THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 7

VICTORY ON EVERY SIDE BY THE REASON OF THE CROSS

If you think you don’t have any cause to glorify God because of what you might be going through, always remember the victory he gave to you by the reason of what did on the cross some thousands of years ago.

The greatest love ever was shown on the cross when Jesus Christ died on the cross.

This is how you know – God created man and gave man the kingdom of this earth to rule. Man then gave that kingdom to Satan and became evil. Man realized his error and seeks to return to God. God through the angels gave man the requirements; man could meet it. Man was helpless. Then God seek that just one man should stand in the gap for everyone, just one man to fulfill the requirements and then the deal will be settled. None was found. There was none worthy and without sin. Everyone who tried failed a million times. So God introduced his eternal plan. God then took the body of one Jesus of Nazareth, came in the flesh as man and offered himself for the sins of all men.  God sacrificed himself in place of man. God became man that man may become God. The righteous one became the sinner for sinners to become righteous.

Did you see love? What man could not accomplish, God accomplished it for man. He finished all, leaving none unsettled. Your salvation is finished eternally!

Believers are supposed to now live form this realm of the finished works everyday of their life. This is because the works were finished all for their benefit. A believer is supposed to rest; there are no more works to do. Jesus has finished all the works!

This is what Paul the apostle preached throughout his entire life and ministry and this is what the early church was built upon. This is what we ought to also preach today; instead we have denominations here and there all practicing a lifestyle in the reverse direction from the cross.

See what Paul said to the Corinthians “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect”

 It is very bad that the reverse is the case today for our preachers. No one wants to preach the gospel again; it is too cheap to them. Some are after “rhema” and “revelations” that has no edification, no value and no profit to the growth of the believer. Some however are after their pockets and belly. Some are after fame. What a shame! There is no greater message than the message of the cross! It is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe! In it is the mystery of God revealed.

Now we have been victorious through Christ by the reason of his finished works in certain areas and this is what I want us to bind to our hearts forever. This is the victory that we have as a believer. 

These are our gifts and rewards for our faith in the Son of God and in the finished works.

1.       SALVATION: Those who believe in the finished works of the cross are saved eternally. This is because salvation is received by faith in Christ ONLY, and not achieved by works. The evidence of your salvation is the eternal life you receive immediately you believed the gospel. By the reason of “eternal” life, you are “eternally” saved! You will never perish. He that finished it will keep you forever.

2.       FORGIVENESS OF SINS: Those who believe in the death of Jesus as the sacrifice for their sins have been forgiven eternally. The sacrifice was offered once and for all. There is no more punishment for sins for any believer. The believer is not under any condemnation at all. Jesus Christ has been judged and condemned for your sins. The day you became born again by your faith in the finished works, you immediately partake in the substitutionary work - His righteousness was substituted for your sins. It is finished! You are not guilty of your sins. God will not punish you again; he already punished Jesus Christ for you!

And if by any reason you still struggle or stumble, the blood of Christ is alive forever speaking for you every second, every minute. So relax, and enjoy the victory of Jesus for you! What a reckless love God has for us!

3.       REDEMPTION: Those who believe in the finished works of the cross have been redeemed. To be redeemed means to be bought back. This is because man was sold out to sin, death and Satan before and has now been bought back. Bought with money? No! No amount of money can buy an entire human race. Man was bought back by the blood of Christ; this is the greatest currency in all of eternity! You have been redeemed back to God. You are no longer Satan’s property! Amen!

4.       RECONCILIATION: Those who believe in the finished works have also been reconciled back to God. This is because Adam’s sin produced enmity between God and Humanity. God couldn’t relate with man anymore because a holy God cannot relate with sinners. There was a misunderstanding, a breach of communication, a fight between God and man. But the man Christ Jesus was a man who was also God. So he has reconciled man back to God! Halleluiah!  This is wonderful! Glory be to God!

5.       DEAD TO SIN AND ALIVE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS: No more sin for the believer! Those who are saved have crucified their old man with Jesus Christ on the cross. They do not have the sinful nature again in them. Sin is crucified in Christ on the cross. Sin is dead to the believer! No believer can commit sin. This is what John 3 is talking about. The believer is a saint, no saint can commit sin. A sinner is not a believer; a believer is not a sinner. This is the victory we have by the reason of the cross. We are dead to sin and alive in Christ! We are victorious! Halleluyah!

