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A creature of purpose part 2

In my last post on this topic, I discussed in detail what it means to be a ‘Creature of Purpose’ and emphasized that it is something you must DISCOVER (a time of seeking). Here are some tips to discovering your purpose: One, “ Whatever tugs at your heart in desire or as a burden may be what you are meant to change”. Sometimes God puts a great passion or burden or desire in our heart for a particular thing and every time we see that need we feel like meeting it. E.g. Mary Slessor was burdened about the way twins were slaughtered because it was believed that giving birth to twins was a taboo and she stood up against it even in the face of death. Today, she is remembered for this singular act.

Two, “Whatever unlocks compassion or creativity in you may be a clue”. Somebody who always feels compassion for the less privileged to a point where he develops ideas of what to do to help them might be called to reach out to this set of people.

Three, “Whatever gives you the highest fulfilment and satisfaction could be linked to your purpose”. Whatever you do that brings you delight and a deep sense of satisfaction, in spite of difficulties or challenges in the course of doing it may be a clue. Some people just find joy in taking care of people irrespective of the material benefit. Others enjoy advising, counselling people to bring solutions to their troubles, this could be another pointer to what your calling. However, one thing common to every man’s purpose is that it must bring glory to God and point men to Jesus.

After you have discovered your purpose, you must DEVELOP IT (A time of preparation). Nobody desires to be a medical doctor and will not enrol in a medical school to be trained! Mike Muddock says ‘the proof of desire is pursuit’. You must prepare for destiny, it does not just happen. Jesus prepared for a 3 and half years ministry for 30 years (Lk. 3:23); He refused to manifest before the appropriate time. Moses spent 40 years in the palace and another 40 years in the wilderness rearing cattle before he was ready to lead Israel. The beauty of gold or any precious stone is not evident until it is refined in the furnace of fire to melt away the dross; this is preparation! Upon discovery of what you are meant to do, research into it, read relevant books, listen to messages, and also submit yourself to tutelage. Remember, the deeper the root, the higher the shoot!

Watch out for the continuation of this topic in the shortly! 

Are you for real?

“This is all so confusing for me’ said Tito, ‘what do I do now? This course I failed in 100 level, just because of a Lecturer’s carelessness in marking my script, is going to make me graduate with a 2.2 rather than a 2.1. This is really unfair, and I am feeling so cheated!” “Oh, Tito stop!” snapped Chioma, “what is all this moaning about? I have advised you on what to do but you are too much of a chicken than to do it, so just stop complaining!” “What advice Chioma? To bribe people in the computer room to get my marks changed? No way! I can’t do that; my conscience will not allow me; you and I know it is wrong. I may get away with it now, but it may come back to haunt me later”. “That is if you are caught, but the chances are slim, those people are very discreet you know” responded Chioma. “Besides, I don’t see what is wrong about it, after all you were not supposed to have failed the course in the first place! So you are just taking back your right.” “No Chioma, I will rather God fights for me than defend myself, and if He doesn’t, so be it!”

Every passing day, as a young boy or girl, man or lady, you are faced with the challenge of deciding whether to take a stand for what is right or bend over ‘a little bit’. You are pressured on every side; by friends, school mates, work mates and sometimes, even ‘church’ mates, to shift ground, spice it up a little bit or compromise.

The conversation between Chioma and Tito brings to mind the experience of three young teenagers taken captive from their homeland and taken to another country. The king of their new country then made a statue and commanded everyone to bow down to it once a signal was given. To these teens, this was a strange practice that conflicted with the way they were brought up; they were not to bow dawn to any other being except God. However in this circumstance, it was a dilemma for them; they could choose to bow and avoid the wrath of the king, after all, they were not at home and nobody will know what they did except the three of them (and God); but they would have dishonoured God. On the other hand, they could refuse to bow and defend what they believe in their hearts to be right but risk being thrown in a hot oven and losing their lives as threatened by the King. It was a tough decision, but they chose not to bow damning the consequences! Amazing!

