Significance of Jesus' Death.{Part One}

  Ref,Luke 22; 1-8.14-31.

The feast of the Unleavened Bread called Passover is approaching.Chief priests and the teachers of the law are loking for an opportunity to get rid of Jesus.Satan enters Judas Iscariot who is one of the twelve.Then Judas goes to the chief priests and officers of the temple gards and discusses how he might betrray Jesus.Jesus  is a teacher but now He engages the teachers of the Law.Ever since He begun His ministry he begun to expound the Mosaic law but evidently by this time he is about to be  handed over to the wicked men the teachers of the law have not yet understood what Jesus has been teaching all along so they want to get rid of Him so that they may continuoe with their teachings about the law.The Chief priests are also mad at Jesus because He is interfering with their priestly work in some way so they too dont want Jesus and His teachings any more.Satan joins the party of the chief priests .teachers of the law and Judas Ischariot in order to complete their wicked mission of getting rid of Jesus.Remember all along as Jesus is teaching,satan has been offeded too by the teaching and ministry of Jesus because as Jesus taugh,the sick are healed,the captives are set free,the lame walk,the deaf hear,and the blind see.In other words,Jesus is destrying the works of satan as He teaches and does ministry everywhere so Satan is also feed up with Jesus and he has found a team to work with,The teachers of the law,chief priests and Judas Ischariot.The wicked team schemes a plan and Judas Ishariot is the excecutor of the scheme.Immediately he begins to hunt for Jesus inorder to betry Him.

Then the day of the Unleavened bread comes on which Passover Llamb has to be sacrificed.Peter and John,who are among the inner circle of Jesu are sent to go and prepare for passover in the city.They concented quickly and went ahead and prepared the room where passover is to be taken.Jesus has been looking forward to this time to partake of the passover befoere He suffers.Passover is one of the main feasts which Israel was commaded to celebrate in a year and it is a yearly feast among the Jews.obviously jJesus has been celebrating passover before this one which He has been waiting for because it is the one before His suffering.

Then the hour Jesus has been waiting for comes and Jesus is reclining at the table.It is clear Jesus has been longing for this day.This paticular passover takes a new twist in the sence that a cup and bread is introduced.In the original Passover in Egypt the cup is not mentioned.The Unleavened bread gains a new meaning.Jesus is about to be offered as the sacrificial lamb.He is also becomming the Unleavened bread for He had no yeast in hiumself that is the yeast of malice.He is blameless and spotless.He is not beeng offered because of His own iniquity or sins.He is becomming the perfect subtitute for our fallen nature so as to have us reconciled back tio God.Meanwhile,a leadership issue arises as the disciples wonder who will lead the agenda of our master after He goes.He now want to know exactly who will be the greatest.Jesus takes that opportunity to teach a leson on greatness.He says the kings of the Getiles lord it over the people.Remember Jesus had said He has made the disciples kings and now He wants them to understand what it means to be a king together with Him.Jesus conferes to us a kingdom just as the father confered one on Him.In this kingdom ,we rule with him.Remember in this kingdom there are no subjects.Dr Myles Monroes,who was my teacher on Kingdom Dynamics,says man did not loose a religion when he fell in the garden of Eden.Man lost kingdom.Man is distined to rule!This is what Jesus is restoring.When you got saved you entered the kingdom of God and you begun to rule with Jesus.Remember you are not rulling your fellow saint.You are rulling creation.Husbands are not rulling their wifes neither are wives rulling their husbands.You are rulling to gether .In Christ,you all became rullers.In the kingdom of God there are no subjects and no Benefactors!For Kingdom,Power and Glory belong to God.

So,Jesus is beiing ofered so as to :Give us the kingdom.

                                                         Make us kings with Him.

                                                          Usher a new era,where the law is written in our hearts.

Jesus Christ, Surpasses All!

 

Ref;Colosians 1;15-23.(NIV).

Jesus Christ is;the image of the invisible God.This mean that if you see Jesus ,you have seen God the father.This is what Jesus told Nathaniel,you see me you have seen the father because the Father and the Son are one.Jesus is the firstborn over all the creation.And by Him all things were created.Things in heaven and things on earth.Visible and invisible.Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities.All things were crated by him and for him.He is before all things,and in him all things hold together.He is the head of the body,the church.He is the begining and the first born from among the dead,so that in every thing He might have the supremancy.God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in Him so as to reconcile to himself all things on earth or things in heaven by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Jesus is evidently the enbodiment of God th father and this makes it easy for each one of us to identify with the Father who is the source of all things.He has entrusted every thing to the Son,Jesus Christ who has been revealed for our sake.Through Jesus,we are able to know the true God,the created things and even ourselves.We understand ourselves beter rather,we descover ourselves better when we know Jesus better.We therefore gain victory over self,sin and satan ,just as Jesus over came,for He is the perfect man whom God sent to overcome what the first man failled to overcome.As He is so we are in this world.No wonder Paul the apostle calls us more than conquerors. Now,how do you see Jesus?Who is He to you?

