John 1: 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. 2 Cor.5: 21.

Looking at the above scriptures, we can see that Jesus as a sin offering was offered by God himself. John referred to him as the Lamb of God. Meaning just like everyone was to offer his sin offering for the purpose of sacrifice, even so God by himself has offered for mankind a Lamb suitable for a sin offering to take the place of whatever man will attempt to have offered or will want to offer. This is the only acceptable sin offering to God. So just like he provided a sin offering for Cain, and even a ram for Abraham to be offered in place of Isaac, even so has he provided this sinless Lamb for the sins of humanity. This is what we are seeing here. It is the Lamb of God, God’s own personal Lamb, that is Jesus.

Further we are told. He was offered to take away the sin of the world. It’s a singular sin. So we are talking about the very act resulting from the fall of Adam in the Garden. Therefore Paul in Romans said.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…..

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life”. Rom.5: 12-18.

Meaning we are justified by reason of Christ death from the condemnation that we were under by reason of the sin of Adam. The sacrificed of Jesus undo the effect of the sin of Adam that was laid on us. He simply took our sentences upon himself not the act itself, but the penalty of the act-sin.

That which was laid on him, which was our burden is found in the record of Isaiah.

Ampl. Isa 53: 2 For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.

3 He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we

[ignorantly]

considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.

Notice these words. “He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him…

“He became a focal point of all of the results or effects of our sins, iniquity”….. “the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all”.

So you see, whatever should have been the burden of sorrows, pains, depression, sicknesses weaknesses etc etc resulting from the effect of the sin we were associated with in Adam were laid upon him and he took them away from us. Meaning by reason of his sacrifice as a sin offering, we are no longer supposed to bear these burdens again in life. He did it all and we are free and free indeed. He bore our iniquities and not our sins, as the Lamb of God.

Math. 27: 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? see thou to that”.

The above scripture is the confession and testimony of Judas Iscariot after he has betrayed Jesus. Now do you know the strength of the statement he just made when he said, I have betrayed THE INNOCENT BLOOD? He didn’t say ‘an’ innocent blood but THE ..

It is from the word = athoos, ath’-o-os in the Greek, Meaning “not guilty:–innocent” and it is taken from the root word (. a ) a, al’-fah of Hebrew origin; the first letter of the alphabet; figuratively, the first: –Alpha. And that speaks of the very first blood Adam had before the fall. The original blood that is without corruption, sin.. It’s completely free of sin and any such thing that is associated with sin.

The innocent Blood is the ‘apha’ blood, the very first and original blood. Yes, Jesus had no sin in his blood system while he walked the earth. He was completely innocent. Therefore he was not a sinner not even on the cross.

But God “made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. 2 Cor.5: 21.

Again like I said previously, the words tajx chattath, and tajx chattaah, frequently as used signify sin; but it can be observed that more than a hundred places in the Old Testament where they are used, it meant ‘sin-offering’ ,and this is what the Apostle translated ‘amartia’ here in 2 Cor.5:21, saying… “He hath made him to be sin (amartian, A SIN-OFFERING) for us, who knew no sin”.

Here are some examples.. Exo.29: 14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

Lev.4: 3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.

2 Chron.29: 20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.

Now you can see that, the ‘sin offering’ was not the one that committed the crime but it is being used to pacify God to avoid His wrath on the sinner and so set him free. Like the sin offering by Hezekiah for the kingdom. Meaning the sin offering was offered on behalf of the kingdom that has sinned. But the sin offering is not the sinner. Even so Jesus was offered as a sin offering but he was not the sinner, nor did he commit any sin, he was without sin dear people!

The Septuagint translates the Hebrew word by amartia in ninety-four places in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, where a sin-offering is meant. Same thing we see in 2 Cor 5:21. So the right translation here ought to be an offering for sin. But that it may be plainly seen that sin-offering, not sin, is the meaning of the word in this verse.

Now let me show you another very perfect example of this application which men have also wrongly misinterpreted for us in relation to the sacrifice of Cain in Gen. Chapter 4.

