THE VICARIOUS HUMANITY OF JESUS

Below is a link to a great video by the good people at Grace Communion International. It is an interview with Dr. John Mckenna. I must say that GCI  has the most expansive material on the Theology of the Trinity that I know; Videos, Articles and other kinds of media. You can check them out at this link http://www.gci.org/.

The video below is a wonderful discussion on the representative nature of Jesus Christ for all humanity. The effect and implications of his being a man on the Cosmos. It is lovely. You can either download the video or audio or stream it

 Just click the link below and enjoy


The Vicarious Humanity of Christ

ROMANIA AND OTHER THINGS

Hey there!! If you have been following this blog you’d notice that there has been a silence for quite a while now. Well, it was not intentional. Certain things had to be done and it involved lots of preparation so I was temporarily unable to sit down and write.

One of the things that needed my attention was my trip to Romania. My lovely sister graduated from Medical School in Bucharest so we all went to celebrate with her. I spent two weeks with her over there. Incidentally, she has also planted a Church in Romania and another fellowship too. They decided that since it was a holiday period for the students, they would hold a one-day conference. It was tagged “Justified”. Well, it was a wonderful meeting in a beautiful hotel. I was invited to be the guest minister and the Lord really moved in the hearts of people. We also had the chance to answer peoples’ questions after the message, which is a really good thing. Afterwards there was music and partying and as is with students all around the world, the party didn’t stop until the deejay shut down. All in all it was nice. 

my lovely sister Rolly

I also got the opportunity to preach in another Church on a Sunday where I shared the Gospel from the perspective of the value of man; I so much wish we had recorded that meeting. In addition to this, I got to meet and make friends with people who are also growing in grace and it was nice to be around people of other cultures. For pictures of the conference please follow this link to their facebook page, Justified and please like their page

It’s so wonderful that our God would create us in such a way that in Jesus we are all one and yet we will never lose our uniqueness, our spark, that factor in our personality that makes us different from everybody else. Of course this is very much in keeping with the nature of God himself i.e. Trinity; our one God is three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Each one of these persons is not the other but each one is God. And within the Trinity is perfect love, perfect harmony, perfect joy and perfect unity. They are ONE, yet they do not lose themselves in one another. It is a mystery; a divine logic beyond the realms of logic. Yet, that is what we see in humanity too, in Christ, he has made humanity to mirror their life and their logic

Let me just say that I'm really proud of my sister; Not only is she a Medical Doctor, she has also set up the foundations for the Gospel of Grace to spread in her own world. That is commendable. I'm also proud of all those who have joined her in this work and most of all I'm happy to have made friends with them, beyond ministry you are my friends and I know we will have a swell time on this journey together.

Till next time, may the Grace of our Lord be with you

THE LORD WHO LOVES US

“Have you noticed that even though you call me ‘Lord’ and ‘King’; I have never really acted in that capacity with you? I’ve never taken control of your choices or forced you to do anything, even when what you were about to do was destructive or hurtful to yourself and others”…

-Jesus in “The Shack” by WM. Paul Young

I am continuing on my thoughts on the Lordship of Jesus from my last post. I love Paul Young, he expresses in one Novel volumes of theological thinking in a way that is understandable and that hits the main point of the Gospel home i.e. God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit loves you. And in the passage from his book that I quoted above, he drove home one simple fact; Love does not force its way.

Like I said in my last post, Jesus is Lord over everything and everyone. That is the Gospel we proclaim; the arrival of a new Emperor who has all authority and power in his hands. The good news about it is that this Emperor is on our side. He loves us deeply and dearly and wants us to partake of everything he’s got! Unlike the emperors and Kingdoms of this world who go about imposing their will on their subjects and forcing everyone in their path to either bow or be beheaded, this King decides to pick ragtag men from unlikely places (The Apostles, lowly Gentiles) and sends them into the ends of the Earth with one message; Jesus is Lord and he wants you to reign with him.

For approximately Two Thousand and Twelve years he has watched his brothers shun him, denounce him, kill his emissaries and followers and make a mess of the World he created. Yet he does not act in force, he does not destroy nations, he does not punish them, neither does he engage in a great act of wonder to make himself known to the World and to force his will to be done on Earth. He does not turn us into robots that obey his every word without questioning it.