A popular celebrity once said 'Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not'.
The quality of being honest, consistently adhering to strict moral or ethical principles is called INTEGRITY. It is a state of being whole and undivided requiring a lifelong commitment to doing what is right even at the expense of convenience and immediate pleasure. It is about consistency between your words and your actions even when no one seems to be watching. It is developed over time through an internal resolve; like Daniel who ‘purposed’ in his heart not to defile himself. It is refusing to ‘bow’ even in the face of unpalatable consequences.

In my long interactions with young people, I have come to realize that many of the things they do are not what they really want to do. Left on their own, many teenagers and youths will do the right thing their consciences bid them do; however, in the face of negative peer pressure, the need to ‘belong’ and not be left out, the fear of being looked down upon etc. make them choose the wrong over the right. This is a challenge to you reading this article, are you for real?

As a Christian teen or youth, when you are faced with the temptation of taking something that does not belong to you when no one is watching, cheating during exams, engaging in sex outside marriage, visiting those pornographic sites when you are alone in your room with your phone or telling a lie to cover up your wrong-doing, the question is what do you do? Do you ‘bow’ or stand up for the right thing?

The truth is that every time we succumb to temptations, we betray God’s love for us and it is like stabbing Him in the heart. The devil rejoices for that but God is grieved and the Holy Spirit is hurt. The devil is happy because he knows that you will bear the consequence of your actions which is most of the time grievous. The devil is a two-timer; he lures you into sin and waits for you thereafter to mock you when you fall. Make up your mind not to give in to his tempting words when they come because the wages of sin is death. It is a true saying that those who ‘bow’ will burn! God, however does not want you to live a life of regrets.

I have come to know that those who choose to maintain their stand in the face of oppositions and threats come out victorious in the end. When you choose to fail rather than cheat; or carry over a course rather than give your body to a lecturer; or remain jobless rather than buy appointment letter, God always comes through for you in the end. Those three teenagers who refused to bow to the King’s statue were thrown into the hot fiery oven but the fire did not do them any harm, in fact, God was with them in the fire and the King saw this and was amazed. God vindicated them because they chose to honour Him in a strange land.

Are you in a boarding school, university, or NYSC camp? This could be likened to a strange land where your parents are not with you and maybe you close friends are now far away and nobody knows you. Temptations will come, the statues of the land will demand for your worship….the devil is waiting and God is watching. What will be your response? Will you bow? Or will you show God that you are for real? The choice is yours, don’t disappoint God. 

The Sacrifice of Jesus is the Finality of all Sacrifices

INTRODUCTION

God made man in His own image from the beginning of age, sinless and immortal, just like Himself and gave him dominion over every other creature He made. Man was placed in a beautiful garden where he was to live and fellowship with God right in His presence. However, sin came and not only was that glorious estate lost; man was stripped of his dominion and immortality and became alienated from God. He could no longer stand in the presence of God. (Gen. 2:7-3:24). ¹

                                                               With the fall of man came the need for redemption and this was not to be done without the shedding of blood. Nonetheless, God, because of His love for man at the same time made provision for the redemption of man through his seed (Gen. 3:15); this was however not to become a reality until many centuries later. In the interim, the ground for fellowship was to be sacrifices as documented in Leviticus 1-17.

This paper therefore seeks to analyse the provision that God made for man’s redemption from the foundations of the world and will attempt to compare the interim arrangement with the permanent solution for sin.

THE PROBLEM OF SIN

Hamartiology is the branch of theology that deals with the study of sin. It investigates how sin originated, how it affects the human race, the different types and degrees of sin, and the results of sin. For the purpose of this paper, sin is defined as as the breaking, or transgression, of God's law (1 John 3:4). It is also described as disobedience or rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7), as well as independence from God. The transliteration of the original Greek work ‘hamartanó’ means "to miss the mark" of God's holy standard of righteousness. ²

Sin originated from Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). It entered the world through Adam, the head or root of the human race, and so every man after him is born into a sinful state or fallen condition. ³

THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN

The problem of sin resulted in death as its consequence (Gen 2:17). Ezekiel 18:20a says ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die….’¹ The righteous judgement for sin is death (Rom. 6:23), death of the soul, which relates to alienation from God both in the present world and in eternity. ⁴ It is frequently observed by the Jewish doctors ⁵ that "there is no death without sin": sin is the cause of death, and death the fruit and effect of sin.