Gen.4: 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: {flock: Heb. sheep, or, goats}

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Have we not being told that Cain brought bad offerings to God hence his sacrifices was rejected? And we used this to preach in order to provoke people to give more especially in times of so called Annual Thanksgiving in our Churches.? But what really went wrong with Cain’s offering.

Hear this my friend, Vs.4..says,. Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock], meaning he brought an additional offering, One was the ‘minchah’ i.e a gratitude offering; and then he brought the (twrkbm mibbechoroth) which is “the first-born of his flock”, and by that speaking to God that he is a sinner that needs forgiveness and therefore professed faith in the promised Messiah that is to come.

So we read “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh” Heb.11: 4

Notice that it is “God testifying of his gifts GIFTS”,showing it is more than one. Can you see it? So it’s speaking of the gratitude offering and the sin offering which he offered, this, Cain did not include in his sacrifice, and so claiming self-righteousness before God hence his offering was like not accepted.

Again the word should read.. “By FAITH Abel offered (pleiova yusian,) a MORE or GREATER sacrifice; that is what the word stands for, not a more excellent as the translators will want us to believe. It was the addition that was stressed not the quality.

So Abel by adding a sacrifice to it paid a proper regard to the will of God just the way it has then been revealed, acknowledged himself a sinner, and therefore nullifying the Divine anger of God’s judgment and so showing forth the death of Christ till he came.

In Verse 7. God wasn’t necessarily quarrelling with Cain, but rather was telling Cain not to be angry with his brother, that it was the addition of the offering that made Abel’s offering to be accepted and that being angry with his brother will not solve the problem, rather he should look unto God to whom the offering was supposed to be offered, and has the power to acquit or condemn. Same problem Judas Iscariot had of repenting towards men instead of God when he went to the priests.

So when God said. . “sin lieth at the door”. he wasn’t telling Cain that the sin of killing his brother through anger was at his doorsteps and that he should rule over it, but rather “a sin-offering lieth at thy door” for that is what the phrase (tajx xtpl lappethach chattath robets), means ;in other words there is an animal proper to be offered as an atonement for sin now couching at the door of thy fold.

So God by his mercy provided and informed him that “a sin offering” (Ubr robets, is a word used to express the lying down of a quadruped, an animal that has four legs.) was lying at the door of his fold.

And when he said.. “And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” It is not that Cain should rule over sin, but rather, he was telling Cain that, Abel’s desire will still be unto Cain he being the senior.

By Implication, Cain your birthright as the elder has not been taken away from you so don’t get angry with your junior brother even though his offering has been accepted, besides I have made a sin offering available to you that I can accept, just go offer him to me. All these was said to pacify Cain from being angry, but Cain still failed,.

Same way men are rejecting the Lamb of God that he has offered freely to all men to pacify his own anger and it is still being rejected as the saviour of the world.

Jesus was an innocent sin- offering provided by God for the sins of men. Stop calling Jesus a sinner.

Again like I stated in part 1 of this discuss, I have heard people in various none Christian groups say, one of the major reasons Jesus has to die the way he did was because he was paying for the sins of his previous life. In other words they were buttressing their belief of reincarnation. But we know that Jesus only incarnated but never reincarnated.

So when you begin to teach that the sins of the world was laid on him even on the cross, you are also saying he died the death of a sinner because of sin and that also means he was a sinner. And that is very dangerous a doctrine concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is an illustration. Barabbas was a murderer and seditionist, who were to be crucified according to the law of the Jews/Romans, but Jesus took his place and he was released. Does that mean Jesus actually committed the very crime of being a murderer? The answer says no! But he took the punishment due the crime of Barabbas which was death. Barabbas then was a type of humanity so that we could be free from the penalty of death.

Here is what the word says about this fact in Heb. 2:9

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. (KJV)

He tasted death means, he experienced death. And that was in consequence of the fall of Adam, for the word says.. Rom.5: 12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”

You see what I mean? That he died for all men didn’t make him a sinner, rather he took the punishment due sin unto himself in other to free us from the consequences of the fall (sin) of Adam which is death. He simply carried the consequences, but he didn’t enter into the act of sinning.

