opened up the Father’s realm and reality to man (Heb. 9:12).

God’s plan for sin was not to cover up sin using the blood shed on the cross. God’s plan is the most dramatic I have ever heard of!!! It is actually unfathomable. God’s plan was to wipe sin out of existence, as the angel first hinted to Joseph when he said that Jesus was born to save people from sin (Matt. 1:21). However we see the plan more clearly when John the Baptist met Jesus, he could not help but shout it loud: ‘See the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world – John 1:29’. Good news is that on the cross, Jesus did actually take sin out of existence. Heb. 10:4, 11 and 12 also expatiate on Jesus taking sins away. Finally, 1John 3:5 confirms that Jesus came to take away sin. You see, God’s plan in the eternal covenant is to remember sins no more (Heb. 10:17 and Jer. 31:34). In the Old Testament sin was present but covered by the blood of animals, however, in Christ, sin is entirely taken off!!!

So when does God forgive you of your sins? After you confess to God and say you’re sorry? No!!! God forgave all sins as soon as Jesus dealt with sin on the cross; Eph. 4:32 and Col. 3:13 both enumerate that God forgave us already, He is not about to forgive, He has forgiven us! In fact God does not live in the consciousness of sin anymore. Now this is God’s reality! A believer is a person who has accepted this reality that God has forgiven him. So man does not confess sin so that God will forgive (Acts 3:44 and 1John1:8), rather man confesses sin so as to receive God’s forgiveness. Don’t think that God waits for you to confess your sin, and then afterwards forgive you, Nopes! Rather, God already forgave you; this is what the Gospel preaches. We inform the world and ask them to believe in the truth of God’s forgiveness via the death of Jesus Christ in the cross. What is left is for man to accept and receive the reality of God: ‘that in Christ, sin is totally dealt with’. This is why God says we His children cannot sin and do not sin (1John 3:9) since He has already taken it out of the realm (God’s realm) that we have translocated into! So when Jesus died, God reckoned it as that all men died. Don’t bother your mind with the possibility of this (i.e. saying in your mind: ‘how does this make sense?’); it was God’s plan! Rather look at the abundance of love, wisdom, careful thought and intricate simplicity God set in place to save you! Your worth is the price God paid to save you and this price is God himself in human form!!! Can you see the ‘price’ tag God has placed on you?

JESUS AROSE

This is the apex of the tower, the apogee of the pyramid, the crest of the wave and the zenith of the plans of God for salvation! After 3 days and nights, Jesus Christ woke up from death via the power of God!!! Now you may still wonder: ‘how does this relate to me?’ Again, this answer is awesome! Remember that when Christ died on the cross, God reckoned it (i.e. set it in His own mind) that all men were united and died with Christ. Now with this in motion, God set it such that everything that happened to Christ afterwards happened to all man as well (all this in God’s perspective/realm). So when Christ arose, all men were: given life together with Christ, raised up together with Christ, (and when Christ ascended) we all were seated together with Christ (Eph. 2:5-6; Col. 2:13 and 3:1).

You need to see how this forms the core of our salvation! Our union with divinity, even with God Himself!!! You see, God’s accomplishment via salvation is mind blowing. You may say: ‘how now?’ Well see:

• Your spirit is one with God in spirit, completely united, same essence and perfect union. The very type of union Jesus has with God, we now all have with the entirety of the God-head, even as 1 Cor.6:17 explain and Jesus clarifies this in prayer in John 17:21. You see, when you believed, God (who is a spirit) gave birth to you (John 3:6).

• Today, God has given us His mind and He His daily melding our minds with His own. 1Cor. 2:16b shows God giving us His own mind. Philip. 2:5 explains that it is our choice to unite our mind with God’s, till God’s mind dominates us. Finally, Rom. 12:2 points out the need for persistence in letting God’s mind make the necessary change in our personality. So we no longer say God’s ways are higher than ours, rather we are the people of the way and we show the way to the world!

• Now our body is God’s dwelling place! This is in particular incredible. God is Invisible! God is Omnipresent! God is beyond human-word description! Then you go looking for God and find him living inside humans! Ain’t that seemingly implausible? Yet this is God’s lovely dwelling place, the body of men who have made the choice to believe in Him. Jesus explains this in John 14:23 and Paul expatiates in 1Cor. 3:16.