God took note of man’s helplessness in this condition and noted that all his imagination is only evil continually (Gen.6:5). Even though God is desirous of fellowship with man, it is impossible for a holy God to relate or fellowship with a sinful, depraved man. ‘Thou art of a purer eyes than to behold iniquity..’ (Hab. 1:13). ¹

THE TEMPORARY SOLUTION FOR SIN

The Pulpit Bible Commentary explains Hab. 1:13 and meaning ‘God's holiness cannot endure the sight of wickedness, nor his mercy the sight of man's misery’. This connotes that His mercy compelled Him to provide a way out of sin. 

In the Old Testament, God entered into a covenant with the Israelites after rescuing them from Egypt; He gave them the Decalogue, written with His own hand, as well as ceremonial laws about sanctification and holiness. He charged them to live by these laws; they were to guide their relationship with one another and Himself. The law was to provide objective standard for measuring sin; ⁷ for without the law, man could not be held responsible for his sin (Rom. 5:13).

He told them to build Him a sanctuary where He could dwell among them (Ex. 25:8) and this was built with three courts; the Outer Court, Inner Court and the Holiest of all. The Ark of the Covenant, which represents the presence of God, was to be placed in the Most Holy Place, the place of intercession where the atoning blood will presented and accepted separated from the rest by a veil. If anyone broke the law (committed sin), there were sacrifices that had to be made by a mediator, which involves sprinkling of blood, for the remission of such sins. (Lev. 17:11) The Israelites were therefore to approach the holy God on the basis of sacrifice and priestly mediation as a temporary measure for dealing with the problem of sin.

Various sacrifices or offerings were established to address the breaking of the law including the Sin Offering, for unintentional sin; and Trespass Offering for outright violation of the law. However, the Day of Atonement was at the center of the tabernacle system of offering; it was a yearly sacrifice for the nation’s sin (Lev. 16:29). This was the only day the High Priest could open the veil and enter the Holiest of all with the blood of a goat to atone for the sin of the people; however, not before he has atoned for his own sin first. At the same time, the high Priest picks a goat and confesses on the sins of the nation upon it and this is released into the wilderness, taking away all the sins of the nation as a scapegoat (Lev. 16:21).

THE WEAKNESS AND IMPERFECTION OF THE OLD

The temporary measure that God provided for sin was a fore shadow of what was to come. There were weaknesses in the system that necessitated the replacement of the old with the new.

Firstly, the law only spelled out sin to man; it was impossible for man to keep the law neither can anyone be justified by keeping the law (Rom. 3:19-20).  No natural man, since the fall, is able to keep perfectly the commandments of God, but breaks them daily, in thought, word, and deed. (Man's Inability to Keep the Moral Law, the Ten Commandments — Thomas Watson) This is because he was conceived in sin (Ps. 51:5) and is spiritually dead (Eph 2: 1). Apostle Paul also noted that even when man desires to obey God, he lacks the ability to do so because man is ‘carnal and sold under sin’ (Rom. 7:14-18).

Secondly, the blood of goats and other animals only covered sin, they could not remove sin (Heb. 10:4). It could only serve to sanctify for the purifying of the flesh (Heb.9:13). That is why it was necessary to keep observing the Day of Atonement on a yearly basis.

The third weakness of the old covenant arrangement is the fact the mediator, who is supposed to enter the Holy Place to intercede for the sin of the people, is himself not free from sin! He must therefore first make atonement for his own sin before he can be enter the presence of God.

Fourthly, under this old covenant, only the High Priest has access to the most Holy Place (Heb. 9:7). All other must stand outside their tents and wait for him to carry out the sacrifice for them. So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel. ⁸

THE NEW AND FINAL SACRIFICE

The old covenant, being a fore shadow of the new, failed to fully satisfy the demand for the restoration of man from the fallen state back into a state where he is able to fellowship with God. However, it is important to note that the sacrifice and priestly system typifies the new covenant that was now to be instituted by God to permanently and once and for all, deal with the problem of sin.