By reason of the fall, the whole human race became sinful in their nature, and in their practice added transgression to sinfulness of lifestyle, and so became exposed to death things. To redeem man therefore, Jesus Christ took on him the nature of man, and suffered the penalty due to their sins. This is what a diligent study will reveal from the scriptures and not the other way round as we have always believed and taught.

Now here is what the scriptures said about Jesus, which we must believe and stick to and not our opinions.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. 2 Cor.5: 21

“And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin”. 1 John.3: 5.

This I believe is a strong statement for us to consider in line with our discuss. ‘He knew no sin’, means he did not experience sin or have anything to do with sin. And ‘in him is no sin’ means he never had any sin factored within his being. In fact Jesus said the prince of this world cometh and shall find nothing in me. Meaning there was no trace or factor of sin in him for the devil or the religious leaders of the Jews to hold unto in him.

The word “knew” is very important here. We are told in Gen 4: 1 “ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain” Meaning Adam had an intercourse with his wife and brought forth.

So for Jesus not to know sin means he had no intercourse or any form of personal relationship with sin in anyway. They were never friends, relations, married, or united in any way. For the union of man and sin always produced death as the offspring. That is the wages of sin Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; ..”(KJV)

Why do you think he was properly qualified to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of men, because “ in him is no sin”. He came into the world to destroy the power, pardon the guilt, and cleanse from all men the pollution of sin but yet he did not partake of sin not even in his death. He tasted death the word says, but knew no sin. What a savior!

So Jesus tasted death, which is the result or wages, salaries that sin pays. But he never tasted sin, rather he was a sin offering. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. 2 Cor.5: 21.

The words tajx chattath, and tajx chattaah, frequently signify sin; but it can be observed that more than a hundred places in the Old Testament where they are used, it meant ‘sin-offering’ ,and this is what the Apostle translated ‘amartia’ here in 2 Cor.5:21, saying… “He hath made him to be sin (amartian, A SIN-OFFERING) for us, who knew no sin”.

What is sin offering then?, that will be our next line of thought. Stop calling Jesus a sinner for he knew no sin.

The Church has indirectly agreed with the world by teaching that Jesus was a sinner. There are sayings that Jesus died for his own sins, therefore he cannot save you. That when Jesus said ‘take up your cross and follow me’ he meant to say I am dying for my sins, so you also get ready to die for your own sins, that is what is meant by work out your own salvation, which they also interpret to mean the interplay of the law of karma.

While the Church may not say this openly, they teach same thing when they say that our sins were laid on him, making him a sinner and so he was so ugly that we could not behold him and even God could not look upon his son because of the sins of the world that was laid on him, and that is why he shouted my God, my God why have thou forsaken me

But essentially the Bible never for once mentioned that our sins were laid on him. This is what it says..

Isa. 53: 6 – All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And 2 Cor.5: 21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us,…” we shall look into 2 Cor. much later. But let’s deal with the iniquity first.

Now this passage is what has led to this dangerous and damaging teaching of Jesus being a sinner, because the interpretation here to us is that iniquity is the same thing as sin. I do not want to go into words definitions here of Hebrew and Greek, let me just use other passages with the same word iniquity to give the appropriate definition as seen in scriptures.

For instance in Ps.51:5 David said “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me”.

So was David saying he was shapen in ‘sin’ and in ‘sin’ did her conceive him? Was he just repeating the same word? The Amplified makes the meaning clearer for us to understand.

Ps 51:5 (AMP) Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].

The state of iniquity means he was brought into life carrying the effect of sin, the very product of sin, and the wages of sin. Not that he was a sinner or carrying sin but what that sin, that was factored in the mother produced. It was the Mother that sinned not David, but he suffered the consequences of the sin of the Mother.

See it this way, if a woman was promiscuous and get infected with HIV Aids, then she became pregnant and gave birth to full blow Aids Baby, was the baby the sinner or the mother? But the state of the Child is that of an Aid carrier, he is a victim of the act (sin) of the mother, and this state of being an Aids carrier, this disease and sickness is what David referred to as ‘state of iniquity’.

