She found him on his way back from work. He looked worked out. "You look so tired and need something that will refresh you" she observed. "Yes. I did a lot today, much more than I have done in the past weeks" "Would you mind some fruits?"
"Won‟t mind anything that will relief me of some stress?" he said as he took a bite of the fruit. "This is so delicious. Haven‟t tasted this before in this garden." He finished the first and took another fruit. "Which part of the garden did you pick this from?"
"Around the Euphrates"
"Euphrates? Which of the trees"
"The one at the farthest end of the river, surrounded by the olive trees, not too far from the biggest fig tree in the garden" Is that not the tree that we have been asked not to eat from, the tree of the knowledge of good and bad?"
"Yes it is. Crafty Curl came around. I saw him eat it and he did not die, so I took a bite and I loved it and I thought you would like it too."
"Oh no. You should not have done that. I warned you." He said bitterly. "Mr. Gracious Being will be crossed with us now."
Their eyes were opened instantly and they saw each other‟s nakedness. They both wondered why they were naked. They were so ashamed of their nakedness that they had to cover themselves with leaves. They both felt very bad of their actions.
"Maybe I should have listened to you." Evelyn Beauty apologized.
"No need crying over spilled milk. The deed is already done." He said, making her feel more remorseful.
Mr. Gracious Being came to the garden in the evening to play with them as He always did. But they were too frightened to meet him. They were naked and ashamed. A feeling of guilt enveloped them. Mr. Gracious Being was not too pleased with their actions, and so punished them for it. He sent them away from the gardens. The man will have to labour before he eats, and the woman will give birth in great pains.
This was the beginning of the problem that has spanned many generations up till now. It is the story of how man fell from grace to grass. The first man ever created, Adam nicknamed Adams Strong in this story, and the first woman, Eve identified as Evelyn Beauty, were deceived by the devil who came in the form of a snake (Crafty Curl) to disobey the most Gracious Being on earth, God.
This caused an interruption in the wonderful relationship between God and man. Adam and Eve used to enjoy the presence of the Lord in good measures. God usually came to the garden from time to time to play with them, until this nasty incident happened. The devil, not pleased with the situation of things, succeeded in destroying the relationship between God and man.
The reason God created man in the first place was to continually have fellowship with man, so that after man‟s days on earth, he may proceed to heaven to continue his fellowship with God. God was so sad because the action man took put an enmity between man and almost thwarted God‟s eternal purpose for creating man. Man no longer could reach God and God could not relate with man again because sin has entered the bloodstream of man.
Since man was created to worship and fellowship with God, there is always a desire in man to seek for ways to relate back to God. There is always a longing in man to be at peace with God. So man started looking for avenues to relate back to God, and he tried all that he could do, but nothing was sufficient enough to bridge the gap between man and God.
This thirst for God is still in man up till now. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, man has tried so many ways to come back to God because of this hunger in man. All that man tried are just physical means of reaching back to God. But the problem was not a physical one, so all the physical solutions man proposed could not solve this spiritual problem.
Man finally settled for one thing – sacrifices. They make sacrifices every time for their sins. This seemed to work for a while, but man always had to offer sacrifices from time to time. This is because they discovered that ones you can spill blood on the altar, God will be at peace with man for a while, then his anger will rise again. So they have to offer sacrifices often: daily sacrifices, weekly sacrifices, monthly sacrifices, annual sacrifices and „every-now-andthen' sacrifices.
After a while, God himself now determined to help man. Instead of this continuous spillage of blood, God decided to spill a „once-and-for-all‟ blood. This seemed to be the final solution to the problem of sin in the human race as it will cleanse everyone‟s blood and there will not be any need for other blood sacrifices again. This will close the gap between God and man and mankind will eternally be at peace with God again.
As good as this plan looked, there was another problem with it. Every man who was born on earth was born a sinner. This is because man does not become a sinner by sinning; man is a sinner by nature. Our first father, Adam, was a sinner, and so everybody that comes through his lineage will always be a sinner. It is in the gene.
This became another issue; no man born with the gene of another man can save the world. God needed the blood of one who does not have the genetic traits of Adam in his bloodstream to become the savior of the world, and no man in the world was qualified to do that. If a man born with the DNA of another offers his blood as sacrifice, there will still be sin in his blood. So, his blood will not be adequate to atone for any sin, even his own, talk less of others. This is because sin is not in the act but in the blood.
That is why you don‟t teach small kids to steal; they just naturally begin to steal. Which school will a 4yr old kid go to, to know how to lie? It comes naturally, because sin is in the blood. To cleanse the sin in the blood, you need a man who does not have sin in his blood to die and shed his blood as a sacrifice for the remission of the sins of men.
The only person who was qualified to do this was Jesus. All the religious books in the world, testify to it that Jesus‟ birth has no male intervention. It is in the Christian religious book called the Bible. It is in the Muslim religious book called the Quran. He has no human gene in his blood. It was a miraculous birth that science cannot explain.