6.       BLESSINGS AND GIFTS: Stop praying a backward prayer from the cross. By the reason of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been blessed with “all” spiritual blessings – anointing, power, gifts etc. we only need faith to release them from the spirit to the physical. All have been made available. There is no need for unnecessary prayers we are making today.

7.       VICTORY OVER SATAN AND THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS: When Jesus died, he raised us up in him above powers and principalities. This is because he defeated Satan and his demons flawlessly by bringing them to open shame. This victory became our victory too, when we believed in him. All what he did was accounted to us too. We have now been made joint-heirs with him and raised above these kingdoms and thrones. Even angels are now at our command. We are now back to our original position before the fall of Adam. Glory be unto God.

So stop living in fear. Believers are not supposed to fear the kingdom of darkness or anything. We are greater and more powerful by the reason of our attachment with Christ! The same power that conquered the grave for Christ lives in us!

We have victory over sin! We have victory over death! We have victory over Satan!

Victory on every side by the reason of the Cross of Christ!

Glory be unto God!

I leave you with some victorious verses of the bible that will keep the fire burning in your spirit forever!

Rest in the finished works eternally!

Amen.

Philip Oklu,

Whatsapp: +234(0)8137579913

1 John 4:4 New International Version (NIV)

 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Romans 5 New International Version (NIV)

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

1 John 3:5 New International Version (NIV)

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

1 John 2:1 New International Version (NIV)

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

1 Peter 1:3 New International Version (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Colossians 1:21-22 New International Version (NIV)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your mindsbecause of^[a] your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

 

Ephesians 1:3 New International Version (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Colossians 2:13-15 New International Version (NIV)

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[a] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

 

THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 6

THE FINISHED WORKS

Hebrew 4:3…”for we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said … although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

The lesson on this topic from 1 to 5 has revealed clearly to us the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and some of its implications on us plus the fact that the death of Christ on the Cross was part of the eternal counsel of God in bringing men unto himself – in forming a family for himself according to this pleasure.

The whole life of Jesus Christ was dedicated to this course… he told Pilate “to this end was I born ...”

See what he said here….

John 4:34 “Jesus said unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to FINISH HIS WORK”

Now, what work was Jesus referring to as his meat, and what work must he finish? For him to call the work “his meat”, then it must be something that means life to him, something that he tries to accomplish every blessed day. And he strongly posits to these disciples that he must finish that work, for him to be talking about finishing the work, it means he has started doing the work as at the time he was speaking. Now let’s get this clearer …

John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work”.

Again, we see how that the work that Christ must finish is the work that his Father has sent him to do. Good! So what is this work that his father sent him to do – which he equates with the essence of his life (his meat) and which he must finish during the day?

The “day” here is not the days of the week; it is actually a figure for the early stages of one’s life. Similarly, night is the late years of one’s life. So Jesus must be talking about a work that his father has sent him to do while he was young and fit for it. So what work is he then talking about?

Don’t be too quick to conclude that it is carpentry, I am sure you are not a comedian. It is not the carpentry work he learnt from Joseph. If the work were to be an assignment from his earthly father, then we could have been smart to say it is carpentry, but this is not physically at all.

Now one more verse….

John 17:1-5….the prayers of Jesus Christ to God before he went to the cross for crucifixion…

“These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom THOU HAVE SENT. I have glorified thee on earth: I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK WHICH THOU GAVEST ME TO DO”

Wonderful!

So the work that God sent Jesus Christ to do is to glorify him (God) on earth by giving eternal life to them that believe in him.  This then implies that, the works though Jesus claimed to have been finished here during his prayers were not actually finished until he died and resurrected. Since eternal was made available to all men after his death and resurrection.

Twice he uttered the statement that he has finished the work – here during his last prayer and there on the cross before his final breath. This is because he transited in these two stages.

