PASTOR OLUWASEYI OSANYINBI
[biblegateway passage=”LUKE 2:1-19″ display=”LUKE 2:1-19″]; [biblegateway passage=”1 CORINTHIANS 15:53-55″ display=”1 CORINTHIANS 15:53-55″]
God gave signs all through scriptures but it is sad to see that people easily ignored those signs. The Church has not really learnt to decode and interpret signs today, we must be a people who can interpret signs properly.
It is interesting to see that God is committed to His plans. God caused Caesar Augustus to take the census of the whole world just to see to the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Jesus. God will go to any extent to ensure that things align with His will in our lives.
The census had to take place basically so that Jesus might be born in Bethlehem. God can interrupt the course of the world just so that His plans will come to fulfillment in our lives.
The Gospel is a quantum of good tidings. People have problems with the gospel because they find it difficult to separate the message of the Gospel from the messengers. The messengers may not be perfect but the message is ever sure.
The Gospel is good tidings of great joy because it brings deliverance from sin. The height of slavery is to be in the bondage of sin. God gave a sign that the baby Jesus would be wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger and this helped the wise men from the East to discover Him. Jesus’ advent brought peace and goodwill towards men. Goodwill is exceptional favour.
The response of every man to the good tiding is very crucial. The wise men went looking for Jesus from a far distance while the Scribes, Pharisees and Priests in Jerusalem ignored the signs. They ignored Jesus from birth till death and as such they missed their salvation.
The Jewish leaders preached every day about the Messiah but when He came they discarded the information. They didn’t go looking for Him even when it was obvious He was their saviour.
Mary kept the things told her about her coming son in her heart pondering them. In the same way, we do not have to discard God’s words even if we do not understand them in the mean time. Everything will tie up along the line. Mary finally had the complete picture of her son’s life when He went to the cross.
The coming of Jesus is to ultimately put paid to the question of sin death. Jesus came, saw and conquered death.
The words of the Lord are ever sure, they will always come to pass. We must learn to always hold on to His words, we can bank on them. We need to be sensitive to recognize divine signs.