The
changes that are required to give our future generations hope for a better future are
basically two-folds:
1.
Do not be conformed to this world.
The
question is, why should we not be conformed to this world? The simple answer is
that one must take into consideration the fact that, the whole world is under the
sway of the devil, the system by which the world operates is not of God but it
is of Satan. He is the god of this age who has blinded the minds of those who
do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine on them.
One
important thing that we should bear in mind is that, the gifts and the calling
of God are irrevocable. Therefore, when God said; "Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over
every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." This is irrevocable,
But
unfortunately, Satan seized control of the world from Adam, when he deceived
Eve, and she fell into transgression and supported by Adam. God again
reinstated the ruler ship and dominion of the world to man through a dream by
king Nebuchadnezzar and a vision by the prophet Daniel. With Nebuchadnezzar's
dream he dreamed of an image whose head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of
silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of
iron and partly of clay, which Daniel interpreted to represent four ruling
kingdoms on earth, until the stone struck the image and became a great mountain,
representing the kingdom of God and filled the whole earth.
Now
in the case of Daniel´s vision, he saw four great beasts coming up from the
sea, each different from the other: Those great beasts, which are four, he
said, “are four kings which arise out of the earth”, and with regards to the
fourth beast Daniel said, “The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, trample it and break it in pieces” (Daniel 7:23).
Now
it is clearly stated that; “The dragon (Satan the devil) gave him (the fourth
beast) his power, his throne, and great authority”. Now history shows that this
fourth beast or kingdom is the Roman Empire because, the first ruling empire
was the Chaldean or Babylonian Empire ruled by king Nebuchadnezzar, the second
was the Persian Empire; the third was the Grecian empire and the fourth kingdom
beginning from 200 BC is the Roman Empire with its many rise and falls.
When
Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit into the wilderness being tempted for forty
days by the devil who took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and said to Him, “All this authority
I will give you, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give
it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be
yours.”
Note
carefully that the Lord did not refute or disprove Satan's claim of ruler ship
but simply responded by saying; “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You
shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve” (Luke 4:5-8).
On
three occasions Jesus Christ confirmed the fact that He is not the ruler of
this world. On the first occasion when the time had come for Jesus to be
glorified, He said to the people, "Now is the
judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all
peoples to Myself." On the second
occasion when Jesus Christ promised the disciples the Holy Spirit Jesus said to
them, "I will no longer talk much with you,
for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" (John 12:31-32; 14:30).
And on the third occasion Jesus again promising the disciples the
help of the Holy Spirit and said to them, "Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not
go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you. And when He has come, He will
convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no
more; of judgment, because the ruler of this
world is judged" ( John 16:7-11).
But
there is good news in that, the saints of the Most High shall receive the
kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.' Therefore,
our admonition is to “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins,
and lest you receive of her plagues.”
Jesus
Christ in praying to the Father on behalf on His disciples said, “I have given
them your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you should take them out of
the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14-16).
As
believers therefore,
although we are living in the world, we are however not of
the world and should not be conformed to it by practicing its customs and
traditions.
To
be continued
With
brotherly love
Lucius
Joseph
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