When he was praying here, he had not been made SIN FOR US; it was his last time being a RIGHTEOUS MAN AND FULL OF THE HOLYGHOST. So he finished his earthly ministry in this place, he has been going about doing good as recorded in the book of Acts. He has been saving lives form death and sicknesses, healing all sorts of diseases, glorifying God everywhere he goes to, proclaiming the love of God and the Grace of God in hope of eternal life.

You would note that he mentioned that the goal of the work he was sent to do and to finish is to give eternal life (salvation) to people who believe.

So he was made sin and there on the cross he made the statement the second time - “It is Finished!”

This is after he had been made sin and has identified with the whole human race. He has been smitten, pierced, mocked, chastised, slapped, bruised for our transgressions, and has been taken like a sheep to the slaughter. He was at that time YOUR SIN; he was at that time MY SIN, and the SINS of the whole world. There he finished the works for our salvation and restoration back into the kingdom of God. Jesus finished it all! He left nothing unfinished!

Now finally, he went down to hell as your sin - yes a sinner must necessarily go to hell. He went down to hell so that you will not have to go down there again. He went down to hell because he has been judged a sinner on your behalf (your sin was exchanged for his righteousness). He went down to hell to conquer the powers of Hell and Satan for you! He finished it even to the realms beyond the physical.

He didn’t stop there!

He resurrected on the third day by the power of the Holy Ghost. Having defeated them in hell and secured a flawless victory over Satan and his demons on your behalf, he went up into the heavens, offered himself as both the High Priest and as the precious blood of sacrifice to atone for YOUR SINS. He was offered as the blameless and perfected sacrifice over there in the heavens on your behalf, declaring you not guilty anymore! You were justified by the reason of what he has done. You have been sanctified, redeemed and reconciled back to God by the reason of his finished works and beyond!

So he finished the work during his earthly ministry, during his suffering and death and during his death and resurrection. This is what I call THE FINISHED WORKS!

Jesus finished it all! Nothing is left for you to finish!

Those who are DOING ALL SORTS OF WORKS HERE AND THERE TODAY IN OTHER TO BE ACCEPTED BY GOD are mocking the finished works of Christ. They are openly saying that the death and crucifixion of Christ is not enough to save them. They are trying to add to the FINISHED WORKS. WHAT HAS BEEN FINISHED HAS BEEN FINISHED. TRYING TO ADD TO IT IS STUPIDITY!

You cannot add RELIGION, you cannot add MORALITY, you cannot add CUSTOMS AND PRINCIPLES, and you cannot add ANY WORK (whether holy or not) to it! Not even baptism or tithe or mode of dressing or anything! Your salvation has been finished by Jesus Christ by the reason of this death and resurrection!

Stop mocking God, o ye legalists!

Believers, rejoice! You have been perfected forever by the faith you had in the FINISHED WORKS OF THE CROSS!

Amen!

THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 5

YOUR SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, ETERNALLY!

This is where law-minded and religious people used to miss it. There seem to be an explosion in their indoctrinated minds when they hear us proclaim the wonderful love of the father and God of the universe as a reason of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That the death of Jesus Christ has FULLY PAID for the sins of the world and that everyone who believes in his finished work receives the benefits of the finished work of which one of the benefit is ETERNAL FORGIVENESS.

That God offered his son on the cross for the payment of our sins and that our sins are forgiven in him by the reason of his sacrifice not by the reason of our own confession of sins.

PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE SINS! NONE IS LEFT UNFORGIVEN!

The blood of Jesus was offered once for all eternity!

In the Old Testament, the high priest was the only one worthy to offer a sin sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the people. However, the first sacrifice he must make must strictly be for himself. He must first atone for the sins of himself before he begins to atone for the sins of the people. This made him an imperfect high priest. Imagine a sinner atoning for the sins of a sinner? So he must first be forgiven before he asks for the forgiveness of others.

Again, the high priest does the atonement using the blood of animals that are without blemish. The animal is sacrifice by the shedding of its blood. This is a typology of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

However in the case of Jesus Christ, the high Priest was Jesus, the lamb was also Jesus….ayayaya!

He is the High Priest as well as the lamb!