Again let me use another scripture for us here, when God told Israel.

Exo.20: 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me”

Was He saying I will visits the sins of the Fathers unto the children or the consequences of their sins? The consequences of course!. What he meant to say is that, if the fathers worship idols, he will then punish the children which could be in form of no rain in the land, making the heaven brass, the sword, which is wars, pestilences on the land and even being taken into slavery. These were to be the punishment due to sin which the children will bear. They will only bore the iniquity of their Fathers but they never sinned by worshiping idols.

In fact Ezekiel lend his voice to this, “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? Ezek. 18:2.

So you see, iniquity is not the act here but the effect of the sin of their Fathers. Same way; Jesus has borne our iniquities, that is, the punishment due to sin but he was not in the act. There was no sin in him not even on the cross otherwise; he could never have been our redeemer. He was the spotless Lamb of God. Stop calling Jesus a sinner.

Who truly is a spiritual father, now that we have the emergence of so many. How do we identify a true spiritual father?

Of Timothy we are told –2Tim.1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.)

Meaning it wasn’t Paul that brought Timothy to faith, but he only circumcised him.

Of Hezekiah we read – 2Chron.29:1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old,

2And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.)

But we know that his father was Ahaz,(an idolatrous king),he was the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah. But here we are told David was his father.

so then how did David became his father? just like Paul becoming Timothy’s father.

Could it be that true fathering is the one that opens you up to the true will of God for your life ? I mean could it be the man that truly opens up the scriptures to your understanding, and guiding you on the way you should go ?

Could it be the man that weaned you away from religiosity to true Christianity, and so identifying your sonship in Christ ? Who is a true spiritual father. ?

Am still wondering how David became Hezekiah’s father. For we do know that Ahaz was his biological father .

We have so many laying claim to this Grace today .

But how do we truly identify a true spiritual father.

Just as so many are lost because of its abuse and rejection.

But if Paul will call Timothy my son, I don’t know what Timothy will refer to Paul, my course mate Paul ?

Oh no, it must be my brother Paul for we are all brethren in the Lord , Yes!

just pondering!

“Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

The cross was regarded as the appropriate punishment of the most infamous of mankind, such as for thieves ,robbers etc just as gallows , and every other instrument of execution is today.

But after Jesus used it, we now think of the “cross,” not as of the multitude of slaves, and robbers, and thieves, and rebels, who have died on it, but rather of the one great victim (Jesus) whose death has ennobled, digninified even changed the true meaning of this instrument of torture, and he encircled it with a halo of glory.

So Jesus brought glory to the cross, now people use it all over as a symbol of ornamentation and beauty. Decorating themselves and the alters of worship, no more an instrument of shame.

Don’t you think embracing the cross can also bring such glory to your life?

Don’t you think you can be honoured with the cross of Jesus?

Meaning, that all your shame of any sort was and can be taken away on and by the cross.

He has come to dignify you and yours forever removing from you all that can and will ever bring shame to you. The power of the cross?

You can’t look down on it no matter your spiritual or apostolic enlightenment.

Whatever glory you have attained to today, whether you be the highest Apostle in the land . You are just basking under the influence of the cross.

Yes the cross is what it is, Freedom from spiritual and mental slavery . I love the cross of Jesus with the halo that speaks of a renewed mind, for that is what the crown of thorns represented. For just as his strips you were healed, and received peace in your soul by his chastisement, even so is your Adamic mind healed by the thorns on his head.

Now you have the mind of Christ through the cross . Praise the Lord.

Just pondering.

In John 2: 6-8, Jesus turned water to wine, speaking of joy and happiness in the Holy Spirit.

In contrast with the ministry of Moses, he turned water into blood as a sign of God’s judgment (Ex 7:14-24),

Jesus brings joy and Moses the ministry of condemnation and judgment.

Where do we belong in our ministrations, are we turning water, (the word of God) into wine for the joy of God’s people as Ambassadors of reconciliation, or turning water to judgment and condemnation, terrorizing people to serve God and not out of love ?

Are we in the ministry of Moses or that of Jesus? If you are for Jesus , then please turn water to wine.