To prove that there was no sin in him, when he came to the world, he lived a sinless life. He went everywhere doing good. He healed the sick, raised the dead, delivered the oppressed and he set captives free. Even contrary to the philosophy of the religious leaders of his days who believed that on a particular day of the week you don‟t perform miracles, He still did. There was no single record of sin about him because there was no trace of sin in him.
When it was time for him to die, you will think a good man like him who lived a good life that affected millions of people in good ways will die a peaceful death. You would think He deserved a very nice and befitting burial, with so much funfair and celebration to mark a life well spent. Jesus also would have loved to die that way; but if he had died that way, there will be no sin-stained blood again to spill to save humanity. Man will still have to continually spill the blood of goats and rams, to atone for sins.
When it was time for him to die, the religious leaders convinced the masses to demand for his crucifixion. The leaders of the community thought they could save him from this gruesome death that awaits him by offering the people who were clamoring for his death an alternative. They brought the worst criminal in the land on one side and brought Jesus who has no record of any evil deed on the other hand, asking them to choose who they want to be freed. They did this innocently because they thought they could help Jesus and save him from the hands of those who hated him. They felt it was the religious leaders who influenced the masses to decide the fate of Jesus, knowing that Jesus was a good man.
So the political leaders brought Jesus and the thief to the public scene and announce to them "I want to release one person out of these two. This man here has stolen your goods, killed your husbands, tormented your wives, embarrassed your youths, kidnapped your sons, raped your daughters and had done all the terrible things you can imagine in this land. We have held him in custody for a long time, and that is why there is some measure of peace in the land. On my right side is the man Jesus, whom you all know. He has been going to your temples to heal your sick, raise your dead and has done all manner of good things. Who do you want me to release to you?"
You would have thought they would have said unanimously "release Jesus", because among them, was the man whose son was always had epilepsy and Jesus healed, among them were those that were blind that Jesus had given sight to, among them was Lazarus who was dead for four days before Jesus raised him from the dead, with Mary and
Martha, his immediate family. Jairus the priest, his daughter that was brought back to life, the wife and all the sympathizers were all there. But the loudest voice that day unanimously said "crucify him".
The people who were clamoring for his death that day were not the one who took the decision. It was in the plan and purpose of God that Jesus had to die, that his blood had to be spilled so there can be a once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin of humanity. So Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead to complete the work of salvation of men, because his death was useless without him rising from death.
With Jesus‟ resurrection, God was happy because man can now relate back to God like it was in Eden Gardens. Sons of men do not need to offer sacrifices again because this sacrifice is a once and for all sacrifice. All men need do is to believe that Jesus had spilled his blood on earth for the remission of all of their sins. Once man can accept this pure blood by faith, an end comes to his struggle to look for ways to please God. He can now be reconnected back to God without any more sacrifice.
However, here comes the problem with humanity – mortal reasoning. Man begins to wonder, how can just accepting one man‟s blood as a sacrifice for me be enough for my sins? I have been offering sacrifices of bigger animals every year before now. How will just accepting somebody‟s blood, someone I do not know before, work for me?
This reasoning makes it more difficult for man to appreciate the blood spilled on the cross. Man began to look for alternatives. He continued in search of ways to please God. But God keeps telling man, you don‟t need all of these ways you are looking for. The sacrifice I desire has already been paid! Man still does not understand. One man‟s blood cannot just be enough, there must be other additional ways to please God, and that way they must find by all means!
Some of them feel, "may be if I begin to wear a particular style of cloth, either at home or to the place of worship from now on, and I tie a particular turban on my head, or I wear a particular color of cloth every day, I will be connected back to God."
God looks at them and say, "I don‟t have any problem with whatever material, style or color of cloth you choose to put on. If you like you can decide to put on white or red all the days of your life. But you must first do the foundational thing, which is to accept the blood that has been shed for the remission of your sins." This, man seems not to want to understand.
Some people feel, "maybe if I pray multiple times in a day, pray in the morning, afternoon and evening, and add one prayer session in between each so I can have five prayer times every day, God will be merciful to me and
reconnect me back to him."
God looks at them and say, "I don‟t have any problem with your multiple times of prayers per day. If you like, pray a million times a day. But you must first do the foundational thing, which is to admit that Jesus died to save you from the grip of your sins and by him alone. You can be reconnected back to God." This, man seems not to understand.
Some people feel, "maybe if I go to a specific location, to go and seek God‟s face, like, go to the wilderness to seek God‟s face, or the peak of a very high mountain top to pray, or travel so far to the holy land, say, Jerusalem or Mecca, where the originator of this religion lived, maybe it will reconnect me back to
God."
God says "I do not have any problem with all of these. You can go anywhere to pray. You can go for excursions and sightseeing on your holy pilgrimage trips. But you must first do the foundational thing, which is to admit that only Jesus‟ blood can deliver you from your sins and give you eternal life." This, man seems not to understand.
Some people feel, "how can you ask me to believe in a God I have not seen. Why not allow me make an image, and put eyes, nose and mouth on it. If I begin to worship this image, God will see my effort in trying to reach him and may reach back to him."
