One evening, I was reading bible stories to my children and I saw an interesting story. It is a story I had heard several times since I was young. I read it to them and then it hit me, the whole essence of the bible can be summed into a paragraph:
The “Not So Old” Story: God created the heaven and the earth. He also created man in His own image so that man will have dominion over other creatures and fellowship with Him (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:6-8, 1 Corinthians 1:9). Man fell short of God’s plan through disobedience and broke the relationship (Genesis 3:6-7 – “6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”). God sought to restore this relationship, through the law and prophets, until Jesus came (Romans 3:19-21, 8:3 – “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh”). Jesus came to earth to die for our sins and even though He was sinless, He died to remove our sins and restore us back into fellowship with God (i.e. back to the original plan God had for man).
You will agree with me that almost every Christian would have heard the story of why Jesus came to the world a number of times but sometimes when we hear or see a particular thing (song, jingle, story, advert, etc.) multiple times, we begin to overlook the “essence” and it begins to become “non-existent”.
The truth is, once you have given your life to Christ, you have been reconciled{to be reconciled means to settle or resolve} with God (Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17 -18). You now have the Spirit of God living within you, you are a Child of God and have everything that comes with it (Ephesians 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”). Part of the things you have as a child of God is spiritual blessing and it includes: healing, wisdom, redemption, grace, power, anointing, promotion, etc.
It is amazing how we spend our precious time chasing after what is already ours. The work of the Devil is to make us believe we do not have these things so that we suffer in the midst of abundance (John 10:10, Galatians 4:1-5). The essence of The “Not So Old” Story is that as a believer, you have been reconciled with God and you are a son and are above all (John 3:31, Ephesians 2:6, Galatians 4:6 – 7 – “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.“).
Don’t be deceived! Since we are sons of God, we already have all these blessing in Christ. We need to be thankful and appreciate God each day for what He has given us. We need to confess all that He has given us and with faith, manifest it even when it seems otherwise. Our Father “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17), so we should take after Him and do the same.
If you are not yet born again, you are yet to be reconciled to God, even if you are a “good person”. Every offspring of Adam i.e. the whole of humanity partook of this death (Romans 5:14 –“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come”). Sin nature became a way of life, and the reality for man.
The story of redemption (Jesus coming to die and reconciling man to God) is a story that has been told for centuries but it is still as powerful today as it was in the beginning. Hallelujah!!! Jesus has paid the price for man to be reconciled with God and all we have to do is to accept Him as our Lord and Savior (John 1:12 – “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,”)
If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, You can do so today by believing in His death and resurrection. You will receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life (the very life of God) will be yours forever. (Romans 10:9, John 3:16).
–Funmilola Odumuboni
