FANNY J. CROSBY was right when she composed 'Tell me the story of Jesus';
'Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.'
The first question I asked; 'Please tell me the meaning of all that has happened. I don't understand '.
He replied, 'I am Jesus Christ. You are man, and your soul has been in the journey. The stranger is the agent of darkness'.
After the little introduction, He taught me a lot of lessons, of which I would discuss a bit.
Steve Adebowale was right on point when he said that 'the absurdity of the Omnipotent surpasses the sagacity of man, and the debility of the most High is more energetic than the solidity of man.
Behind the Genesis.
At the beginning of things, I mean creation, GOD - the mysterious trinity [so to say] - created man as sin in the Genesis.
The Scripture says:
'And GOD said let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' Gen. 1:26 [KJV]
From the scripture verse quoted above, you would notice a conversation between the trinity. 'Let us make man'. Who was man at that time? Was it man from the future that was being spoken of here or one man has been in existence then?
In the creation story, God created man as a spirit, just as He created angels up there in heaven. This means that man has been in existence as long as the angels are. All dwelled together in heaven praising God in His majesty. That man was a Spirit just like the cherubims and seraphims, until God's pronunciation in Genesis 1:26.
Man was then covered with flesh and a soul was administered into Him from the very nostrils of His maker. As you know, the potter has the decision of what he uses the pot to do, so was the case of man. The invisible man became visible, became different from the angels, uniquely made lower than the rest of his mates-not humiliation- but never lost his immortality as a spirit.
Man was created visible not because He should be a caricarture, but because there is need for a difference.
Ever since the fall of Satan and its angel, the world became a home of demons/darkness which were all spirits. Remember that Genesis 1:2 says:
'And the earth was without form and void: and darkness was upon the surface of the deep.'
They are bonafide members/citizens of the world on the Earth, yet God wanted to make a difference. Some theologians believe that the fall of Lucifer has been several centuries before the creation (but that isn't the bone of contention here), but the fact that the demons were qualified citizens of the earth, not aliens.
God made man for the purpose of making a difference. It's an honour as God created man for a unique purpose different from the reason why we have angels. For this reason, Satan was jealous; because not only did He create the man, He also handed dominion of all things on earth to him-what a love and favor.
The aim and purpose is that after man has done the things sent him by his master, his visible flesh would be forgotten and discarded and the spirit of man would ascend back and join his fellow to continue service unto God.
After the creation of the visible man, He was still immortal just like the other angels, yet a little lower, since there is a limit to which the flesh could reach. God placed man in the garden of Eden.
But God did not only place man there alone, He also planted among others two unique trees that worth mentioning: the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life was Christ - i.e. God Himself, and the other was the tree of knowledge of the things of this earth.
And out of the ground made the LORD GOD to grow tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.' Gen. 2:9 [KJV]
The functions of the tree of life was more emphasized in the book of Revelation.
'He that has ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.'REV. 2:7
'And in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruit, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for he healing of the nations.' REV. 22:2
One of the major changes/difference between the Genesis and Revelation was the kind of tree remaining in the garden. In the genesis, the garden was called 'Eden', but in the Revelation it was called 'Paradise'. The only tree in the paradise was the tree of life which was the lamb Himself.
At the placement of man in the garden, he was to be an ambassador. For no reason have He made flesh than to make the created man an ambassador different from the demonic spirits. Still in the garden, man ought to have a closer look at the tree of life, but because the tree was not too good to behold, man overlooked it. No attention was given to the tree, not well cultured, not eaten, but left alone to grow. God would always pay visit to man, but one version of God-the tree of life- was and has always been with man all day and night.
In order to show full responsibility in the new ambassadorial position, He gave man the dominion over all that was on earth, but when man ate the forbidden fruit (so to say) the dominion was seized from man. The immortality of man was lost. The spirit that fellowship daily with God had entered coma, a poison has been taken in.