God looks at him and say "see a foolish man. I have presented the acceptable route to you. What other image do you want? Why will you prefer an image over me, the creator of the whole world?"
Some people feel "maybe if I join my father‟s religion, and do what they do in this religion, maybe it will reconnect me back to God."
God says "you don‟t need religion. All you need is Christ. Once you have Christ, religion becomes nothing again.
Accepting Christ is starting a relationship with God, and only Him can give that relationship. Religion will only give you set rules, but only Christ can transform your lives.
Some people feel, "maybe if I just mingle with them in a place of worship and become a worshipper like them, maybe it will connect me back to God."
God says "it not just worshipping. It is about Christ who had a pure blood and was willing to share that blood for the remission of sins. Just accept him into your life, and you will have a
relationship with me."
Some feel, "how can it be that easy, it has to be a little difficult. How can I just be reconnected back to God like that, just by believing in one person? There has to be more. Let us make some rules, this is what you should eat and what you should not eat; this is what you should wear, and this is what you should not wear; everyone must fast for thirty or forty days every year; in fact let us not put on shoes to church again. Maybe if we punish ourselves, it will reconnect us back to God."
God says "don‟t just punish yourself for nothing sake. If you decide to punish yourself, God has no problem with it. But why punish yourself when you can have it easily and all you need to do is to believe that one person‟s blood was shed for the remission of the sins of the world.
Some feel, "it can not just be that easy. Salvation should demand much more from man than just believing in the blood of an innocent man. Let us make it a little difficult for ourselves. Maybe if we deny ourselves of jewelries and all the beautiful things of this world, it likely will reconnect us back to God.
God say "I don‟t have problem with jewelries. It is your choice to use or not to use. What I need is the foundational thing; give your life to Jesus. If you have not done this, you have not done
anything."
Some people say "maybe if I donate money to religious bodies, or if I even build religious structures for them, and ask them to write my name in front, if God sees it, he will be lenient with me and connect me back to himself".
God says "Building religious structures is a good things. But first, do the foundational thing, a blood has been shed on the cross of Calvary and all you need to do is to admit that the blood was shed for your sins and admit that the blood is enough for all of your sins. This, man finds difficult to do.
Some people say "if I do freewill offering, and I give food to the poor around me, and distribute money to all the beggars in all the bus stops around here, I am sure God will reconnect me back to him and give me peace."
God says "Alms giving and free will offerings are good. But until you admit the free will offering of the sacrifice Jesus made for you on Golgotha, all other sacrifices are useless.
This argument between man and God is a simple case. It is like a student seeking admission into the university who has not written the qualifying examination, but thinks "maybe if I attend lectures faithfully every day, although class starts 8:00am, if I get to class 6:00am every morning, stay in class till 10:00pm daily, even if class ends at 4:00pm. If the lecturers see my commitment and my faithfulness, they will understand that I am a good student and will be merciful enough to grant me the admission. You know he will only deceive himself. Things do not work that way. Since he has not done the main thing, whatever other things he does, no matter how good, is not reckoned with. But the moment he does the right thing, every other act of good he does, no matter how insignificant before man, counts before God.
You cannot save yourself by your own terms; you can only save yourself by God‟s terms. It is only when you do what your situation requires that you enjoy what your life desires. God says all that man needs is just to believe that the blood of Jesus was shed for his sins.
To do what God expects of you, all you need is just to take these four simple steps:
1. Admit that you are a sinner.
2. Admit that the penalty of your sin is death.
3. Acknowledge that you cannot help yourself.
4. Accept God‟s solution to your problem.
Of all the religious leaders that ever lived, only one person said boldly, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He did not say "I am one of the ways".
I hereby gladly present to you today the blood that was shed for the remission of your sins, the only way you can be reconnected back to God, Jesus Christ the savior of the world. If you are ready to accept him into your life, just say this prayer right now where you are.
Lord Jesus, I have now recognized myself as a sinner. I have discovered that none of my works of righteousness is adequate in itself to save me from the grip of sin. I agree that the penalty of my sin is death, and I acknowledge that only the blood of Your son Jesus that was shed on the Cross of Calvary for the remission of sins can save me from this eternal separation from You. I accept your solution to my problem. I ask that Jesus come into my life, cleanse me of every iniquity, and make His abode in me. Write my name in the Book of Life, and give me the grace to live for Him the remaining days of my life, so that I can reign together with Him in eternity. Thank you for answers to my prayers, in
Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
If you just prayed this prayer, I will like to congratulate you. I can confidently assure you that your name is now written in the book of life. For other materials that can help you live the kind of life God expects you to live so that you can become the person He desires, please contact us with the details below:
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If you are a believer who needs to rededicate your life to the Lord, you can also contact the address above.
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For all those who have been blessed by this message, I will like to hear your testimonies.
Remain in the Lord,
Sam O Salau
Twitter: @samosalau
www.samosalau@yahoo.com