Our own High Priest needs not to first atone for his own sins before he offers sacrifice for his people. Our own High Priest is alive up till now, eternally in the holies of holies offered as an eternal sacrifice. Our own High Priest is the lamb who needs not to be offered yearly as do the Israelites under the Law of Moses. He has offered himself once and after that there is no more sacrifice of sins!

The whole sacrifice has been done! No other sacrifice needed to be done for anybody!

You didn’t get it?

You see, if you had existed before under the old covenant, whenever you commit any sin, you have to take an animal to the High Priest, who will then offer a sacrifice for your sins using the animal. If you commit another sin, you will have to take another animal to the high priest who will also make another sacrifice for you with the animal. This will continue like that like that….

But as per the forgiveness of sins under the dispensation of grace, there is no need for the sacrifice of any cattle or bull or whatever to any high priest.  Jesus Christ is our high priest and he is our sacrifice! He has offered himself for our sins! All our sins have been atoned for when he died on the cross!

He is now sited in the heavens having wiped away all our sins forever! None is left!

All, I mean ALL YOUR SINS have been forgiven in Christ!

You may say but that should just be some past sins, and some present sins, but not the future ones?

Okay, when did Jesus die? More than two thousand years ago right? Were you there? So if truly he has offered one sacrifice for all who believes in him and there is no other sacrifice, the sins you committed yesterday, was it a present sin to him then? No! The sins you committed yesterday, maybe past to you, but to him it is a future sin when he was crucified.

Maybe you didn’t get it! ...follow closely…

When Jesus Christ died for your sins, he died for your past, present and future sins. You were forgiven before you were born, what was just left for you to do is to accept the forgiveness of sins which you did upon salvation. Whosoever believes in him is forgiven eternally. No matter the magnitude or weight of sin he or she might have committed.

When Jesus Christ died, everyone alive today had not been born let alone to commit any sin. So the sins of this generation were a future sin to Jesus Christ as at the time he was been crucified. At that time, he was seen to be offering a sacrifice that will span all through eternity. So there is no past, present and future in him. He is the beginning and the end of all things. His sacrifice is eternal and nothing can change that.

Some persons are always offended when we say that a believer is forgiven eternally! But this is exactly the truth of God’s word and no one can change that. If you are born again, your sins have been paid for.

Your future sins inclusive! You are not going to pay for any sin again, all payment have been made on the cross. He became your sins, you have become his righteousness.

No more condemnation for you as a believer! Jesus became your condemnation!

No more guilt for you as a believer! You are justified in him!

Your sins are forever forgiven! There is no remembrance of your sins again! God has wiped them off eternally! Don’t ever harbor the thought that God will hold you responsible for any sin, it is a thought from the devil!

We have peace and rest in the finished works of the cross.

This is the main clause of the new covenant! The eternal forgiveness of sins! Salvation by Grace through faith!

You may say, but what if a believer commits sins in the future? My friend, the sacrifice of Jesus is once for all eternity. The sins any believer will commit in the future has been forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus before the believer was born at all. So it is all history to God, it is future to you. Also know this - For a believer, there is no more sin, a believer cannot sin. A believer is a saint. A believer is righteous and holy as God. A believer cannot be called a sinner anymore. This is because the believer has been identified with Christ’s death and resurrection and has been imputed with everything that is Christ’s. Peter calls us a Holy Nation, A Peculiar People. Never will a believer be regarded as a sinner again in this life! Never! The day a believer becomes a sinner, that is the day he or she falls away from the faith in Christ Jesus and then he is doomed forever.

But as long as the believer is a believer, he or she has been forgiven eternally. This is exactly what the bible says. Do not let anyone scare you with hell. A believer cannot go to hell. Sin to the believer is not the same to the unbeliever. Unbelievers can go to hell because they have not accepted the sacrifice and the finished works of the cross. A believer cannot go to hell, the keys of hell are now with Christ Jesus, those who believe in him will not perish, and they possess eternal life.

YOU CANNOT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND HAVE A TEMPORARY FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

Your sins are forgiven eternally in Christ Jesus, but in Christ Jesus only!

