Friday, March 07, 2014

THE BLESSEDNESS OF A HUMBLE LIFESTYLE.


                              
''Let this same attitude and purpose and humble mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus who although being essentially ONE with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained but stripped Himself so as to assume the guise of a servant in that He became like men and was born a human being and after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in Heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father’’

 

In the beginning of beginnings, Christ was there. He started creation and creation started with Him. All things were created by Him whether thrones, Kingdoms, dominions and powers. He created the sun, moon, stars, firmament, vegetation and plants, animals and the KING of God`s creation which is MAN. John said that ALL THINGS were created by Him and there is nothing that is made that escaped His creative ability and power. Christ was essentially GOD being the second person in the trinity. He was always referred to as GOD the SON being next to the GOD HEAD and prior to the Holy Spirit. All the attributes/nature/character of the FATHER GOD is also in Christ and also in the Holy Spirit. Christ was not inferior to the Father God and neither is He superior to the Holy Spirit as they are all ONE in unity of purpose. For functionality, distinctiveness and clarity of purpose, God the Father is seen to be the number one figure and personality in the trinity followed by God the Son/Christ and also followed by God the Holy Spirit but essentially they are all ONE being the embodiment of the glorious and eternal divinity. In the trinity, no one is superior to another and no one is inferior to another but for clarity of function and purpose, there had to be diversity of positions. When man fell into sin and needed to be reconciled back to God, there was a CALL in Heaven as to who will go and rescue man from the bondage and entanglement of sin. God the Son/Christ volunteered to leave His Godly throne in Heaven and serve as a sacrifice for man`s sin so that man can be delivered from the burden of sin and be reconciled back to God.

 

In truth to Christ volunteering, He left His throne in Heaven, stripped Himself of His divine nature and took the form of humanity in the form of a baby which was planted in Mary`s womb by the Holy Spirit. Everyone likes to be changed from humanity to divinity as by the glory of God and it is a GLORIOUS thing indeed but for somebody to be changed from divinity to humanity is a shameful and disgraceful thing but Christ accepted to do it after all. When He came to the earth, one would expect that God the Son would be birthed in the best of Hospitals but there was no place for Him to be birthed even in an inn as He was birthed in a manger where animals were kept. He was not born with silver spoon in His mouth as Joseph and Mary were not portrayed as very affluent personalities. He grew up not in a very rich setting despite the fact that He had a rich origin but He was accustomed to the carpenter`s workshop because carpentry was His father`s profession. He was very skilled in carpentry having stayed in that workshop for many years. When His ministry began having been commissioned by the Holy Spirit, He began to teach and to preach the good news of the Kingdom to diverse kinds of people in His day. The Holy Spirit confirmed the authenticity of His ministry with diverse signs and wonders such as healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the hungry etc. He faced severe opposition from the teachers of the Law, the Pharisees, the Saducees, the Scribes, etc whom because of fear and insecurity were all out to bring down His ministry but Christ who had the power to destroy them humbly disregarded them and kept focused on His assignment.

 

When the time came for Him to be sacrificed as the Lamb that was to be slain tom take away the SINS of the whole world, the same people who He ministered to day and night masterminded His crucifixion. The same people who He created in the beginning of beginnings spat on Him, beat Him mercilessly, raised insults and terrible remarks on Him but He did not open His mouth but was humbly obedient to death…even the terrible death of the cross. He was stripped naked, hung on a tree that He created and was nailed shamefully like a robber/criminal on that tree. When He was on the cross, He humbly prayed to the Father God to forgive all his tormentors because He knew that all they did were done in ignorance. After three days that His blood was shed on the Cross, He died and went to hell. He stripped the devil, principalities and powers of all the powers and dominion which they stole from man and He went back to Heaven. When He got to Heaven, He presented the shed blood which was the blood of the eternal and everlasting covenant to God and the blood was sprinkled on the tables on the Holy of Holies(the temple) and that was how man was redeemed from sin and death and restored back to God. All that Christ did was done in SHEER HUMILITY and for all that He did, God rewarded Him with a NAME that was above every other name that at the mention of that name, every knee in Heaven, on earth and underneath the earth must bow to His Lordship and every tongue must also subscribe to this.

 

That name is highly respected in the SPIRIT REALM and we know that it is the SPIRIT REALM that controls the PHYSICAL realm. When the devil and his cohorts hear the mention of that name in the Spirit realm, they shiver and bow hurriedly to the LORDSHIP of Christ. Your Healing/Health, prosperity, victory, triumphs. Joy, peace and other redemptive benefits is sealed in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. If Christ got to this enviable state by humility, we are His followers(Christians) have to follow His footsteps of humility. We have to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God Almighty so that He can lift us up in due time. Pride is the enemy of humility and God hates pride with a strong passion. He resists steadfastly the proud but gives grace to the humble. Satan lost his wonderful throne in Heaven to pride and he was debased to a mere serpent roaming about aimlessly. In spite of your achievements in life e.g educational status, professional status, marital status, religious status etc, make sure  that you are humble before God to take daily instructions from Him. Christ had all the status and achievements in Heaven before He came to the earth and He was abased on the earth because of a cogent divine mandate but God lifted Him up due to humility. I see God lifting us up to enviable positions/states in life and in His Kingdom as we take the pain of humbling ourselves before Him in all things. Shalom!             Coming straight from my heart of hearts…Dayo Oladapo…www.Facebook.com/pages/Dayo-Oladapo-Official-Page/465259763522821