Why is he like that? Because he is Love, and Love is patient and it is not self serving. He does not force his way because Love does not operate that way. So even though he is Lord of all things (and whether we like it or not, that is who he is), he will never ‘Lord it over us’. He will speak his mind and give instructions but if you choose to disobey, He will always respect your choice and the consequence of your actions. When you repent of your choice and turn to him for deliverance, he will deliver you instantly because he is bigger than your mistakes and he loves you. He will never bring that mistake to remembrance between the two of you because Love keeps no records of wrongs. Even if you disobey again and start the cycle all over again, he will keep doing the same thing; advising, respecting and delivering until you are ready to move on and get healed.

This is why I believe in Hell, I don’t believe it is the place where Jesus punishes those that reject his Lordship and banishes them from his presence; I believe it is a place where people exile themselves in a futile bid to run away from his presence and rebel against him (in case you’re not aware, it is physically impossible for a place to exist where God is not present, everything is in God; specifically Jesus). Whether or not there will be any such people is left to be seen and I will not speculate on that issue by giving a general statement for or against it. I’d rather stay on the side of Christ and say whatever choice you make will be respected, whatever torment you suffer as a result of that choice is still your choice. But God will not stop loving you, chasing you and drawing you unto himself. He has made the way open for all men to engage in a relationship with him but a relationship is always a two way street, even for the Lord.

IT IS HIM WE PROCLAIM

I have no ambitions. Seriously, I don’t. It’s one of the things my wife keeps talking to me about. I believe the Lord orchestrated my life to be this way. Growing up I never was one of those folks that wanted to have a large, complex life. I’ve always preferred to live simply and enjoy myself and my family. I never dreamt of being a billionaire business magnate with my hands in so many pies that all I have time for is the business. I just wanted to always have enough to give my family the best and keep my children grounded; respectful and loving towards others (eat your heart prosperity preachers)

Of course this way of thinking has shifted slightly as an adult. I don’t mind being a billionaire any longer, if it will afford me the chance of living my simple life and taking care of others. Plus, there are so many things I could do with those resources now in ministry and personally. But my point is that I have never had grand dreams, visions and goals for any of my business ventures. I just do them because I either have the skill to do it or I love doing it. Sometimes I try to create some great goal for my Law Practice; what do I want to do? How big do I want it to be? More often than not I draw a big blank.

Even in ministry, when I realized that I was called and gifted to preach the Gospel and plant Churches. I adopted the dreams and visions of most people ahead of me. I adopted their ideas of success in ministry and had these grand dreams of creating my own vast empire. I later realized that this was not what I wanted; it was just my attempt at trying to fit in with the crowd and not be myself in the midst of all the bandwagon riding. After reaching that point in my life where I abandoned all ambitions, goals, and fantasies of building my own empire, the Lord began to show me HIS purpose, HIS goal and HIS ambition. It is to build a temple where he can dwell in through Christ, to raise us up to be the Bride fitting for Christ and to make us a perfectly functioning body of Christ(an extension of his physical body everywhere) and to be his Sons in Holy Spirit and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Subsequently, he began to show me that every minister should have no aspirations of his own, because we were not made ministers by ourselves. He chose us and sent us to play our part in the fulfillment of his grand purpose. I came to realize that it was not my job to build things or make it grow, but to plant and water the seeds that I have been given by God (1 Cor. 3:5-9). My part is to proclaim to the world that a new emperor has emerged; Jesus our Lord and God. He is the supreme super power and the one for whom, through whom and in whom everything exists and as many as accept that and make use of his Lordship in their lives are given the right to be Sons of God. To reject Jesus is to reject truth and ultimate reality. It is to confine oneself to Hell.

This is why all Kingdoms eventually fall, all empires eventually fail and all superpowers eventually crumble, but Jesus lives forever and he reigns forever. Because they are all lies and only Jesus is true

I am the way, the truth and the Life… (John 14:6)

Of course when I say ministers should have no aspirations I am in no way saying they can't imagine or want their ministry flourishing. If God calls you to be a minister in any capacity, or he gives you a dream or business idea. It can be as far reaching as possible within the zone of the Grace he has given you. Our God is a BIG God. My point is whatever dreams one has , it should be in line with God's grand purpose and the Lordship of Jesus

We will be exploring this fact in the next few posts on this blog. What are the implications of Jesus' Lordship and how does he exercise it? It's going to be fun!!! 