God decided to make a new covenant with His people Israel; this time not writing the law on tablets of stones any more but on the tables of their hearts (Jer. 31:33). He therefore set aside the old to make room for the new because of it was weak and useless (Heb.7:18).

To fulfil the requirement of shedding of blood for the remission of sin, God sent His only begotten son as the spotless lamb to be slain as a propitiation for the sin of man and as such reconcile man back to God. The blood of Jesus, in that it was different from, and more powerful than the blood of animals, cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:7) and delivered us from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).

Jesus, by His sacrifice on the cross, became our high priest as appointed by God after the order of Melchidezek (Heb. 7:20-21); and with His own blood entered into the Holiest of all to make atonement for us once and for all. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood (Heb7:23) continually making intercession for us on the right-hand side of God.

God planned from the beginning that the religious ceremonial laws would cease at the cross, because Christ, the true Lamb of God was sacrificed. The animal sacrifices all pointed forward to Christ’s death on the cross. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,….” (Daniel 9:27) therefore, for us, offering of animal sacrifices today would be a sacrilege, it will mean saying that Christ did not die for our sins.

Moreover, the restriction on access to the presence of God by the priest only was abolished through the sacrifice of Christ. When He died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom, making the presence of God now accessible to all. Only God could have carried out such an incredible feat because the veil was too high for human hands to have reached it, and too thick to have torn it. Furthermore, it was torn from top down, meaning this act must have come from above. ⁸

We can now boldly enter into God’s presence, “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:19-20) “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-22) The Holy of Holies is a representation of heaven itself, God’s dwelling place, which we have access now through Christ. In Revelations, John’s vision of heaven — the New Jerusalem — also was a perfect square, just as the Holy of Holies was (Revelation 21:16).

CONCLUSION

From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the sacrifice of Jesus abolished all other sacrifices for sin and delivered us from the curse in the Garden of Eden having been made a curse himself when He hung on the tree (Gal. 3:13). The torn veil illustrated Jesus’ body broken for us, opening the way for us to come to God. As Jesus cried out “It is finished!” on the cross, He was indeed proclaiming that God’s redemptive plan was now complete. The age of animal offerings was over. The ultimate offering had been sacrificed; Jesus is the finality of all sacrifices!

“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. …But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:24-26)

REFERENCES

1.      The Holy Bible, New King James Version. New Testament Copyright 1979; Thomas Nelson, Inc.

2.       Strong’s Concordance. Available at: www.biblehub.com

3.      http://christianity.about.com/od/glossary/f/whatissin.htm

4.      Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.

5.      T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 55. 1. Vajikra Rabba, parash. 37. fol. 176.

6.      Pulpit Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.

7.      Understanding the Law. Available at: www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries

8.      The Holy of Holies and the Veil. Available at: http://the-tabernacle-place.com/articles/what_is_the_tabernacle/tabernacle_holy_of_holies

A creature of Purpose


It is no gain-saying that God was not absent-minded when He was creating you. Every human being on the face of the earth was moulded uniquely to fulfil a purpose. Yes, you were born to solve a problem! Take Moses, Samson, Samuel and Jesus Christ for instance, these people were born in times of trouble. They were the ones that had the ‘solution key’ to the troubles of their times.

Which problem were you created to solve? You must DISCOVER IT (a time of seeking) Mike Muddock said ‘’Your purpose is not your decision, it is your discovery’’ the widow in II Kg. 4:1-7 was labelled poor until she discovered her pot of oil; Moses had no idea of the potentials that lied in the rod he had been carrying about for years until God opened his eyes. Someone once said that the richest place on earth is not the gold mines of Libya, nor the oil rigs in Saudi Arabia, the richest place on earth is the grave yard! There you find millionaires that died paupers, Movies stars that were never seen, great evangelists that did not even get to know God, let alone win the souls of others.