Whatever sins you commit as a believer are the motions of sins in your body as a result of the imperfections of the soul and body of man since the fall. The forgiveness of sins you received as a reason of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is evident in your spirit man. It needs time to be made manifest in your soul and body. So your soul and body are still prone to committing sins, and that is what we see all over the Churches today. The Holy Spirit is given to this end.

Your spirit man, which is the real you, have been saved and sealed with the Holy Ghost forever

You have been forgiven, not for some time but ETERNALLY!

Amen.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 4

THE BLOOD THAT REDEEMED US IS NOT LIQUID

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” Ephesians 1:7

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” Colossians 1:14

Sometime ago, I stumbled on a book about the gospel written by a notable Nigerian pastor and teacher. In it was the answer to a ancient question on redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ which I have been working on for a very longtime. What I have discovered form the book was not new to me though, but was a confirmation and the subject was more meaningful to me than before.

That the redemption of mankind came through the blood of Jesus Christ is known to almost every believer.

But it is important that we know the dynamics of how we were purchased by it.

See what Paul the apostle wrote to the Ephesians and Colossian churches, two matured churches during his time. He said we (believers) have redemption already and that this redemption came through the blood of Christ and the redemption was possible because the blood was the payment which was necessary for the forgiveness of sins.

The “blood” in the bible was used to designate the unity of mankind, human nature, the essence of life and atonement among all. The “blood” was also figuratively used for sin and guilt in some areas of the OT.

But the blood of Christ was described as innocent, precious, necessary, sufficient, final, cleansing and conquering. It is what was used to remit our sins.

Let’s get this clear: there is no blood greater than the blood of Jesus Christ.  

The blood of Jesus Christ is more than a liquid flow. The liquid flow of blood was just a symbol. The blood of Jesus is a spirit, it is Jesus himself.

Now follow closely, I have not said that the liquid red blood that gushed out of the body of Jesus during his crucifixion is not his blood, neither did I say that his blood cannot be seen. However, we need to know that since Christ is a spirit; his blood must necessarily be a spirit!

The man who spilled blood at different stages in before ending at Calvary is Jesus, the sinner. The blood that redeemed us all is the blood of Christ, the risen one.

God is a spirit, Christ (the word) is also a spirit, and then the blood of Jesus Christ which redeemed us all must be a spirit.

Ok see this scripture first…

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit OFFERED HIMSELF without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:14

Oh! So the blood of Christ offered himself? A liquid flow cannot offer “himself”, and the word “himself” is a word used for a person not for a substance.

This is because the blood like I said before is a symbol - the essence of life. The life of a man is in his blood. The blood of man can then be said to speak or perform an action. That was why the bible said the blood of Abel spoke, and that the blood of Christ speaks better than that of Abel.

What is it with the blood speaking of a thing and offering of “himself” used for the blood?

This is because the blood is actually the spirit and life of the person.

It was when Abel died that God said the blood of Abel cried unto him, the blood of Abel is the spirit of Abel. A liquid blood spilled cannot cry! A liquid blood cannot speak!

The same thing happened to Jesus Christ. His blood is a spirit, HE IS HIS BLOOD! Yes, Jesus Christ is the Blood that redeemed us. The word “shedding” was used in some verses that talks about redemption because it is the only verb that can describe the action of the blood.

Jesus is the blood. That is, the part of him that was offered on the altar of sacrifice is the blood. The part of him that was given to God forever as an evidence for our payment for the wages of sin is the blood.

The blood of Jesus Christ that redeemed you and I is Christ Jesus himself, who offered himself after his resurrection in the heavenly altar, and there he is forever. The writer of Hebrews said THE BLOOD SAT DOWN THERE FOREVER! Kayaaa!

The blood is not going anywhere! It is a one and a forever thing! The blood is alive! The blood speaks every minute, every second! The blood does not dry up! If it were to be a liquid blood, it would have dried up! If it had been a sinner’s blood, it wouldn’t have even had a mouth, let alone to speak!

The blood of Jesus Christ which was used to purchase our redemption is Jesus’ himself whom went into the heavens to offer himself on the altar. The whole event was recorded in the book of Hebrews.

Still in doubt? Let me clear your unbelief completely.

Ask yourself, which blood among the blood of Jesus spilled gave us redemption?

Was it the blood that was shed when he was beaten with the Roman whip?