Peace be with you

WHEN WORDS STING

There are times in every relationship where words get spoken by the other party that sting or stick to the memory of the person being spoken to. Whether or not such words were meant to inflict the sting is immaterial, the fact is the deed has been done. The words have been spoken (sometimes foolishly).

I find such times to be very troubling; especially when it is my wife that has spoken such words. Sometimes men can just be oversensitive, we take certain things too far and regard every suggestion by our women as a bruise on our ego (Although i must admit women DO take words very seriously for the most part) anyway, people generally do not like being spoken to in a bad way. Words are very powerful and they have a way of affecting us very strongly, sometimes even more than physical assault. As a result, we find ourselves lashing out at the person; one way or another. Even when we say we won’t lash out and we repress it. The best solution is to talk to the person about it and let the cards fall where they may. The problem is that is easier said than done

In my case, I find it hard to say I’ve been hurt by words. I’m not a talkative person (which is why I know that it is only by the Grace of God that I preach) and I find myself repressing a lot of feelings. But repression will not stop us from ruminating on the words; turning them over; thinking of all the witty replies to the statement; all the flaws to the statement; all the reasons why what she said proves that she does not have my back…. This kind of thing can go on in my mind for the whole day!!! If unchecked, this kind of thinking can take root and become a very deep seated bitterness and resentment towards the person. You find yourself subconsciously seeking justice and unknowingly punishing the person for saying something they didn’t mean to be understood that way.

 If you are like me in this department, I have come to understand one simple fact- THE PERSON YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT IS COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS OF THE FACT THAT YOU’RE UPSET. They probably would have never in their wildest dreams imagined that those words would have had that effect on you. They most likely did not mean it that way. The other person is either lying next to you enjoying a good night sleep, or at work doing their own thing while you’re there philosophizing on a forgotten statement for hours. In addition, even if the words were made to hurt, the purpose has been accomplished by your allowing it to affect you that much. You have given the person the satisfaction of hurting you

We should also recognize that we are all broken in some way; even when we realize our identity and completeness in Christ, we have a lot of mind renewal to undergo. So we have two or three people who have issues of their own trying to live life together, surely stupid things will be said

The reason we hurt so much is because we have come to depend on this person for our happiness, so we don’t even love them because we love them anymore- we love them because we want them to love us back. However, to become dependent on a loved one makes it impossible for us to truly love that person. When we live our lives needing their approval, their respect and their love, we make it impossible to be honest with them and to be free to just love them.

The truth is, man was designed to be loved, approved and affirmed; we just weren’t designed to seek it from one another. God made us to live in His Love, His approval and His affirmation. Just like Jesus did. When he stepped out of the waters of baptism, he received the Holy Spirit and the words of his Father calling him “beloved” and the one in whom he was “well pleased”. On the strength of that statement, he went and conquered Satan. Beloved, God is saying the same to you too right now; He loves you, approves of you and sees you as pleasing. On the strength of that, we go out and love others. Like John said, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). That way, we can be honest with people around us and actually tell them when we were hurt and let the cards lie where they may. We will also be able to look beyond ourselves and see things from the other person’s point of view; most times the other party has a point. Then the healing can really begin

Now I am not undermining the pain of hurtful words, neither am i in anyway condoning abusive words in a relationship of any kind (if you're a victim of abuse please realize your freedom in God from the shackles of that abuser). This post is dealing mostly with just everyday stings of words and arguments that occur between two people who genuinely love each other and are working at having a healthy relationship 

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

HE LONGS FOR US III

Well, I am on my final lap, the final week, the end is near. My wife will be returning at the end of the week of writing this and everything will be back to normal again (thank God!!).

In preparation for her return I’ve set out to set the house in order, and to take care of myself too. I’ve cleaned, cooked, changed the sheets and fixed some things in the house. I’ve also shaved, cut my nails and so many other things. I’ve even done some things she would have had to force me to do if she were around and I was excited to do it too; all in preparation for her glorious return.