Jesus,The True Vine.

 (John;15;1-17)

The word of God more often than not uses trees to plainly explain spiritual truth to us. Trees are naturally impressed in our natural mind which is closely related to our souls because when God created man, He put him in the garden of Eden full of trees, consequently, man does not struggle to relate to trees. Therefore Jesus chooses to use the vine to illustrate His relation to us in a natural way so as to leave a lasting impression in our hearts. He begins by making it very clear in a bold statement that He is the true vine. This opens our minds to another side of the statement that there is a false vine for Him to be the true vine. For now, we will not focus on the false vine our interest now is in the true vine. As the true vine, He qualifies us to be true branches as long as we are connected to Him. The only sign that we are connected to Him is our fruitfulness. This connection is facilitated by our love for Him. If we love Him we will obey what He commands. The only way to express our love for Him is to obey Him. Our obedience to Him will cultivate the right relationship with Him and it is this relationship that welds us to Him. Simply stated, this relationship grafts us to Him and consequently, we become part of Him in form of branches. It is the branches that bear the fruit. It is Him who produces the fruit while we remain united to Him we only bear the fruit! It does not take your effort. It takes His effort. We only bear the fruit after He has produced it. The production of fruit through us by Him is made possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Paul the apostle speaking to the church in Galatia gives a list of the fruit of the spirit. He singularizes the fruit and gives a list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, it is amazing. Even Jesus singularizes fruit-bearing and says remaining in Him will make us bear fruit. This means the fruit is one. For example, an orange tree bears oranges. This means every orange in an orange tree is an orange! It is not oranges! Each fruit we bear is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, it is not  fruits of the Holy Spirit because Holy Spirit is one. He bears one fruit. The fruit we bear when we remain connected to Jesus will be a manifestation of the very life and nature of Jesus himself. Since Jesus is one, it will be one fruit of the person and nature of Jesus revealed in us and through us. Jesus does not change. He is the same yesterday today and for evermore, so our fruit will remain. It will weather the storm of any spiritual climate. It will affect more people and become more fruit which will, in turn, affect many people and become much fruit! Fruitful trees attract people, so as people are attracted to you, show them more of Jesus in you and let them enjoy more and more fruit. Have a fruitful life in Jesus' Name. 

Jesus,The Great I AM!

Exodus,3.13 -16.{NIV} 

Moses is running away from his people, the Israelites, because as a man, he had seen the suffering of his people and tried to deliver them from the Egyptian bondage by the arm of flesh. This led to a serious problem as the very people he tried to deliver rose against him and to deliver him self from their anger, Moses ran to Median plains and decides to keep himself busy with sheep keeping. In the spiritual realm, God develops interest in Moses probably, because He sees the desire to end Egyptian captivity for the Israelites. While Moses is still busy keeping sheep in the backside of the desert, God decides to reveal Himself to Moses. First God captures the attention of Moses through the burning bush which was not being consumed. Please note that burning bushed in the desert is not a new phenomena because due to intense heat of the desert, occasionally fire breaks out in bushes. However, in the case of the bush that captured the attention of Moses, the bush was not being consumed like in the case of other bush fires. When Moses drew near to see what storage sight was this, a bush burning and is not consumed, God decides to speak from among the burning bush. God introduces Himself to Moses in a way he could understand and tells him that He is the God of Abraham, Isaack and Jacob. In other words, He is not a new and strange God who has come to replace the God of his fore fathers. Moses demands to know more about this God of his father for whom he tried to fight and deliver His people from Egyptian bondage. Then God reveals to Moses the fact that, He is Who He is. In other words, He is the same. He does not change. He is the solution to every question. He is what He has been. Jesus much later when He was talking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, He tells them, before Abraham was, He was. And that He is who He Is. That is Jesus is The I AM. It is Jesus who delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage .It is Jesus who commanded the nation of Israel to victory over the nations which rose against them. Jesus is the I AM. Who is Jesus to you today?

Jesus,The Power And Wisdom of God.