Or the blood that was shed when he was crowned with thorns?

Or the blood that was shed when he was nailed in his hands and legs?

Or the blood that was shed when he was pierced on his body?

NONE OF THESE IS THE BLOOD THAT WAS OFFERED FOR THE SACRIFRICE OF OUR SINS! None!

Remember that as at those times, he had been made SIN! Jesus had become a sinner for us when he was shedding those liquid bloods. The spirit of God left him in the garden of Gethsemane, and he was made to drink the cup which was symbolic of the sins of the world. So Jesus Christ became a sinner in the Garden of Eden, there he lost the Holy Spirit. Remember how he said “My God, My God, why have thou forsaken me …?   He was forsaken means the Holy Spirit left him, there he became a sin for us.

So that blood he was shedding from the time he was lashed to the time he was pierced has nothing to do with the redemption of humanity.

The blood that matters, and that redeemed you and I is the blood that was offered – that sat down majestically on the altar in the heavens forever!

The blood of Jesus is the resurrected Jesus! He is the lamb! He is also the Blood!

That was why he cautioned Mary Magdalene that day not to touch him, because he has not yet ascended to the father! Why does he need to ascend? To offer himself as the sacrifice ONCE AND FOR EVER!

Oh so you thought, Jesus went there to tell stories of how the Jews mocked him or what?

Or you thought he was provided with a very big calabash where he carried some 10million litters of blood (since it is for the whole world, the blood must be very much)? And then he carried the calabash to offer in one t-junction in heaven? Is he an herbalist? Oh no sorry!

Jesus offered himself – he is the blood! No liquid substance was offered in heaven!

Amen?

God bless you!

Philip Oklu

+234(0)8137579913

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ALL YOUR SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, ETERNALLY.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 3

THE DEATH AND THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST

When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, what happened was a shift from the spirit faculty of man to the physical faculty of man. Adam sinned, and since the wages of sin is death. Adam must pay for it.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was a payment for the sin of Adam. Jesus Christ is referred to as the last Adam because he came to pay for the error of the first man, Adam.

In the first Adam, we all sinned against God. In the last Adam, we all paid for the sin.

All humanity was in Adam when he committed the sin. When Christ died on the cross too, the all humanity was also in him. We did not commit a sin before we became a sinner. Neither will anyone do any good before he becomes righteous.

He died that those who believe that he died for them should partake in his death, he resurrected also that those who believe in his resurrection and its purpose should also partake in the benefit of his resurrection.

Remember when Adam sinned, suddenly they discovered that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves for themselves to cover their nakedness.

But when God appeared unto them, God gave unto them an animal’s skin to replace the leaves they had first used.

The leaves they had first used represent religion. Religion is an attempt to cover the shame and imperfections of man but it is not sufficient. Imagine what it looks like, leaves us as clothes. What kind of wind can that stand? How long will the leaves last before they begin to tear?

The animal’s skin recommended by God to the first man represents the sacrifice of the lamb (i.e Jesus Christ) for the remissions of the sins of humanity.

Leaves came in as a result of man’s idea. Man started religion, God did not. Religion was mankind’s search for victory over the shame and deformations caused by sin

Religion is a means man had devised to serve God. God didn’t introduce religion to man. Man introduced religion to God.

Religion had existed before the laws of Moses. There had been various attempts by man to please God by obeying some sets of codes and rules which they seem best for the cause.

So prophetically, when Adam used religion to cover their nakedness, God introduced salvation by the sacrifice of a lamb.

This was the first prophetic sign of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world.

This is exactly what John the Baptist meant by saying “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…” John 1:29

And since man sinned against God, it requires man to pay for this sin and hence the death of a sinless man. The sacrifice requires a man who has no sin, in order for God to accept the sacrifice.

God would not accept a sinner as a sacrifice for sinners; a saint must be sacrificed for the sinners.

That Jesus Christ was the only qualified man is clear. He was the only man to walk the earth without sin.

He was born of a virgin and of God the Holy Spirit to qualify him for the blameless sacrifice.

