THE MESSAGE NOW
Vol. 4, No. 6 – Monday, 11th February, 2019
(Matt.2:1-18)
THE REASON FOR HEROD’S PURSUIT AFTER BETHLEHEM’S BABY IS THE SAME REASON FOR SATAN’S PURSUIT AFTER YOU
It is nothing short of an unpardonable misnomer for any Christian to think that it will happen differently to him or her from the way in which it happened to the Captain of our salvation (John.15:18, 16:33, 1 Peter 4:12). The reason it cannot happen differently is hinged on a twofold rationale. First, it is the same spirit in the dragon which pursued after the woman in Revelation chapter 12 that was equally operating in the life of king Herod. Sadly, it is the same spirit operating till now. Understand this: the dragon having failed to overtake and afterwards destroy the woman made a decision to go after the rest of her offspring meaning Christians like you and me (Rev.12:1-9, 13-17).
The second rationale is this: the Christian and any one of a different faith belong to separate kingdoms. Being of separate kingdoms has far reaching implications. One of which is that variant spirits control the two. Being variant spirits imports the continuity of contests and wars between the two varying spirits.
The deeper implication is that the Christian and the opposite one’s faith operates on separate ideologies and are to fulfil separate agenda with one saddled with the responsibility of upstaging the other. How? I explain this further later in this edition.
In the meantime, there remains a question recurringly resonating. Is it not mind-blowing that a whole king of an entire nation was so mentally deranged and so morally derailed in and from all right senses that his sole assignment for a period of time was nothing else but to pursue after a harmless Baby born in a manger?
Was that Baby a political king willing to upturn his government? NO!!! Was this Baby a special King of some sort who had arrived with a mission to alter world order and establish an unprecedented government, thereby returning humanity to God and to the prevalence of common good to all? Undoubtedly YES!!!
For indeed, this was one of the purposes for His birth. For is it not written that: ‘and the government shall be upon His shoulders?’ Was it not equally written that: ‘of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgement and justice from that time forward, even forever?’…… (Is.9:6-7).
For the Jews (and indeed for Herod who was a Roman impostor) during that era of Christ’s earthly ministry, conceiving Christ as a King who had come to rescue the innocent Jews from the iron-grip of the Romans and One who had come to alter the world order as a political figure was not just a common expectation, it was a common expression born out of common belief (Matt.2:1-2, Jn.6:15).
Let us be very clear: Christ was not a political figure. He was certainly more than any one of that sort. Though not a political figure, He had a universal mission to alter the status quo and institute a different ideology. Common or intuitive knowledge will not challenge the fact that the process of transformation—the process of altering an existing system or ideology for the introduction of another system or ideology of novelty requires a different principle.
Oftentimes, an attempt to establish a different and clearly defined principle can be very tortuous and tumultuous. Tortuous and tumultuous because human nature and its consonant impulses strive very hard at adaptation. And adaptation is the password of any change with the goal of eventful success.
The world system at the time Christ was born was an ideological mix of oligarchy and capitalism. The authority dictates to the subjects. Proletariats were the ‘toy’ of the bourgeoisies.
In short, it was a system favourable to the rich, and slaves and the poor generally were only allowed to live and exist because of the reason of servitude. In fact, the food allowed for slaves to eat was not supposed to nourish them and cause them to flourish in body composition and aesthetical looks, it was merely for the reason of keeping them alive to work, work and work.
That global order could not be described in no better language at the time but one that was outrageously illtreative and chaotic. It was in this human uprising of despair, spasmodic, and without conscionable mercy that Christ emerged with a new ideology.
Ordinarily, systemic arrangement of the global order at the time prior to Christ’s emergence was a complex one. But Christ, not only simplified His own systemic arrangement, His ideological principle was not by any means strenuous to adapt to, it was equally unasymmetric to follow.
Instead of asymmetric imbalance promoted, permitted and allowed to permeate and pervade by the bourgeosies and the world system at the time, Christ simply struck a perfectly fair balance between the rich and the poor, the proletariats and the bourgeoisies, the authorities of the day and the subjects offering obeisance to them.
His ideology was simple, founded on a twofold principle: ‘…love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’ and ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’ (Matt.22:36-40). Ideological principles do not often exist as stand-alone. Usually, global systems augment their self-centred ideological system known as ‘order’ by establishing institutions to monitor, ensure and enforce submission. No where in human history are such institutions founded without some form of law, force and coercion. Law, force and coercion exist for the purpose of furthering global order agenda.
In fact, in more modern era, because of the reason of unconscionable sensitivity, the bar set at Westphalia in granting the doctrinal principles of non-intervention and legal equality to independence of states to states in 1648, altogether culminating into what is now known as national sovereignty, has, in more contemporary times been cynically breached by international laws all for the purpose of strengthening interests and galvanizing national leaders, territorial politicians and the powerful rich into one high class and the rest of the world in another of a defined variance.
Oh! now I remember Thrasymaccus. It was that noble man Thrasymaccus who enlightened me with his definition of law and justice in Plato’s Republic when he defined the subject as the law or the justice form set up in order to establish an advantage or fulfill the interests of the stronger. The human institution of the world global order understands that financial empowerment is key to control and governance. For is it not true that one who has six shillings under his control is lord over him who has none?
But Christ Lordship rather instituted an institution of love, equality of all men and the art and the act of seeing the next man through one’s personal pains. This means that the church as the institution founded by Christ (Matt.16:18) was so founded to teach, practice and oversee love in perfect display first by itself and of course by its constituent members.
But where is that institution, the church standing today? Are the constituent members of the church standing in the two doctrines upon which the church was instituted by Christ its founder? Is the church and its leadership not now the world exercising world global order and agenda? (TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK).
Question and Answer Section:
Question: Who put the understanding of the Scriptures into proper perspective to Appollos?
Answer: Aquila and Priscilla.
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ALTAR CALL:
Backslidden – living in sin – needing fresh recommitment (say):
Christ Jesus, You are the Anointed One of the Most High. I come to you today as I am. In your mercy, help me out of my situation. Heal my soul, my spirit, my body, my life and my destiny. I acknowledge you as the only true lover of my soul. Please, deliver me on every side and save me through and through. I promise from the depth of my soul to be yours from henceforth, in Jesus name. Help me now O God. Be my Lord, my Saviour and my all in all from this day. Thank you Lord (read Ps.54 in closing and pray more).
HYMN: Just As I Am Without One Plea
PRAY NOW:
1. Christ Jesus, I ask for fresh renewal to my soul today, be the King over my life and let me truly be yours in deed and in truth.
2. O style and practice of the world filtered into my soul, be flushed out by the blood of Jesus.
3. O God, empty me of self and all inordinate passions of the world.
I shall not serve but control money and I shall serve God and humanity with it.
4. (Proverbs.23:5), O spirit called money, develop wings, fly to me and sojourn with me.
5. O God, rid the Body of Christ off all the fashions and patterns of the world and make us become like Christ.
6. O God, give succour to all Christians in every part of the globe where affliction is the order of the day because of the profession of their faith.
If you don’t vote for a Christian, the unbeliever will win and rule over you. Therefore, please vote for TIMI EMMANUEL OLORUNSAYE OF THE ADC PARTY FOR FEDERAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – IFAKO-IJAYE CONSTITUENCY. He is the husband of one of our sisters.
