The mystery of covenants unveiled (part 3)

The covenant of man's salvation from sin and death is not made between man and God. Otherwise our salvation would always be subject to our unreliable fulfilment of its terms.

No, our salvation is governed by a covenant between Christ our Saviour and God the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The terms pertaining to Christ in this covenant have already been fulfilled. Christ's sojourn on earth and subsequent torture and death marked his fulfilment of the covenant.

Isn't this wonderful? This means nothing we do or don't do can terminate our salvation bought by Christ once we accept it through faith, and signify it through baptism!

It is now the turn of God the Eternal Judge to fulfill his own part of the covenant.

This means that we are removed from under the curse brought by Adam's sin. It also means our spirits are born anew into eternal life and will never again experience death though our physical bodies may wither and die.

The Bible says there is nothing impossible for God to do, but I can tell you a few things God CANNOT do.

1. God cannot go back on His word
2. God cannot lie
3. God cannot stop loving us.

Since we are therefore sure that our future is secure in the covenant between Christ and our Creator, we must be careful not to desecrate the sacred covenant of which we are partakers.

We bring curses on ourselves when we despise our birthright purchased for us through Christ,  in committing the abomination of entering into covenants with spiritual forces of evil.

The biggest lie the enemy tries to sell us is that acceptance of Christ could remand us to a life of poverty, ill health and ultimately unfulfilled dreams in our sojourn on earth.

An alarming percentage of Christians are not fulfilling their destiny as concerning a life of abundance because of their ignorance of the power of covenants!

Hosea 4:6 (NIV)
my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

To be continued

The mystery of covenants unveiled (part 2)

The rewards of a covenant bestow a blessing, while its breach bestows a curse. Also,  covenants can be be made such that, based on fulfilled conditions, certain benefits accrue perpetually.

This is why the Bible says, God (sic) ". . . keeps his covenant. . . to a thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Likewise, similar covenants are administered by the spiritual forces of evil.

The spiritual world (which is unseen) cannot be engaged physically by humans. This is where symbolism comes in. We demonstrate our spiritual statements through physical actions here. This is why God stipulated the killing of sheep and other animals to Moses In the books of the law.

The physical demonstration of sacrifice for sin by the slaughter of animals, confirmed the spiritual process of atonement for sin in the old testament.

We emphasized this in our article  on faith (read faith) that Christ's death on the cross (after a sinless life on earth) was a physical demonstration of his eternal sacrifice for sin pointing to atonement and redemption from the curse of mankind's fall through the sin of the first man, Adam.

Accepting Christ's sacrifice and atonement, removes us from under Adam's curse. Demonstrating it physically through baptism makes a spiritual statement that we have died and risen with Christ. (Everyone who has accepted Christ needs to undergo baptism by immersion immediately. I cannot emphasize how important this is).

Therefore, since covenants can be obtained from both God and the forces of evil, why should we choose God?

The Bible says of Jesus Christ in Ephesians 1:20b-22a (sic), "he is seated on the right of God in the heavenlies, far above principalities and powers, and above every name that is named, both in this world and the world to come, and hath set all things under his feet".

In other words the covenant of salvation which Christ negotiated on our behalf with God, transforming us from being mere creatures to being God's children, is superior to any covenant made with a lesser power.

Therefore, why make a covenant with an underling when you can make a covenant with the Most High?

To be continued

The mystery of covenants unveiled (part 1)

God is a God of covenants.

Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV) " Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments".

All over the Old testament He is making one covenant after the other.

He does not joke with his promises.

Psalm 138:2b (KJV)  "for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name"

The spiritual world, which controls the physical, is governed by covenants. This is why a lot of people today find it easy to meet diabolical entities represented by their agents such as dibias, native doctors,   white garment prophets, and even pastors. What happens is that these people are submitted into covenants with various powers which bestow them with various pecuniary gains such as wealth, health,  and other gains as well as negative projections to perceived enemies. 
If these acts did not bring results, there wouldn't be so many people partaking in them.

In the spiritual, there are both the forces of darkness, which have disowned God, and the heavenly armies of God.

Sadly most people have decided to channel the covenants that govern their lives through the former.

A covenant is a conditional contract. It means the two parties engaging in it have defined responsibilities to carry out. This is why in nollywood movies, usually, the dibia requests a painful sacrifice such as an offspring or spouse in return for wealth.
Continued

A man after God's heart

One of the earliest recorded coup d'etats in history took place in Israel during king David's reign. His son Absalom, assessing his father's gentle and God-fearing nature and labelling it weakness, had schemed his way into a position of immense influence in Israel.

He then consolidated this power and made a bold play for the throne.

David's reaction is curious. The mighty David who slew the giant Goliath, and had won countless deadly battles against more bloodthirsty foes, decided to flee.

He refused to take the Ark of the Covenant with him though, (even though the Ark was an unmistakable talisman of power, being the symbolic dwelling of God) and instead told the Levites who had carried the Ark in accompaniment with him to return it to Jerusalem.

He told them "if God wants me to remain king, he'll bring me back".

He was spat on stoned and abused, but he refused to be offended. He knew his power derived from God, and any misfortune he faced was authorized by Him. He focused on penitence for his sins and directed his frustrations solely to God. Many psalms were written by David during David's travails against his son and through it all David kept his heart pure towards God. He was wise enough to know that Nathan's prophesy against him was coming to pass.

In due course Absalom was killed (without David having a hand in it) and David was restored to the throne.

It is his reaction to various chastisements from God that proves David's timeless epithet as "a man after God's heart".

To whom much is given

You are unique!