Man was sent out of this very garden, the tree of life became lonely. Only ambassadors have the dominion, that is the only way the flesh is useful (James 2:26). The devil understood that what made the real difference was the dominion accompanying the flesh, and now it is stolen away.
Man is of no use without dominion in that position. Until there is dominion, man would remain God's opposite. God is a God of dominion and authority.
Only a man whose dominion is not lost has a place in the spirit world of eternity. It is the Spirit that holds the dominion potential. Dominion isn't the the function of the flesh but of the spirit residing in the flesh. Dominion lost to the devil is spirit captured. That is why if one's dominion isn't recovered and restored unto God before death comes, the devil who has already captured the spirit has gained a member to hell. So it is a function of who owns the spirit at the point of death.
The flesh has no other function but a tool of ambassadorship for the spiritual realm in the reality. If the spirit therefore be evil, then the flesh operates as an ambassador to the devil operating on the inside, and if reverse is the case, and the spirit residing on the inside be Holy the flesh would succumb to the leadership from the inside.
So the flesh is just an ambassador to the spirit operating on the inside be it good or evil. The flesh here isn't the same as the 'self' or 'flesh' used in the epistles - the context is different.
Ever since that departure, Christ -the tree of life- have sought all ways of giving life back to His old lost friend.
At His arrival on earth, man did not recognize Him as one who have come to save rather we saw Him as a timid and stupid foreigner. We were looking for the Lion of Judah rather than the Lamb of God. We rejected Him because He behaved like a stupid lamb instead of a lion. We sought a conqueror, not a sacrificial lamb. We wanted a lion that was strong and courageous, not a lamb that would be timid or weak. We prayed daily for one who would have the strength and courage to take back our dominion for us.
What we did not realize is that lions have other traits that would not serve the right purpose, for that reason we almost lost Him. In fact we lost it, if not for grace.
While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial.
He didn't come to create a spectacle, He came to make disciples. On one occasion, He dismissed a large crowd that had come to see Him and moved on to the next village to preach the gospel. On another occasion, He walked past the crowd just to two blind men who were crying out for help. On another occasion He called out to Zacchaeus, a tax collector, sitting in a tree above the crowd. Jesus wasn't too impressed by the size of the crowd, He was so concerned of the life He had come to offer, the salvation He has kept for His old time friend-Man.
He came to set us free, to return us back to our immortality. I've heard that if you put fleas in a jar and close the lid, it takes the fleas about three days to get used to the top of the jar and hit the lid time after time. At first, they don't realize that they are held captive (so was man at the fall). But after only a few days, they become accustomed to living in the confines of the jar (such is man, overwhelmed with pleasures of his pitiful circumstance). After that you can remove the jar and the fleas won't fly out. Even after they are free, they continue to live as prisoners. Apparently the trauma of hitting the lid day after day convinces them that freedom is just too costly.
At one time you may have felt like one of those fleas. Hopefully, He cared enough to come to man and say 'I have come to set you free!' That's what it means to proclaim release to the captives (as in Isa. 61:1).
He was named Immanuel, meaning 'God with us'. That was the interpretation of His act in the garden He was always there day and night as the tree of life, and He still promised to be there in Matthew 28:20 :- '... and remember I am with you always (Immanuel) to the end of the age.'
He came to set us free from everything that stops us from lying full, free and in dominion. He said 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is the slave of sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed' John 8:34-36. Servanthood would be forgotten and sonship comes in.
As He as said and would keep saying, to be a fit follower worthy of reward, challenge must come. Only the challenges we encounter will make us fit for the kingdom. It's not a destination, but an eternal journey. He made it clear that "the Kingdom of God doesn't come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is' or 'There it is', because the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21).
Our experience at the end of the journey will depend upon what we experienced along the way. That would be the essence of a good report. He urge us to remember His WORDS, HIS WORKS and HIS WAYS as they are the content of a good report. He said specifically: "In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world." (Jn. 16:33) because if you only graze on the pasture, you will become a fat spectator rather than a strong fit follower.