It’s a new Day of joy in our Saviour. Let out the glad tidings of the finished work of Christ.

Stop promoting the devil in your ministrations as if the sacrifice of Jesus is on vain.

We are asked to cast out devils and not to honour, plead or conduct interview with them .

Making the devil more powerful than Jesus ,and so creating fear in the people in other for them to believe and honour our ministry is turning water into blood.

Col.2 :8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

Philosophy; being the Greeks concept of things and life. It’s simply values as defined by reasoning and approving that which is acceptable to man outside of the dictates of the finished work of Christ. It is the wisdom of man outside of the wisdom of God which is Christ. (1 Cor.1:24)

Tradition of Elders; Jewish concepts of morals and values beyond and outside of the laws of Moses as upheld by the Scribes and Pharisees .This is man’s concept of prescriptive religious rules and dogmas, instead of sticking with the values provided by and through the Cross.

Rudiments of the world; The diehard religious man that defines life based on the laws of Moses, the old testament without giving definition and finding values of the law through the Cross of Christ as being the fulfillment of the law. This is the life lived outside of the grace of God, through man’s attempt to live life based on esoteric and metaphysical principles as laid down by ancient religious gurus in societies and not after the Christ.

So, in the words of Paul who has walked through all these enemies of the Cross with religious zeal. He said ,

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

Nothing therefore in life can suffice to meet the demands of Godliness other than the life of Christ, the son of God within us.

Life is from within friends!

For Christ truly is ourLives

Col.3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

Anything external is religion and can’t do the job.

Let’s seek him from within that’s where he is .

As we avoid the sin of assumption, let us be mindful of our present state of being, and keep trusting the father to perfect that which concerns us in his will.It is he who is at work both to do of his good pleasure.

NEPIOS
Gal.4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

This word is nēpios- and it means, 1. an infant, little child 2. a minor, not of age 3. metaphorically childish, untaught, unskilled.
so her we see a child in the house but such an infant as the verse so described and this best describes so many within the body of Christ today.

TEKNON
1 John 3 :1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew

The word used here is : teknon and it means —
1. offspring, children a. child b. a male child, a son c. metaphorically 1. the name transferred to that intimate and reciprocal relationship formed between men by the bonds of love, friendship, trust, just as between parents and children.

The same word used is John 1:12. ” But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

Here they have taken on the identity of the family they are born into, It is simply the function of or the new birth in the kingdom with God as our father.

HUOIS
Rom.8:.19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
The word used here is huios which speaks of a son that can take responsibility of and for the father.
The very word that the Father used for Jesus at the time of water Baptism
Math. 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

With this the father declared openly as in the Jewish custom that the son has come to the place of maturity and so can sign his signature and run the estate on his behalf,. Right from this moment the demons could recognize and even the wind obeyed him because they were all responding to the fathers proclamation that all heaven and earth should obey him.This is the realm that creation is waiting for even like when he rose from the grave in a glorified body.

Everything we see presently as wonderful as the signs and wonders could be are still in the realms of gift, and we rejoice in that because it gives us a forstate of things to come,

BEN
Isa.62:5. 5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

The word here is Ben, ; a son (as a builder of the family name), one born, bough, branch, breed,

The very word used to describe Joseph in Egypt as a fruitful bough, . These are sons who have come to the place of building on the family name by implication, they are fathers to the rest of the people as Joseph was to Pharoah and to his own fathers house in Egypt. This is no chicken stage of sonship, but men who create or birth things in the universe just like Joseph took charge in Egypt and turned over the entire economy of the nations round unto Pharoah .These shall be the sons turning the kingdoms of this would to that of the father, the are the Bens.

Like in Isaiah, 65, he who marries is he who can provide as fathers should, so here we are talking of those who can provide for the church. Jesus was the son of Mary but yet he was her saviour., even after Joseph ‘s death, he provided for the family through his carpentery business, That is what Ben is.

Note that all of these are truly to be realised by the inworkings of the Holy Spirit as we yield our members to him and allow the Christ within to grow in us.

