I have been asking myself why if in heaven,there are no physical bodies,why did Jesus resurrect with his earthly / physical body?
And where did it go if in deed in heavens there are no physical forms of bodies? and finally,
Why did Jesus have to resurrect with his physical body?
The scriptures accounts of saint Paul to 1 Timothy,states as follows;
“For there is one God,and there is one who brings God and human beings together,the man Christ Jesus,who gave himself to redeem everyone.
That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved,and that is why I was sent as an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles,to proclaim the message of faith and truth. I am not lying; I am telling the truth.”( Lines 5- 7.)
Some of our feedbacks have requested us to at least clarify some of the scriptures contents in our previous reflections which to them were not exhaustibly explained.
Well,it may not always be easy for us to exhaustibly share our reflections content since we’re always just in control at the beginning,or at the headline of the reflections and once down to writing,do mostly lose control of what we write with the Holy spirit,who knows and understands all takes charge for the sake of his creation’s reconciliation with their maker.
However,we do appreciate your feedback and it’s them that energises and keeps us in motion in the midst of our scolding, misunderstandings and misgivings from our critics in this ministry,with others arguing our testimonies as our show of connections,unable to help in times of need.
Nevertheless, saint Paul’s letter to Galatians 4, states as follows:
“I beg you,my brothers and sisters,be like me. After all, I am like you. You remember why I preached the gospel to you the first time; it was because I was I’ll. But even though my physical condition was a great trial to you,you did not despise or reject me. Instead,you received me as you would Christ Jesus.
You were so happy! What has happened? I myself can say that you would have taken out your own eyes,if you could,and given them to me.
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Those other people show a deep interest in you,but their intentions are not good. All they want is to separate you from.me,so that you will have the same interest in them as they have in you…” ( Lines 12-20.)
Just as one asked why I said we the gospel propagators would bear heavy judgement penalties, the scripture reminds us that to him that much is given,much would be demanded from him.
This could be argued to be so as per the scriptures episode of saint Luke 11,which states as follows;
” How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in,and you stop those who are trying to go in!
When Jesus left that place,the teachers of the Law and the pharisees began to criticize him bitterly and ask him questions about many things,trying to lay traps for him and catch him saying something wrong.”( Lines 52- 54.)
One of the scriptures am asked to explain is that of saint James and the rust factor in our previous reflections and states as follows;
“Your gold and silver are covered with rust,and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire.
You have piled up riches in these last days. You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God,the Lord Almighty.
Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure…” ( James 5.3- 6)
One of the experiences I shared was an image of a good pastor friend of mine,whose car was covered by patches of rust as if it was hidden under ground for ages of time.
Yes,this pastor was graced with a divine ministry of it’s kind,and God one time had to use people mysteriously and in conjunction with us,had to know him even before we could meet physically,heard of him or seen him any where thus finally meeting and getting to know each other.
Having defined him his mission strategy and even went further with other requirements,the Lord finally blessed him abundantly.
But since our correction task is normally not welcomed by many,we had to warn him from time and again about some red flags calling for his attention, which somehow he didn’t like and eventually cut linked.
It was after that the Lord graced us with the above prophetic image,of which we also braved the storms and cold war and ensured reached him in time.
He at one time told us that he didn’t think if he would have any problem since he had made good money / accumulation of wealth and his bank account is in good shape that even if he’s discontinued from his pastoring ministry, he could still be able to lead a better life.
Well,this sounded arrogant but clearly reflects the magnitude of anger and bitterness toward our ministry.
I have been struggling also with such family tea cup storms from the intruding forces hellbent to portray myself as a failure amongst others making it next to impossible for me to sell any divine instructions for the family across,playing out as family power game,spilling over to the extended family,orphans we have been raising for twenty years.
However,with the holy spirit faithfulness,having kept me at tabs with evil parallel schemes,all have been replaying as that of Joseph’s biblical story episode.
It was till recently when one of my siblings hinted to me where he intend to build his house when the holy spirit convicted us that should he build there,it’s his death that is eminent,since the owner of that land had intentionally implanted charms there to kill him.
However, these are some of the divine revelations,whenever disclosed to their victims,do cause rage,bitterness as we’re always accused of threatening people with death,etc..while should we shy from their disclosure and death happens,that blood would be upon our heads.( Ezekiel 3.16-20.)
Such spiritual warfare dynamics demand a lot bearing in mind that we’re waging war on two different planes( spiritual and physical.) Thus the persecutions,hate,etc.
The rust image could thus be alluded to show that his accumulated wealth had been covered by rust, which will testify against his words and deeds,not unless he repents,humbles himself and obey the Lord’s word / instructions.
He could not even remember that his teachers of the gospel were also entitled to enjoy the benefits accrued from his ministry as per saint Paul’s letter to Galatians 6,titled bearing one another’s burdens,and reads as follows;
” Those who are being taught the Christian message should share all the good things they have with their teachers.
Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. People will reap exactly what they sow.
If they sow in the field of their natural desires,from it they will gather the harvest of death; If they sow in the field of the spirit,from the spirit they will gather the harvest of eternal life.
So let us not become tied of doing good; for if we do not give up,the time will come when we will reap the harvest.
So then,as often as we have the chance,we should do good to everyone,and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith.”( Lines 6- 10.)
We could at times ask or beg for help whenever our ministry is in need as always is prompting us to go out and reach at our partners to assist us but neglected / ignored.
