What Advantages Has the Christian?

Hello. Welcome to this blog post! We have considered the above question in two previous posts and we shall now dig in a bit more thoughtfully.

We had laid a foundation that Christianity emerged from Judaism, and that the distinction between the two religions is that Christians believe in Jesus as Messiah, and consequently have the advantages or effect of Christ's redemptive work.

Jesus as Messiah, claimed to be the Son of God whom God had sent according to the holy writ of the Jews - the Laws and the Prophets - to deliver Israel from their sins. All that is required of the people is to believe and put their faith on him. He had suffered, died and resurrected according to all that was written of the expected Jewish Messiah, but like I had explained previously, he didn't meet the valuation of the Hebrews because they expected a political leader. The leaders of Israel also were blinded by jealousy that they just wouldn't acknowledge him as saviour despite him fulfilling the fore-telling of their earlier revered spiritual leaders.

He indeed came to save them from Sin, which had been the real cause of separation of the nation of Israel from the True God, but the people supposed Christ had come to deliver them from the rule of the nation to which God made them servants only because of their continual disobedience.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit... He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. (Isaiah 11:1,12; NIV)

Sin had really first appeared in the world in the Garden of Eden when Adam disobeyed God by listening to his wife Eve, to eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It had taken advantage of this singular God's law given to the first Adam to freely eat of every fruit in the garden save one, and took occasion of the same falling short to make itself present with man till this day. The effect of which was that man could then sin, for his conscience became awakened to tell between right and wrong after partaking of that fruit.

The partaking of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil made it possible that man could then sin, for without such knowledge, sin had no place itself. Sin is violation of God's law.

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (Romans 7:7; NIV )

God had formed man in his own image, after his own likeness - the man Adam was originally completely without sin, and I mean no nature of sin present in Him - he had no experience of it, and thus no pleasure for it. It was not his nature to do evil or disobey God.

In the immediate times after the Eden story, while sin became present with mankind, in that it had become quickened in him the capacity to do evil, man was not subject to sin.

In fact, before Cain killed his brother Abel, God had called to him and asked him why he was angry and downcast, spelling out that he was rejected because he had not done rightly with his giving (N.B Cain's poor giving was sinful, for it was not of faith, even though it was of his freewill and not directly contrary to any direct God's command, as we had Adam).

But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14 vs 23; NIV)

Let's take on board this fact! Sin is failing to act according to the knowledge of God; while it is by Faith that God is revealed to us.

This is why the origin of sin is not believing in the only true God; and what is revealed in the Gospel is the wrath of God against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Yea, I had much digressed! Let's go back to Cain.

Cain had not directly disobeyed any God-dictated pattern of gift here; both he and his brother had brought voluntary gifts to the Lord. It had naught to do with the fact that Cain brought plants rather than animals either, as we might read from some Christian authors pushing this event as a mirror of the Abel's reliance on the sacrifice of Jesus, and Cain's lean on self-righteousness. Again, it was not exactly because of the worth of Cain's gift that he was rejected.

The proof of the above include that under the Law, plant produce were accepted as voluntary offerings, and Jesus weighed the widow's mite greater than the huge gifts of the rich in the temple. Moreover, like that Pharisee who was not accepted in the sight of God after his long prayers, Cain's heart was not right before God. He was not acting based on Faith. He mirrored Ananais and Sapphira and his giving was not wholesome. It probably was done grudgingly and not cheerfully - Failing to truly acknowledge God as source!

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work (2 Cor 9 vs 6-8)

Paul was instructing right giving while reminding his readers about the person of God - So that they would give by faith.

Let's really get back to talking about Cain's relation to sin.

After Cain erred with his offering and he was distraught God rejected both him and his offering, God called his attention to his sin and warned him keenly about Sin's next plan.

If you are doing what is good, shouldn't you hold your head high? And if you don't do what is good, sin is crouching at the door - It wants you, but you can rule over it (Genesis 4 vs 5).

Sin's presence at the door was a very important phrase here. The more Cain stayed in wrong doing, not repenting, he gave room for sin's dominion over him and he would lose the battle to master sin. Like Cain, mankind unfortunately more and more opened the door to sin till it mastered us and we became slaves to it. It began to order all of our lives so that we then all had the propensity to live according to it's desires.

By the 6th chapter in Genesis, God would already whine bitterly:

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5)

It's the same yet today; yea, we may be a worse generation than Noah's actually but that God has promised with the rainbow as token, not do destroy the earth with water again as it was in Noah's days.

However, what difference then does Jesus make for Christians today?

Christ redeems from the rule of sin over us and exactly reverses all of it's working as I have explained above. He liberates us from Sin's power over us and puts in us a new principle. He makes us sons of God, no longer dead (enslaved by) in our sins, but alive unto righteousness. God sent first begotten son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh (He liberated us from it's rule over us). He immediately puts us under a new rulership - puts his Spirit in us so that now we have a propensity to work righteousness, as many of us who believe in him and have God's Spirit in us.

So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit - and this power is ours through Christ Jesus - has freed me freed us from the vicious circle of sin and death. We aren’t saved from sin’s grasp by knowing the commandments of God because we can’t and don’t keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours—except that ours are sinful—and destroyed sin’s control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So now we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us (Romans 8 vs 1-4, TLB)

Christ also now is at the the door. He is knocking at the door. Are you reading this and you are yet to genuinely have Christ through the door of your heart? I tell you that he wants to come in through the door of your heart if you permit him. If you put your faith in his redemptive purpose for coming to this world, He will save you from all of sin's peril - It's pleasure, penalty and dominion over you.

And he will not only do these, he will fellowship with you. He will sup with you, he will teach you. He will be a true companion who will always strengthen you. He will rule over your heart with His staff of righteousness and bring you to reign with him at the end. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. He is at the door of your heart today. LET HIM IN IF YOU HAVEN'T.

I will continue to write to you from here next time.

Stay Blessed!