All women and men aren't born equal. We each have different qualities, temperance, interests, talents, physical capabilities, etc. We are bestowed by our creator with different gifts,  experiences and passions. And in return we have different levels of expectation to satisfy. Therefore it is pointless to utilize the tool of comparison to assess ourselves.

Our trajectories through life follow wildly different paths and the lessons we learn too are different. Our purposes in life cannot therefore be the same given the various sets of circumstances we all pass through in our earthly sojourn.

What is your intrinsic value? What sets you apart from the crowd? Why are you in this specific place at this specific time? What unique gift do you bring to the world that no one else possesses?  Start to look inwards, ask your creator for help in finding it, and stop comparing yourself to others.

You are unique. There is none like you in all the earth! Start realizing your value and discovering your purpose today.

The prayer life of Gideon

Gideon was one of the special people mentioned in the "pantheon" of faith (Hebrews 11:32). He was described in Judges 6:12 as a "mighty man of valour" by an angel while he was timidly threshing wheat in a disused winepress. His people were being oppressed and their farm produce had been continually destroyed by the amalekites before it could be harvested. The people were reduced to residing in caves and dens and we're dying of hunger. Gideon probably gathered dry wheat stalks together from the fields at night to see what he could salvage from their malnourished heads. He then took them to his father's empty winepress (where the enemy wouldn't think was being used to process food) and threshed them there.
Gideon didn't scoff at the angel but rather asked how God could be behind such a defeated people. The angel pointed at him as the one who would rescue Israel from its oppression. Gideon in verifying the authority of his interlocutor asks for and is shown evidence of God's authority on the angel.
Below then follows the direct communication (prayer progression) of Gideon in his deliverance of Israel;

Gideon : Alas! I am doomed having seen God's angel.
God: Peace be unto you

Gideon builds altar and names it Jehovah shalom (God of Peace)

God: take your father's 2nd young  bullock, destroy baal's altar and Grove and offer sacrifice to Me

Gideon obeys at  night

The Spirit of God moves Gideon and he rouses Israel's warriors

Gideon: if you will truly give us victory, wet this fleece and leave surrounding ground dry

God complies

Gideon: just to be sure pls do opposite and wet surrounding ground while leaving fleece dry.

God complies

Gideon gathers troops together.

God: these troops are too many. Send back those that are scared.

Gideon obeys and 22,000 depart leaving only 10,000 against "uncountable" soldiers from the enemy.

God: the troops are still too many. Order them to drink from the nearby stream and watch them. Those who lap with faces to the water should be separated from those who drink with their hands. Send the former home

Gideon obeys. 9,700 warriors are sent home leaving 300 warriors to fight against an uncountable army.

God: I have given the enemy into your hand. You've already won. But if you're scared,  it's OK. Take phurah your servant and go down into the enemy camp and confirm what I've told you.

Gideon obeys and hears a dream interpreted of his victory against the enemy.

Emboldened, Gideon leads his 300men against the enemy and puts them to flight.

What we learn is that prayer is a conversation between us and God. It is 2 way. And it often involves displays of faith, even when obeying "worsens" our situation. Obeying God is faith. When we learn to trust God, our relationship with Him grows and he bolsters our faith in him through supernatural demonstrations.

Who lied?

Ever since I began reading the Bible, one of the earliest stories I was read to in various narratives as a child was the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of eden. Even as a grownup and reading the passage several times, the essential facts of the story haven't changed as I knew them.

After creating every living thing,  God created Adam and watched him name all the animals one by one. He then created Eve having confirming that Adam alone had no partner of all animals created. Adam was overjoyed and named his partner woman.

Before doing this though God, while placing Adam in eden, had permitted him to eat from all the trees in the garden. All the trees, that is, except one. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil (carnal knowledge). Adam was warned that eating from the tree of carnal knowledge would cause him to "surely die".

The serpent then deceived Eve and she ate the fruit and also gave Adam some to eat. The serpent had told Eve that they would become like God after eating the fruit, assuring them that they wouldn't die.

After eating the fruit though some points became obvious to me as a child.
The first was that they didn't drop down dead. So it seemed to me (though I never told anyone) that God had lied to Adam. Or perhaps he had been merciful by not allowing them both to die. So the serpent had been partly truthful it meant.
The second point was that they obviously didn't become like God. So the serpent had lied in his second assertion.

Therefore in my understanding at the time, both of the parties (God and the serpent) hadn't been 100% truthful. Recently though the Holy Spirit began to open a new chapter of understanding to me about the implications of Adam's (and subsequently mankind's) fall.

In Genesis 2:7a the Bible said God formed Adam from dust. At this time he was lifeless until the second part of that verse said God breathed life into him, and he became a living person. The life that was breathed into the man was his spirit. Job 33:4 alludes to the "breath of the almighty" being a man's spirit. Immediately God breathed into Adam, he came alive. At that time in the garden, the Bible let's us know they were both naked and they weren't even aware of it! In other words when they were alive (spiritually alive that is), their physical conditions had no effect on their wellbeing.

But something curious happens once they ate the fruit. For one they realize they are naked. And uncomfortable with this situation, they quickly rectify the 'problem' with leaves. Since they were alive and had neither knowledge they were naked nor it's implications before eating the fruit,  it must follow that their (spiritual) death is somehow signified by their awakening to their physical plight.

Small wonder the Bible says in Romans 8:6 (KJV) that "to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" . In switching from spiritual life to carnal awareness, Adam and Eve chose death over life. Thus God evicted them from eden and barred their access to the tree of life.

Galatians 5:16 " So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of your sinful nature". How do we then walk by the spirit?