Friends, let us strive in obedience to become who the father intends us to be and avoid a presumptuous spirit of undue proclamations that keep bringing a reproach to the name of the father. I know the father has the best in mind for us, he wants to raise and proclaim his sons that creation is waiting for, we are mindful of that and we longed for it.

~ Dr. David O. Ogaga

The adoption to full sonship, our glorification.

Acts 1: 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Have you ever wondered that Jesus never healed a single person after resurrection? Infact there is no record of that for the forty days that he walked the Earth. I asked why? It is because his true sonship was revealed only after he rose from the grave.

“ He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” Rom.1:3-4).

When he rose, he became flesh and bones and no more flesh and blood.(Luke 24:36-44).He now had a body that defile restrictions and the force of gravity if you will though he also did vanished from the midst of people when he was to be killed.

But at stage of his ministry, he never healed or raised anybody from the grave or death at this stage of his life like he did to Lazarus, because has he done so, that person will still have been alive till today.

All the people he healed in his three and half years of ministry still died and got buried. That tells us that, that phase of his ministry wasn’t the ultimate. That was in the realm of ‘the son of David according to the flesh’.

But after resurrection, he will then only impart the incorruptible life to whatever person or object that he will raise up. Just like Peter will say “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3: 6).What was Peter having, it was the healing power of the risen Christ that was flowing through his bones.

Now, for Christ he was no longer living by the limitations of the Earth realm associated with all of Adam’s race, but rather his was completely now a new creature of God, not the seed of David according to the flesh anymore

That beloved is the perfect example of our sonship in its fullness. Therefore we are told

Rom.8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?.

So what hope are we dealing with here? Look at this, talking about the work of the redemption of the Christ in us.

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”. Eph.1: 13-14.

Again.” And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption”. (Eph.4: 30)

( [He has also appropriated and acknowledged us as His by] putting His seal upon us and giving us His [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise]. Ampl. 2 Cor 1:22 AMP. Did you see it? Sealed to the day of redemption!.

Now where is the Spirit?. In our hearts!.

The phrase “And given the earnest of the Spirit” (ton arrabwna tou pneumatov). Speaks of this seal in our spirit that guarantees our acceptance with the Father God, telling us that our ways are pleasing to the lord.

But above all, the word there translate pledge actually signifies an earnest of something promised; a part of the price agreed for between a buyer and seller, It speaks of a deposit, which was to be restored when the thing promised was given. And this is very important.

So we can see in Eph 1:14;that the Holy Spirit being an earnest in the heart, and an earnest of the promised inheritance means a security given in hand for the fulfilment of all God’s promises relative to grace and eternal life.

Now what was it that was bought?

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”. (1 Cor.6: 20). So the whole of man, that is made up of spirit, soul and Body (1Thes.5:23) was bought with the precious blood of Jesus.

Therefore, if the seal in our spirit is the pledge, and knowing that man is made up of spirit soul and Body, what will the full payment qualify us for? The redemption of our body of course!.

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body”. (Rom.8: 22-23)

That tells us that this body of corruption must receive another body, which is the Body of Glory, the very same Body that Jesus had after resurrection. It is called the Body of flesh and Bones and not flesh and Blood. .(Luke 24:36-44).

Let me now quote extensively here from the word of Apostle Paul again.

1 Cor.15: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

We therefore can see that all bodies are not the same. Let us not be deceived, this body of corruption is not ultimately the Body that the Father intends us to have. We have indicated earlier on that Adam had a glorified Body before the fall, and that’s the Body that we ultimately are going to have, that is truly our sonship Body. The very Body that was revealed on the mount of transfiguration.

So the word says.

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.( Rom.8: 24-25)

So what hope our seeing here? It is the hope of a glorified Body which is the redemption of the purchase possession. So salvation is not complete until our Bodies are redeemed into the same image as that of the lord’s when he rose from the grave. That my friend is the fullness of our sonship. What has been redeemed is our spirit, awaiting that of our Bodies.

Therefore “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”. 2 Cor3:17-18.

“All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” (Verse 18. MSG)

To have the patient to wait for this is a major trial of our sonship.

(c) 2017 – Dr. David O. Ogaga