The Faith of God for our Redemption pt.1 (Redeemed from death)

Messages for April 2018: Our Month of The faith of God

Message for Sunday 8^th April, 2018

Theme: Understanding the Faith of God

Topic: The Faith of God for our Redemption pt.1 (Redeemed from death)

Introduction: As we saw last week, the faith of God is the only faith that deals with this great issue of death and its source and solution. The reason for this is that it all started in his garden and he also provided the solution before man was created. In Revelation 13:8; Jesus Christ is referred to as the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. This is because He had the foreknowledge of all that was going to take place after he creates man and He made adequate preparation for it.

Why Redemption from Death? Before sin was introduced to man in the Garden of Eden, death was already a resident of the garden but was powerless over man as man was designed to live eternally. As long as man stayed connected to his maker through obedience, death had no power over him. All these while, the devil was still a homeless wanderer on earth and had access to the garden at this time. As soon as he knew about the commandment of God that man was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he would face the consequence of death; he began to device ways to make man disobey knowing that, if man disobeyed God and ate it, he was going to be cut off from God the source of the supply of the life he had and it would be only a question of time from then before he would eventually die.) Thus the commandment activated sin and as soon as Satan was able to get man to sin, man died and came under his influence. See Gen.2:17; Rm.7:9 and Lk.4:5-7.

This was the origin of spiritual and physical death. Man did not have access to God any longer so he could not relate with God like he used to when God visited him in the cool of the day and conversed with him. This was spiritual death; he was cut off from his source. He no longer had access to light and life and was therefore groping in the darkness of this world confused and no longer in charge of the earth God gave him dominion over. He became a slave to sin and consequently to death eventually. He fell short of the glory of God and no longer had access to life. To make up for this, man created religion which can be defined as man’s idea of relating with God. Religion cannot save man as has since been proven over time. The faith of God is therefore the only faith that addresses man’s most important need which is to be reconciled to God. See 2Cor.5:17-21 and Eph.2:13-19.

Redeemed from death: When the Lord Jesus Christ walked the sands of time, He said concerning His mission that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. This was in fulfilment of His promise in Gen.3:15 which was the means by which Jesus Christ was to obtain eternal life for us. This promise makes it clear that God has provided the solution to the sin question in man’s life and that the gate of life is now open to all and sundry.

What Jesus Christ achieved for us with His death on Calvary’s Cross:  

1.     He became the replacement for man like an effigy that made it possible for God to vent His wrath on sinful man identified in Christ on the Cross and in hell. The demand was a sinless man and none in heaven and on earth was found worthy except the Lord Jesus Christ. God vented his wrath over man’s sin on him instead of us and allowed him to go to hell to suffer instead of us so that if we believe in him; we identify with him through baptism and become partakers of his death, burial and resurrection. See Col.2:11-15 Rev.16:19; Rev.19:15 and Rev.5:3-7

2.     Man needed a sacrificial replacement because his sin nature made it impossible for him to pay of his penalty and be raised back to life. This is because without the shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sin. See Heb.9:22; Lev.17:11

3.     God desired to show mercy to man and was tired of the worthless sacrifices of man which had no power to give him back his life. Jesus Christ offered his body as the sacrifice that made it possible for God to achieve His desire to show mercy instead of demanding sacrifices from man. Heb.9:11-13; Ex.34:5-7 and 10:6-10.

4.     He granted man the access to eternal life. Thus man could now cultivate an intimate relationship with God and really become God’s best friend. See Jn.17:2-3

5.     The relationship between God and man that was severed by sin could now be put back together through the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. See 2Cor.5:18-21; Col.1:20 and Rm.5:9.

How to activate this great gift of God: someone reading this may be thinking that if Jesus Christ did all these for us through the sacrifice He made on the Cross and His sufferings in hell; why are people still going to hell? Why does the faith of God not make it possible for all to be saved and enjoy eternal life?

1.     God is Holy meaning He is wholly; He is eternally the main person with integrity. He would never violate His word which includes that the soul that sins shall die [Gen.2:17; Ez.18:4]. He proved it in Adam, but His love made the sacrifice of Jesus possible to save us. To take advantage of what He did, we must repent to be able to receive eternal life. Repentance is the proof that we believe. Thus no matter how much God loves you, if you do not believe in what He has done for you, He cannot save you. See Mk.16:15-16.

2.     By God’s standard, redemption can only be activated by faith in the word of God that promises it. Joh.3:16-19; Rm.1:16.

3.     God’s way is that we are saved by grace through faith so that none of us can boast of our good deeds as the reason we are saved but trust in His grace and mercy. See Eph.2:8-10 and Heb.4:16.

4.     The first step to activating eternal life therefore is to declare your faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. Thus you have to first believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross of Calvary and declare your faith in Him See Rm.10:8-11. If you want to do that right now, you can do so at once by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will receive eternal life at once:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.