Jesus Christ accomplished this for humanity. He was the sinless and blameless man who died as a sacrifice for all of us. Jesus did not come to start a religion; he came to sacrifice himself for humanity.

Paul said this same thing in 2 Cor 5…“…He who knew no sin, was made sin for us…that we might become the righteousness of God”

Some Jews have claimed that the death of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for sins does not meet the requirements of some of their laws. Whether true or not, it is now clear that the sacrifice of one man for the entire human race was a prophecy and a plan of God before the laws of Moses.

The sacrifice was the goal of God since the fall of man. Jesus Christ was born for this purpose.

He told Pilate “to this end was I born…”

Remember again, God prophesied the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent? Note that God said the seed of the woman not the seed of the man? This is because Jesus must be born solely by the woman and not by the intercourse between a man and a woman. This again is a prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ who will bruise the head of Satan at the cross.

Jesus is our sacrifice!

Jesus is our savior!

There is no more sacrifice for sins! See how the writer of Hebrews puts it “But this man, after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God” Heb 10:12

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is a ONE-TIME SACRIFICE and it has PAID FOR OUR SINS FOREVER! FOREVER means past, present and future! Hope you get?

We have received eternal forgiveness of sins by the reason of his sacrifice! One man Adam gave us condemnation, one man Jesus gave us Justification!

You were not a sinner because you sin; you were a sinner because of what Adam did. If that’s the case then if you believe, you are now a saint because of what Jesus Christ did. Halleluyah!

His sacrifice on the cross has justified you eternally! You are righteous by the reason of his sacrifice as your sin! He did this all for you! All for you!

Glory be to unto Jesus!

Philip Oklu

+234(0)8137579913

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REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD

THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 2

WHY JESUS MUST DIE?

It is expedient for us to know that Jesus Christ must die on the cross for the remission of sins, and that everyone who believes in his death for their sake, will be saved.

However, Jesus Christ must die in a particular pattern of death.

The death of Jesus could have come by a different means, but the way of the cross was chosen.

See how John wrote it …

“The Pilate said unto them, take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death: that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake SIGNIFYING WHAT DEATH HE SHOULD DIE” John 18:31-32

Though this mean that Jesus must die as a sinner, which must then be on the cross according to the judgment in those days.

Then we must first understand why the Jews choose to crucify him in the first place….

See what the Jews said to Pilate before he was crucified…

“The Jews answered him. We have a law, and by our law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God”. John 19:7

See again…

“Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people” John 18:14

Although according to the scriptures, Jesus Christ must die and must die a sinner’s death. But it was not stated specifically that he should die on the cross. He was to die in order to save his people from their sins.

That Jesus must die is sure, that he must die as a sinner is very important too, because that was his mission on earth – to save sinners to God by dying in their place. To this end, he was symbolically exchanged for a robber (righteous man died instead of the sinner man).

To die on the cross was then necessary, because he was condemned alongside thieves whose end judgment was also to die on the cross. The cross is the prescribed means of execution for Jesus’ crime.

i.                     Jesus must die according to the law of the Jews

ii.                   His body must not be destroyed since he will need it for his resurrection

iii.               The evidences of his death must be clear; everyone must see his dead body including the Jews who crucified him as a testimony unto them. The death and resurrection must not be behind the scene.

So Jesus Christ does not need to die by a car accident…

Neither does he need to die by slumping; he must die on the cross!

The cross was rendered figuratively in four different ways in the whole bible;

The cross was used “as a duty”…you remembered the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:38 “take up thy cross and follow me”

The cross is also a symbol of Christ’s sufferings, It is also the symbol for the Christian faith and also used as the symbol of reconciliation of mankind back to God.

Why must Jesus die? He must die person it is required that a sacrifice be made for the sin of humanity. He must die because the wages of sin is death. What happened on the cross is a New Testament type of the sacrifice offered by the Jews according to the laws of Moses for the remissions of sins.

The cross is a symbol of the altar (though we have an eternal altar not made with hands in the heavens), where Jesus (the Lamb) was offered for the eternal remission of sins of mankind.

Jesus was the lamb whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins.

So you must understand that Jesus Christ must need to die, and must die on the cross.