God created you a bundle of explosives, you must not die without exploding! You can not afford to be a photocopy of someone else, take a look at your thumb, no other person, of the over 6 billion people on the face of the earth today, has the same finger prints as yours! You are unique.

The reason why many teenagers and other young people are restless, and sometimes given to vices is because they lack satisfaction with their lives. There is a hollow in their hearts that is yearning to be filled. There is a craving for fulfilment which the society can not offer them, therefore they end up feeling frustrated and unleash their wrath on the society. Bishop David Oyedepo once said ‘’when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable’’. Any young person who has not discovered the purpose of his existence will surely mismanage his life!
How do you discover your purpose? You must understand that you cannot know the full usefulness of a product more than the manufacturer. Therefore, if you must uncover the purpose of God for your life, you must turn to the one who created you.

The first thing to do is to turn your life over to Him in total surrender, knowing fully well that you cannot manage it yourself. Take away the sin barrier that has since separated you from Him. Ask Him to come into your heart and take the driving seat of your life. Then get involved in His service in a local church. Find something to do in God’s house and maintain your relationship with Him in talking to Him regularly and spending time with His word.

When your relationship with Him becomes established and your mind is renewed constantly by His word, He them begins to speak to you concerning His purpose for your life. Now there are several ways God can do this, but He will always speak to you in the language you can best understand.

Here are some tips to discovering your purpose:

One, “ Whatever tugs at your heart in desire or as a burden may be what you are meant to change”. Sometimes God puts a great passion or burden or desire in our heart for a particular thing and every time we see that need we feel like meeting it. E.g. Mary Slessor was burdened about the way twins were slaughtered because it was believed that giving birth to twins was a taboo and she stood up against it even in the face of death. Today, she is remembered for this singular act.

Two, “Whatever unlocks compassion or creativity in you may be a clue”
Somebody who always feels compassion for the less privileged to a point where he develops ideas of what to do to help them might be called to reach out to this set of people. However, one thing that is common to every man’s purpose is that it must bring glory to God and point men to Jesus. Watch out for the continuation of this topic later!

‘Choices.......’


Lucy will you stop that?” “….. but why are you such a spoil sport Mum? Everybody does it, why should I be the odd one out?” “The fact that everybody does it does not make it right Lucy” “I don’t even know what is right or wrong anymore, it’s all so confusing!”

If you are a young person reading this article, you will agree with me that, like Lucy, one sometimes gets confused about what is right or wrong because everybody seems to be doing it! Nobody is interested in what God thinks! Now you may be thinking ‘what has God got to do with what I do or not do? A lot!

First, you should understand that you are accountable to God for your actions. How? God created you and gave you a ‘will power’ that is the power to choose what you do and do not do, both of which have their consequences. You can choose not to prepare for your exams and fail or study well and succeed. Every cause always has an effect! Remember Adam and Eve? They had a choice either to obey God or to eat the forbidden fruit and disobey Him. The serpent deceived Eve, she chose to eat the fruit and Adam had to answer to God! He was accountable to God. God did not spare them because it was the serpent that deceived them, God held Adam and Eve responsible for their actions. God will not acquit you for doing wrong because someone forced or pressurized you into doing it.

Secondly, ignorance is no excuse with God. It is your responsibility to find out what is right and do it. The word of God says ‘Buy the truth, sell it not…’ That all your classmates and friends are doing ‘it’ does not make ‘it’ right! If you are unsure about anything, don’t do it! “Hey! But that’s not fair! Why will God punish someone for what he did not even know was wrong!” That is because He has made available to you His Constitution (the Bible) that contains His will! Take time to find out what God thinks about that issue by looking it up in His word before you decide what to do.

Beloved it is God’s desire to build a generation of young people like you who will stand up and say ’NO’ to vices and ’YES’ to virtues.

The choices you make today, whether you like it or not, contribute to your tomorrow! The devil
can do nothing in your life except you allow him. You do not have to give in to pressures from friends; the majority is not always right you know! Remember what Jesus said? Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are those who follow this path but the way of life is narrow and those who tread there are few. Dare to be different; God is counting on you!!!