Dear friends, Jesus is alive! He is the first man to be born into this new life we live in! He is God with us! We need to see this reality, appreciate it, understand it and accept it even at the very level of our sub-conscious. Jesus is a living being! He talks, He speaks, He gives life and He is Lord of and over all!

With this, we round off our series on “Man” and we will be moving back to posting some of our inspirations and experiences on the Christian race. Kindly ask your questions freely and post comments as well! We hope that you learned one or two new things through this series and you’ve been able to come to a better understanding of who you are as a Christian, or if you’re not, of whom a Christian is.

WAIT OUT THE STORM

I penned these words a little over a week ago. It was Saturday morning and I had just awoken from a dream. In the dream, there was a terrible rain storm and I was in it. I was riding a bike and because of the rain storm which had resulted in a flood, it was impossible for me to get home on that bike despite all my efforts. As I struggled on, I met my dad who was also trying to get home. Just a moment after, we saw a pink & white colored building in a corner. It was a hotel; and the sky looked bright and weather, dry over on that side. Dad pointed and suggested that we go in there to wait out the storm. I almost objected, but considering our situation in that storm, I realized that we had no choice and so decided to go in. Then I woke up.

As I pondered on that dream, I heard God telling me some things. 

There is always a provision from God in stormy times. God always provides that place of solace and comfort where we, as His children, can wait out the storm. Although, we may not see it because we are too focused on the stormy situation; but it’s true, our Father always provides solace for us in troubled times. Sometimes this comfort zone may seem like a diversion from where you’re really going. You may think that you’re losing sight, you’re derailing and time is running out. But remember, there’s a storm out there, it’s better to wait somewhere than to die in it.

That’s what Jesus did in Mark 4:35-41. A storm arose while He & His disciples were in the middle of the sea. Jesus, in His wisdom, chose to wait out the storm at the bottom side of the boat. He slept even in the raging storm. He must’ve thought to Himself, “I had better get a nap now while this storm lasts; when the storm is over, work begins. I’ll have to start teaching again.” Jesus chose to wait out the storm. The disciples on the other hand chose to deal with it; and as we know, it didn’t profit them.

From the disciples’ experience that night, we can see many dangers to trying to deal with a storm without the support of the Master Storm Stiller.

1.    Feeling of Failure: Dealing with a storm that is bigger than you will only leave you with a feeling of failure. Every of your effort will come smashing back in your face. The disciples tried to scoop water out of the boat. The more they tried, the more water came into the boat. In that dream, I tried everything to maneuver my bicycle. I adjusted the arms, adjusted the seat, adjusted the pedals, and still couldn’t make it anywhere; everywhere was filled with water. I almost could not differentiate a gully from a pathway. It’s never rewarding when you try to deal with that terrible situation by yourself. 

2.    Fear/Lack of Faith in God’s ability: Storms are scary. They are so scary that they can sap out every ounce of faith in you if you let them.  You suddenly forget all of God’s promises to you, almost deeming Him a liar. Storms sap your faith. I know this because Jesus, after He had been prematurely awoken from His sleep said to the disciples, “How is it that you have no faith?” I just went through a major a storm in my life and it’s not over yet. It’s still raging out there. But I’m here in Christ, waiting it out. And I believe God gave me this dream to let me know that I should not be afraid & lose heart because of the delay. I’m just waiting out the storm. However, while I tried to deal with this storm by myself, my faith was terribly battered. Thank God for His restoration.

Sometimes, we need to look around us. If the Master Storm Stiller isn’t battling the storm with you, look around for where He is, and wait out the storm in Him. One thing is certain, the storm will subside, and the sun will shine again and there will be calm. 

3.    Lack of Clarity: You can’t see anything in a storm. All you can see in a storm is the storm itself. You can’t see where you’re going. You can’t strategize. You can’t think. You’re so overwhelmed with the storm that nothing else moves on in your life. You think it and breathe it; your prayer points are centered on it; your other responsibilities suffer. Of course, you can’t pray for anyone else while you try to deal with a storm. It’s only about you, you and you. You whine, “Can’t they see what’s going on with me? Why are people so selfish? Oh no! I can’t offer help to anyone – not right now.”

