Continued
from the last episode
Text
of Interest:
“But
as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God.”
1 Cor 2:9 – 10 (KJV)
Case Study Text:
“And
so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was
made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but
that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is
of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”
1
Cor 15:45 – 47 (KJV)
However, it is only by the process of
understanding the stipulation of the scripture that He can get acquainted with
everything said concerning Him and as well begin to interpret them as supposed. So He
couldn’t find Himself in any other place to socialize and intimate but the
synagogue where He customarily stays and to get Himself infused into all that
was prophesied concerning Him (Luke 4:14 – 15). The declaration is that He is to
come and save His people from their sins (Luke 2:11). This purpose must be
followed diligently and be executed, this therefore demands all amount of
seriousness in order to make it happen. The commitment was seen in Him early
enough as He became one of the lay readers in the synagogue a no mean position
if one is a novice in scriptural matters (Luke 4:15 – 21). This is an indication
that He became well-schooled in the scripture such that gave Him the boldness
to stand and read the scripture and as well utter words that signifies great
prowess. Obviously He didn’t just gave Himself to the study and understand the
scripture but He related what He has learnt from the Scripture and inculcated
them to His audience. The audience that grazes His teachings testified of His
boldness that is accompanied by greater insight of truth which differentiated
Him from the Scribes and Pharisees (Matt 7:28 – 29).
Also, before His ministry began there
was a witness of His identity from heaven that declared Him as the Son of God
and that the heaven is please with Him (Matt 3:17). This avowal didn’t come on
a platter of anything He must have done to attract God’s attention but as it
pleases God. There is nothing we can do on our own to move God; He is always
moved by His grace. However, the affirmation immediately quickens the curiosity
of the devil to question the declaration; therefore, he made himself available
to investigate what was said. As it was in the beginning the devil came to
tempt the Second Adam in order to verify if He is indeed a Son of God, and if he yields to temptation
it means He is not God or Son of God, because God cannot be tempted (Jas 1:13)
but to his surprise He yielded to temptation. Now the devil couldn’t contend this,
because he was not able to ascertain for sure if He is God or man.
However he went ahead to tempt Him and
at the end the devil lost, yes he was outwitted by Him not because He was God,
but because the Second Adam equipped Himself with the word of God and not only
that He believed everything that is said concerning Him and held on it. It is
interesting to know that the devil applied the same method he applied in the
beginning against the first Adam. He began by promoting Him by letting Him to
understand what He can do being the Son of God, and he went ahead to let Him
know what He has to gain if He worships him. Crucially, he offered the Second
Adam the wealth and kingdom of this earth, which by implication are the hearts
and minds of people on this earth which has been under his control. All that the
devil did was geared at promoting self in the Second Adam but at the end he met
his waterloo because the Second Adam was focused and believed the Scripture.
He etched Himself to the Scripture in
a way that it is visible in everything He did. Before He announced His
ministry He read to the hearing of the people the declaration that was made by
prophecy concerning Him and affirms the accuracy and fulfillment of that
scripture (Luke 4:15 – 21). At one time, He was accused of tarnishing the
meaning of the content of the Scripture, He pointed out to them clearly that He
has come to fulfill the scripture (the law and the prophets) not to destroy it
(Matt 5:17). This is an indication that His mayor concern is to fulfill what
the Scripture has said concerning Him. As a matter of fact, He has come to live
out the Scripture; I mean to interpret it down to earth.In doing this, he was
able to put in proper prospective those gray areas in the Scripture that people
were finding difficult to get along with. He took care of the abnormalities
that are there is the Scripture and as He was doing that, He never said, “Thus
says the Lord” like the prophets did, because the words were coming from the
horse’s mouth (Matt 5:43 – 45).
All the ceremonies and types and
shadows that typified Him in the prophets and the law, He began to align them
in a way that is suitable (ie the Sabbath, manna, bronze serpent, the lamb,
sign of Jonah etc.) were all streamlined in their proper perspectives as the
revelation of their meanings tallies up with who He is. Unlike the Scribes and
Pharisees of His days He continues to unfold a better and easy way to relate
with people such that in many occasions He was found to be at a cross road with
them. To the lowly and forgotten in the society and even to some high and
mighty His ministry typified grace!
To be continued…..
Till I come your way again, keep on
basking in the Arena of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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