 

1Corinthians;1;18-24.(NIV)

Although God does not wish any to perish, when you look keenly in the scriptures, there seems there are those destined to perish. That is why the Bible talks about the son of perdition, those who are perishing, and so forth. The message of the cross is foolishness to the people of the kind mentioned above. However, to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. The message of the cross is; that Christ died, Christ was buried, and that on the third day he arose from the grave for the grave could not lay hold on Him. He arose! He has risen!Hallelujah!This is the summary of the message of the cross. Now the big question is; where is the scholar? where is the philosopher of this age? God has made the wisdom of this age foolishness. Now through the preaching of the power of God, the Gospel, God has saved those who believe. However, we have to be aware of the Jewish and Greek mindsets. The Jewish mindset demands a sign, and the Greek mindset demands wisdom. You don't have to be a Jew or Greek by birth to have this kind of mindset. There are those who say they will believe in Jesus if they see a miracle or if they see a sign. They put a condition before God so as to believe Him. Yet all that needs to be known about God has been made plain to all through the created things, His invisible qualities can be seen through the created things. (Romans;1;20)

Furthermore, others demand that the word of God measure up to their expectations, especially, there earthily wisdom. They want God to appeal to their senses before they can believe Him. This is foolishness in the sight of God. The message is very clear and is written in black and white; that Christ died on the cross, He was buried, on the third day He arose with great triumph, He appeared to about five hundred disciples, and He has also appeared to me! and He will come again on the last day at the shout of the archangel. (1 Corinthians 15;3-8)To those whom God has called, Christ is the Power of God. He is also the Wisdom of God.Who is Jesus to you today?

Jesus,The High Priest.

Hebrews;7;11-28;8;1-6.(NIV)

Perfection of which God requires in us cannot be achieved through the old Testament Levitical order.Levites in the Old Testament were drawn from the tribe of Levi.Due to continued failure of the priests in the Old Testament,it became necessary for God to institute a new order of priesthood,this time in the order of Melchizedek.When there is a change of priesthood,there has to be a change of Law.Our Lord ,Jesus is descended from te tribe of Judah and Moses did not say anything about priests from that tribe.Therefore,Jesus becomes a priest not by regulations but on the basis of indestructible life.Jesus is the High priest in the order of Melchizedek,who had no beginning or end,Melchizedek is mentioned twice in the old Testsment,Genesis;14;18,and Psalm;110;4.Evidently,Melchizedek was a gentile king who worshiped the true God.He was the King of Salem and also served as priest.In Jewish customs,a king was not supporsed to serve also as a priest.Jesus now in the order of Melkizedek,would serve in both offices and consequently,He would be superior to the priests of the Levitical order who were limited by short life span.Jesus holds the position of High Priest for ever,unchangeably.Unlike the leviticle priests who were not allowed to sit down while performing there duty,Jesus the High Priest in the new order has sat down at the right hand of the magesty in heaven.He serves in a sanctuary not man made.He has offered himself once and for all.He interceeds for us.He cares about our weakneses.He is merciful.He is the mediator of the new covenant.This covenant has better promises.He is your priest.Join Him today in His priestly work as He prays for you.You are His assignment today.He is working out every thing for your good as He seeks to fulfil the promises of the New covenant through you.

                

Jesus,The Seed of The Woman.

In this Photo;Background;Golgotha ,Jerusalem,Old City,where the Seed of the Woman was crucified.

Genesis;3;11-24.(NIV)

Let us flash back and join God in the begining and see what is happenning few days after God has created man in His own image and likeness.God has just finished creating everithing and everything is in perfect contition.Man,who has just been created in the image and likeness of God is putn to be the steward of all creation.He is given instructions on how to conduct himself in the Garden.Man disobeys his creator and goes ahead and eats the forbiden fruit from the tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil.In the Garden of Eden ,which ,if viewed from Eden is in the east of Eden,there are two important trees;the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,and the Tree of Life.Man had been given instruction not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.He had been give the right to eat from any tree in the Garden including the tree of Life,except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.However ,man has been preocupied by the forbiden tree,and consequently,the devil has used this preocupation to decieve man in desobeying the Lord God Almighty.When God discoveres about this deception,He comes looking for man in the Garden.I hear Him thurdering among the gloriously green and tall trees and asking ;whre are you Adam?God is persuing them lovingly with outstretched arms,but Adam full of guilt is getting deeper in the thicket running away from his loving creator.I hear the man answering back to the Lord God Almighty shiveringly, overwhelmed by guilt and saying;The woman you put here with me,is the problem,she has just given me some of the fruit from the tree ,and have already swallowed it,rather I have already eaten it.In  simple terms,Adam is telling his creator,he has already disobeyed him.God in love spares the man the curse but curses the serpent and the ground,however,man is to pay through hard labour and the woman through painful child bearing.Our God is a just God.He has given a fair virdict.He does not stop at that,He provides a solution to the problem man has created.God says there will be enemity between the seed of the woman and the Seed of the Serpent.The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent and the serpent will strike the heel of the seed of woman.This has occured on the cross when Jesus is crucified.The serpent is crushed his head.That is why Peter in his epistles says the devil is like a roariong lion looking for someone to devour.When we believe in Jesus,the seed of the woman,the devil is crused for our sake.Then Jesus ushers us to the Tree of life.To get to the Tree of Life one has to pass through The Tree of redemption.The tree of redenption nulifies the effect of the Tree of Kowledge of Good and Evil.