Friend, there’s a hotel right on the corner. Go wait out the storm in there. You’ll have time to think and re-strategize. You can listen to Him give you new ideas, what next steps you’ll need to take on your journey, while He handles your troublesome situation. 

4.    Fatigue: A storm wears you out completely – physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, maritally and financially – all around batter. To move against a storm, one needs to multiply his strength. It takes so much effort and it gets you tired really quickly; and not long after, “giving up” seems appealing to you.

Again, there’s a hotel just some meters from where you are right now. You can freshen up there; brush your teeth and have some dinner. Watch some TV and rest in the arms of the Almighty God. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He promised to be with you every step of the way (Isaiah 43:2). He is too faithful to lie (Hebrews 10:23). Things may not be going as you hoped right now. But trust Him, He has a better plan. You just have the few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that you need right now. He has got the cover box and so He sees and knows the bigger picture that you do not see. It may make no sense to you right now, but it makes a whole lot of sense to Him because He is the Mastermind of that bigger picture. Just wait on Him. He’ll still that storm. Don’t be like the disciples who forgot Jesus’ words just a few minutes after He had said, “Let us go over to the other side” (Mark 4:35). One thing the disciples failed to understand that night was that as long as Jesus was in that boat and having made that statement to take them to the other side, there was no way they were going to sink in that sea. No matter what had happened, they’d definitely have gotten to the other side. God is too faithful – TOO FAITHFUL – to lie. TOO FAITHFUL --- remember that!

Friend, just wait out the storm. It’ll cease soon and you can move on to where He’s taking you to.

Okay... Let's Answer This One Question...

First, a little recap…

We started this series on man with defining who man is; his Creator; his adversary; his entity; and then his Fall. As we wind down this series, we will take a detailed look at man’s redemption following his Fall. I think it will be more profitable to split this teaching; so today, let’s answer one critical question that comes with this topic.

The greatest thing that ever happened to man is that Jesus came in human flesh to die for man in order to reconcile man to God – that He may redeem man from his fall. That is the greatest thing that ever happened in Heaven, on earth, or beneath. It was and is and will be. No historical occurrence can beat it; no scientific discovery can overtake it; and no futuristic imagination can subdue it. It was, it is, and always will be the greatest thing that ever happened to man.

Now, it is important to note at this point that several religious beliefs agree that man is/was helpless in the area of sin. Even secular laws penalize people for crimes. No one argues with the fact that man sins – everyone agrees, including atheists.

In addition, many religious beliefs also agree with the fact that there is a Supreme Being that we call God. Now, I’m not talking about the many little gods of the Greeks or the Hindus. I’m referring to that Supreme Being that Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Bahai, Deism, etc. believe in. Quite a number of religions know that there is God, and they agree that there needs to be a means to reach Him.

Sometime ago, when I lived in Texas, I had a lovely roommate. She had a boyfriend, who more or less lived in our apartment. One day, he was alone with me in the house, and I was led to discuss Jesus with him. As we talked he took a blue stationery and drew something similar to this.

 His question was, “How can you say Jesus is the only way to God? Can’t these other religions be pathways to God?”

John 14:6

He had a valid question. And I’m sure some of you have wondered about that too. In fact, I remember watching Oprah Winfrey a number of times on TV saying that there are several ways to God. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe in Oprahism and have been deceived that her statement is true.

There are several reasons why other religions won’t lead us to God. Jesus is the ONLY possible Savior. And here are a few reasons:

ONE: Jesus is GOD

Remember we told you that the disobedience of Adam led to the fall of man. It means that anybody born through the loins of Adam automatically had the sin nature (Psalm 51:5). “How could a sinner deliver a sinner? How could a prisoner set a prisoner free?” That is not possible. No human being, no religious leader, no other person could/can ever lead man to God. Only a sinless God can save a sinner and make Him sinless too (2 Corinthians 5:21). That sinless God is Jesus. (Romans 5:19).

The Bible tells us in John 1:14, “And the Word (Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us…”

You see, when it was time for God to solve this sin problem once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), His Holy Spirit came over Mary and she conceived and gave birth to the only sinless man since Adam.

Wouldn’t it have been less complicated for God to just have found a virgin man and paired with Virgin Mary to give us a virgin Savior? That would not have solved our sin problem.