As I was engaging in one of these activities, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a very similar statement made by Peter

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and Godliness, while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?........... Therefore, dear friend, since you are waiting for these things, strive to be found at peace, without spot or blemish when you come into his presence…” 2 Peter 3:10-11;14(NET)

Just as I prepare for my wife’s return with much fanfare, so should we prepare for the return of our Lord, as I have kept the house and my body just because she’s coming back, we keep ourselves pure in anticipation for the Lord’s return. Not because this will in anyway affect our salvation; it is by God’s grace we have been saved through faith. It is because we love our Lord. If I do not do any of the things mentioned, she wouldn’t divorce me, she probably won’t be angry either. She’d just get it done after resting appropriately (including the ones she has to force me to do).  As a matter of fact, I’m quite certain that she will still notice some things I didn’t quite get right, didn’t do to her taste, or didn’t do at all and she’ll rectify it.  In the same way, when our Lord returns, he’s not going to start pointing out all the evil we have done and just keep us at arm’s length until we get our act together. Instead if there are still any defects in our characters and mind set, he will fix it. He will draw us near and make us new, he will bring us to understand how truly like him we are. One thing that I’m most assured of is the replacement of our bodies. We will all be given new bodies, just like his. Bodies that cannot die, that cannot be sick and that are not bound by time and space (1 Cor. 15: 50-54). We will be just as he is.

In the mean time we prepare for the Lord’s return, we know he will come back and we want to “stay in shape” for him. I find it disturbing that many believers around me seem uniformed of this return. While I do not take this as a sort of excuse for escapism, I think it is important we know these things. I think it’s important we realize that this single life we live is not all there is. It helps us to withstand persecution, to endure suffering for the truth and to remain upright in this increasingly evil world. It also helps us to pinpoint the source of our longing and nostalgia; we want to meet the Lord. When we come to truly believe he’s coming back, our posture will change. Even though we know Christ will still be engaged in some mind renewal when he arrives, we still live sanctified and sober lives. This admonition is strewn all over the epistles.

Lord Jesus, we wait with bated breath for your return, confidently expecting the replacement of our Mortal Bodies and the renewal of our minds to the realities of your Grace. Till then, lead us deeper into the truth of your sanctification and righteousness. Amen 

Grace be with you

HE LONGS FOR US II

Before we go to today's post, I must first offer my sincere apologies for the drought of posts recently, been busy. Please forgive me. Now that we are through with that, let's go to the post. I will be continuing my series on my wife's trip and the things i was taught through it. I wrote them during that time period, I just couldn't get to post them. As a result, I don't intend to change the tone and tense of the post:

In the last post, we explored how God had a plan to be in close fellowship with us forever and how we abandoned that fellowship to strike out on our own. We saw how God missed us and went to great length to get us back through his Son Jesus.

Like I said in my last post, the parable of me missing my wife illuminated the Gospel to me in two dimensions; first is before the Cross, which we have dealt with, second is after the cross which I intend to write about today. You might be wondering, since the Holy Spirit is in us and we are in him, and the fullness of the God head dwells in us through the Spirit, how can we say that God misses us again or he longs to see us again? Well, there are two sides to my post today: He wants to see us physically and we want to see him physically

There is a passage in Paul Young’s book “The Shack” where Mackenzie the protagonist of the Novel meets with the Trinity for the first time. As he is about to knock on the door, it is opened by Papa (the character representing the Father) who upon seeing him gives him the biggest bear hug, he is lifted from the ground and kissed all over the place. His defenses are melted immediately, this has never happened to him before and tears start streaming from his eyes. Ultimately this is something every heart longs for; to be hugged, accepted and welcome by God. We seek it from every other person, every thrill, every Job, every good deed we do in ministry, every stride we take, but the truth is that we are seeking that these things fill a hole only God can fill. And he is willing to fill it, if we let him. I believe our hearts are longing for that bear hug from Papa, or more accurately we are wrestling against it in our ignorance and seeking it from others. However, not only do I accept the Holy Spirit’s agency in giving me this hug, I can’t wait to see him physically. I can’t wait till he returns and transforms my mortal body to the resurrected form and to see him. To touch my Lord and to see him hug me with tears in his eyes and mine as he says “welcome home my brother”. It is not the physical appearance of Heavens that creates a longing in my heart any longer but the person of Jesus himself

In the same vein, I believe the same for God himself. He has made his home in us and he finds rest in our bodies. But we are still told that Jesus will return, that he will split the sky and call us up to where he is (1 Thess. 4:16-18). If he were satisfied with the present state of things between us, he wouldn’t do that. He wants to see us and feel us; to eat and drink with us (remember God has become a man in the person of our Lord Jesus). I believe even though the Holy Spirit gives him something more than a digital impression of his presence, he still longs to return to us and feel us with his physical hands, see us with his physical eyes and speak to us one on one. We are his bride and we take his breath away.

So we can pray like the early Church prayed Maranatha, come Lord Jesus come