What is it that the Lord God intended to bring about through Jesus Christ? It seems many have clearly missed the point. If someone asks a Christian as to why Jesus had to die on the cross, the answer – for my sins and the sins of the world – would be imminent. Yet, from the manner in which the Christian world or the churches are proceeding forward, it is evident that the knowledge of what replaces in a person when his or her sins are removed, is poor. When a parched land is showered with rain, its dryness or uselessness is replaced with fertility. When one says that his or her sins were washed in the blood of Christ, their sinfulness must be replaced by what is called fertile i.e. God’s blessing. For this reason alone God sent His Son that many should inherit His blessings.
Blessings are of many forms. They should not always be quantified with money, and certainly wealth will not be the first ones to appear as a blessing. Count the many blessings that our predecessors belonging to the first century church have received. Money and its forms are not the first ones. The wealth, which has been before Christ and was never able to bring a minutest of change in a person with relation to God, will certainly not be the very first of blessings after Christ has been sacrificed to bring about perfection to man’s conscience. In other words, the reason Christ died on the cross is that man should no longer crave anything that causes to his detriment. Yet, what have the churches of Christ, the churches of God and many that call themselves as the churches belonging to Christ been doing? All who have dwelt and dwell on wealth to demonstrate as being blessed by God have been made fools by the devil.
The Lord God intended to bring blessings upon men through Jesus Christ. These blessings when replace the sins of man bring great joy. These are first the heavenly blessings. What has been causing sorrow, what has been the cause for weakness, what has been the cause for discontentment and what has been the cause for evil must all first be replaced for a pure conscience; and these can only be replaced by the heavenly blessings. For this reason, the Lord God prophesied saying “The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus” (Isaiah 35:1). When God sent Christ to save the world, He purposed that a man or a woman who believed in His Son should be filled with gladness, joy and blossom. There is nothing like being forgiven and then being filled with those that will no longer make men sin. This life would be like the crocus or a field of saffron (roses); it is beautiful to the eye, mind and soul. People with such life are the faithful. O, the crocus that God created!
Christians are called by God through Christ to be to Him a field of saffron. No Christian is crocus unless he has first inherited a heavenly blessing from God. One who inherits such a blessing will be a blessing to many. “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban” (Job 29:14). Ah! The righteousness and justice God has desired to see among men from the beginning. It is for the lack of these that Israel became wilderness and a wasteland to God. For what reason did God hate their offerings and sacrifices? Why did He no longer take interest and pride in the kings of Israel? Their conscience always remained dull to the desire of God. They also did not consider the Law as help from God. The churches these days are not any dissimilar to the functioning of Israel in those days. But, Christ was sent that the righteousness and justice God desired, and even once saw in His chosen ones, be now restored in all the earth. Hence, Jesus Himself became the righteousness and justice of God to all who believe in Him. If one has Christ in Him, and he in Christ, he has everything related to life and godliness. These are the blessings that one who claims Christ ought to be first filled with. Yet, churches are filled with rage, injustice, greed, lies and immoral life. Such churches have neither been created by God nor can they be of Christ. They want to be blessed, but do not desire the manner in which they should be blessed. They want to fulfill their every desire, but not with first seeking to obtain a heavenly blessing. Hence, they are running after that which can also be achieved apart from God i.e. wealth and its forms, and they are calling them His blessing. O, the injustice they do to God!
How has this injustice come about in the first place? It is because of those who have falsely preached Christ and for selfish reasons have turned the goodness of God into licentiousness. As if those who are already present are not enough, more and more are appearing in the name of Christ and they are leading many from sin to sin. These are flourishing by the power of Satan who has an everlasting enmity with God’s creation. They do not have the faintest idea of the importance of the last days; for, once the time has passed, there remains no opportunity. Rather than rescuing those under sin (calamity), they are delivering them to the power of everlasting death. Edom has done the same with the sons of Israel and God pronounced its punishment saying, “Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end” (Ezek. 35:5). But, what would be the case of those who have followed these false Christs? “He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening’” (Mk. 11:14).
Many churches and its preachers do not realize their present situation wherein their living for God no longer satisfies Christ. They could not satisfy Him, since they are not bearing fruit by the will of God. And if some join them, they only made them into one of their kinds. For this reason, they seem to be blessed and they feel as the blessed, but only because they carry the things that appear prosperous to this world. On these things they have set their eyes on and for this reason they claim Christ. Where is righteousness, where is justice? There is none, if no one can eat from them the fruit that first comes from God. They have been made fools by the devil. May God bless abundantly all the churches in all ways possible, because they first sought the heavenly blessings. There needs to be a huge turn around, if the churches must first seek the heavenly blessings. They have to attain to the point where they can judge between the true prophets and the false prophets; the true gospel and the misleading. Each one must take the responsibility to ask God for forgiveness, wisdom and guidance and search the word of God for accurate answers. When Christ, who is righteousness and justice, fills the elders or pastors, preachers and believers, they will have no other way, but to make the right call. “It seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul” (Acts 15:25). The apostles, who were made able by the word and the Spirit of Christ spoke with freedom and made the right calls and the churches flourished; wilderness and desert land was replaced by great joy and gladness. Blessings from God in many ways overflowed and they lacked nothing.
This will surely take place and will have to take place, if the churches desire to achieve anything beyond the physical things. I say this confidently, because we are not behind the veil as in the days of Moses to be hoping for the time when the true nature of God’s kingdom should be revealed. Whatever God has intended to bring about in us, He has provided us with the way to obtain them. He opened the seal of His will and the news that has evaded even the angels has been given to us, and this is the good news of Jesus Christ. “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him” (Eph. 1:9).
It would be utter foolishness for the churches of Christ and the churches belonging to God to disregard the kind intention of God. Firstly, because of those who now and in the past have understood His intention and obtained a witness. Second, because they have turned themselves into a wilderness and a wasteland for God by never obtaining a witness. What is it that the Lord God intended to bring about through Jesus Christ? “For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth” (3 John 1:3). To have known which blessings are of more importance and desperately needed is the sign of walking in the truth. This shall obtain a witness! Amen.