Jesus had to be conceived of the Holy Spirit (and not man – virgin or not) to be our sinless Savior. (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is God in human flesh.

Now, don’t ask me how possible that was. I don’t know. Mary, the vessel, God used for this assignment asked that same question, and all she got was, “With God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37). And honestly, I’m not trying to understand it. It’ll blow my mind. I can’t even understand how a man and a woman can come together to produce a baby – another human being, let alone this. That’s why God is God – indescribable, unexplainable! In the words of an author I once read, “It’ll require more faith to believe that there is no God than it is to believe that there is one.” I totally agree with Him.

TWO: Christianity Requires Only Faith in the Finished Work of Christ

This is another reason why no other religion can lead us to God. Every religion on the surface of this earth that believes in a Supreme Being requires some level of “work” from each of her followers. Every religion, except Christianity. Funnily enough, some religious beliefs asides Christianity agree that Jesus is the Savior, but that there is more to it.

My friends, know that there is absolutely nothing that you can humanly possibly do to earn your salvation – ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Max Lucado describes in his book, In the Grip of Grace, that trying to earn your way to God is like trying to build bricks in an ocean to make a pathway to the other side. The more you work, the more work you realize you have to do. The impossibility of working for your salvation has also been described as one being on earth and trying to jump to touch the moon. It is not possible to do “works” to measure up to God’s level of righteousness.

Our works do not make God love us more or less than He did when John 3:16 was penned, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Romans 5:6-8 tells us, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Christ died for us when we didn’t even realize that we needed salvation. Jesus extended His grace to us when we couldn’t help ourselves to do righteous deeds. (Titus 2:11). How then is it now that we need good works to save us?

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]” (KJV/AMP).

There is no amount of good that we can possibly do to make our way to God… Our righteousness without Christ is less than nothing before God (Romans 3:10, 12b).

Christians are saved and have access to God because we believe in the finished work of Christ. A believer in Christ steps out of faith when he/she feels the need to do something to gain God’s approval. Any belief that adds works to faith is not Christianity. You may call in something else.

THREE: Through Jesus, We Have a Sinless Nature. Romans 8:2-4. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Before Jesus, we didn’t have the ability to do right. If you follow the story of the Israelites as they journeyed to the Promised Land and thereafter, you will realize that sometimes they actually tried to do right. In the Book of Judges, we see them falling and rising, falling and rising. I sincerely believe that the Israelites really wanted to do right sometimes. But the sinful nature in them wouldn’t let them.

Only Jesus can deliver a person from the grip of the sin nature (Please, read Romans 7:13-25). No other religion can. Jesus is indeed the only True Savior.

FOUR: Through Jesus We Have a Relationship with the Father.

Unlike other religious beliefs, Christianity isn’t a do-it-this-way-mechanically-or-you’re-out-kinda religion. In fact, we Christians do not like to call our belief a religion, we prefer the term, “relationship”; because that’s what it is. Through Jesus, we have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). We can talk to Him and He to us. We live in Him and He lives in us (Galatians 2:20; Acts 17:28; John 14:23). Our relationship with Him is not a bandwagon-everyone-follow kinda relationship. Our relationship with Him is personal. It is a loving one – such love that can’t be explained with words. It is a joyful one – joy unspeakable and full of glory (2 Peter 1:8).

Other religions tell you to do it this way or incur the wrath of God. There is no joy, no peace, no love; just mechanical followership. With theirs, one is always looking back, front, from side to side to see if he/she has done anything wrong. We Christians don’t serve an angry God. We worship a loving God, and “Hallelujah Anyhow that pleases God” is very much allowed (2 Corinthians 3:17). We can live sinless lives through Jesus. There is a power at work in us (Ephesians 3:21) that makes us live above sin, and so we don’t have to look out to see if we’re being judged by our shadows. Alleluia!

Having clarified why Jesus can be our only Savior, let’s answer why Jesus had to come in the flesh and die.

I mean, why didn’t God just lift a wand and wipe off all our sins? Why couldn’t God just make a pronouncement of salvation upon the earth? Why wouldn’t God just make a decree and say anyone who believes on me is saved; that is, without Jesus’ sacrifice? Why is it that Judaism won’t lead man to God?

Watch out for the next edition for answers to these questions.

But before I go, let me fix the above sketch...