Though the cross he died upon was made of wood, and Jesus was not first and only person to die on it, but the cross of Christ as recorded in the epistles is far beyond the wooden cross. It is of great significance to the Christian faith.

There is nothing like the cross of Calvary. Calvary was just the location for the crucifixion. The cross has nothing to do with it.

It is actually best that we render it as “the cross of Christ” instead of the “cross of Calvary”. Calvary is not linked to its function at all; it is only the cross of Christ that can save. Just like every other physical thing involved in the redemption work, the cross of Christ is more spiritual than physical.

See how Paul puts it …

“For God sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest THE CROSS OF CHRIST should be made of none effect” 1 Cor 1:17

See again how he explained the same thing it in his epistle to the Galatians “but God forbid that I should glory, save in THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST…”

Jesus is the sacrifice for the sins of the world, and this is possible because of what happened at the cross.

He died on the cross, and not just anywhere because it is a pre-requisite for other things that must happen for the completion of the redemption work planned by God from the beginning.

Now, we shall begin to take one by one what happened at the cross many years ago and its implication to those who believe these things.

Amen!

THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 1

THE ETERNAL COUNSEL AS PER THE CROSS

Oh that the manifold wisdom of God the almighty has been made manifested to his sons in these last days. That he concealed many of these things from the prophets of Old and the angels was part of his eternal counsel. He made the heavens and the earth and every other thing for himself and for his own great and unsearchable pleasure.

He made the thrones and kingdoms; he made everything including Satan and his cohorts. He created all and all these things are working together in synchronous with this eternal counsel concluded before the world began.

The plan to save mankind was settled before time began; some persons have claimed that God did not plan redemption until Adam fell, which is not true according to the written word of God. He is Alpha and Omega; everything we see today is history to him.

He finished everything in the spiritual before he made them visible. You see, God is someone who establishes something in the spirit realm and then brings it to physical manifestation later. This is because he is a spirit and also because the spirit realm controls the physical realm. So what you see manifested today was first birthed and completed in the spirit realm.

This was what he did when he created man in the garden; he first made man spirit and then manifested the created man bodily later on. In the same vein, the plan of salvation and redemption of mankind back to himself through the death and resurrection Jesus Christ on the cross was first concluded in the spirit realm.

The Cross was the place where the eternal counsel of God which he made before the creation of the world was fulfilled.

The cross was where the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was offered for the eternal forgiveness of sins.

But we must however understand that though this happened more than two thousand years ago, somewhere in the country of Israel but it had already been concluded before time began.

That God wants a family for himself, knew that man would fall and that he would have to redeem mankind back through the Cross.

See it here how Paul puts it…

“Blessed be the God the my father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as HE HAS CHOSEN IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. HAVING PREDESTINATED US UNTO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BY JESUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF, ACCORDING TO THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS WILL. To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians 1:3-7

You see how that God chose us before the foundation of the world. But this will not be according to his love, if he did not do this through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ. So he did this by offering Christ on the cross to express his love and to adopt us as his children.

See again how Paul the apostle puts it to Titus …

“In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie PROMISED BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN ...”

So the promise of eternal life to those who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was promised before the world began. It wasn’t promised when Adam ate the fruit. It had been settled before Adam was created at all.

You see?

Although the eternal counsel of God concealed billions of years into eternity past was manifested within some three days and it brought many sons to their father.

This all happened at the cross!

And that is why we have a keen interest on this subject

What happened at the cross is one of the greatest benefits from God to mankind. God expressed his dimension of love to humanity on the cross.

The man Jesus Christ was God, he took upon himself the body of that man to die the death that mankind should die when there was none worthy.

This is love! That is why the bible repeated it several times that GOD IS LOVE! He is!

It is imperative that you understand everything that happened to you when you became a child of God. Because many things were made available on the cross for those who believe in Christ, and these things we shall closely look into in subsequent lessons

Too many fights and curses today in the name of prayer today, because we are ignorant of what happened to us by the reason of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross.

Understanding the cross of Christ is sufficient for your victory in life.

The cross is our glory!

Amen!

Philip Oklu

Whatsapp: +234(0)8137579913

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WHY JESUS MUST NECCESARILY DIE?