These could be argued to reflect the wages not yet paid to those who work in our / their lives fields and the cries of those who gather in your crops having reached the ears of God,the Lord Almighty.( Lines 4 & 5.)
Whenever God’s minister begs or cries for help in their ministries,they cry to God in prayer to attend to their needs while those expected to help,fellow human beings not angels, them ignore,it’s the above rust incidence that takes place.
This reminds us of how the divine economics operates,with God having strategically positioned his people as stewards in his economic chain of resource distributions.
The above concept could be alluded to refer to countless parables in the bible as that of the shrewd manager( Luke 16),the parable of the talents,the parable of the three servants,( Matthew 25.14..),etc
I remember when the Lord was giving me this ministry in the year 2002, I didn’t have a job and thus was in a prayer session seeking God for a job blessings.
However,his rude answer shocked me at 10am in the morning,as it presented itself as if God was complaining to me as follows;
” You cry here asking me for a job while there are many things you can do like going to the chapel and pray for my people who find a lot of problems / challenges on their way to work,others mistreated and abused at their places of work,etc.”
I was praying for a paying work to meet my immediate basic needs while the Lord was giving me a none paying job as per one’s plane of perception without any immediate attention to my pressing basic needs.
Nevertheless,,this became to me an eye opener and learnt that God’s peoples’ needs take precision to my personal needs,pushing me to get out of myself and stretch myself beyond my comfort zones of self / egocentricism,a concept / life mechanism that has taken me an enormous period of time to be able to grasp.
The concept of incarnation could be alluded to be Christ’s witness process of assuming human nature,living in human nature to enable him acquire through experience that emotional intelligence to reconcile man back to God.
This is what Timothy testifies as,
” For there is one God,and there is one who brings God and human beings together ( reconciliation),the man Christ Jesus”.( Lines 7.)
It could be argued that it’s this Jesus assuming human nature that precipitated the introduction of a new command,
” That of love for God and neighbour.”
It could be said that Jesus anticipated that it’s only our Love for the neighbour that would enable us to recognize Christ in each other and be moved / drawn to them through empathy that would always manifests God’s miracles / touch into our lives.
This could as well be related to the gospel of John 5,as follows:
“I am telling you the truth: the son can do nothing on his own; he only does what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does,the son also does. For the Father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing.
He will show him even greater things to do than this,and you will all be amazed. Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,in the same way the son gives life to those he wants to.” ( Lines 19- 22.)
The above sonship identity has been transferred to all of us God’s elect,through adoption as per Paul’s epistles to Romans 8.26,made possible by the incarnation,birthing Man Christ / God,currently at work in our lives,the human person of Christ.
I remember myself initially scared by some experience that made me doubt myself control to opposite sexes and I thought that I had a serious problem..
I could feel so much attracted in emotions to people,especially women,God could bring my way to help,until when I realized the same with men,when the inner voice told me that was God’s manifestations for his people in me since I can’t be able to pray for the one I don’t love.
It was later that I was able to learn that love is sacrificial,since in most cases when you begin to pray for someone,as you dig deeper in the spiritual progression,dynamics do tend to shift especially when the said person could turn out to be your most fierce rival / enemy and it’s only this love that would always keep one hopefully hanged on as he minister for God’s glory.
This could be argued to be why some theologians have so far argued that it was not the nails that held the wounded body of Christ on the cross but his love for mankind,the same which applies to our case,as the cost of following Christ.
But such belief system of Man God,human person of Christ demands for a mental shift, which could be relatively linked to the biblical episode of Moses’ Rock water experience.
This could be read as the moment when the Israelites were on their way to the promised land through the desert when they felt thirst for drinking water with no water source at their vicinity.
We read also that this was an eleven days walk but instead took them fourty years due to their negative creative energies to effect a divinely orchestrated manifestations.
This was when God prompted Moses,their leader at Merriba,to hit the rock for water to gushed out for their drinking.
This could be allude to point them to a shift in their thinking to enable them secure their salvation rapidly, by understanding and obeying God’s ways,precepts or divine instructions.
That could be said to be why Moses was reprimanded to hit the Rock,a symbol of Christ himself,meaning they drunk from the fountain of Christ,the Rock,himself,but there was also some action in some certain ways,that of hiring the rock by their leader.
The above can only be described in quantum physics as an act of bending a steel object,something that calls for a shift in one’s thinking,to create room for the creative manifestation attractive power,called desire.
This could as well be referred to by Management gurus as “Organized planning,” able to birth the crystallization of desire into action in some certain way.
But why could it be that people we start with in ministry as being friendly,all of a sudden turn out to be our enemies?
Saint Paul states in his letter to the Galatians 4,as follows;
“…how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?( Lines 9 & 10)
This could be alluded to be so due to in the process of rebuilding God’s Temple,and by the word Temple here,we refer to saving human beings from their fallen state,the change of heart is always anticipated since their oppressors are bound to hit back in revenge.
This could be threatening and scaring to them as the real truth, Jesus himself begin to reveal himself to them and they begin to realize / recognize their identity.
This normally is accompanied by various revelations dawning on them while at the same time realize that they lack the capacity to manage that eminent change,as referred to by the scriptures accounts of Ezra 4, which reads as follows;
“…. We want your majesty to know that the Jews who came here from your other territories have settled in Jerusalem and are rebuilding that evil and rebellious city.
They have begun to rebuild the walls and will soon finish them. Your majesty,if this city is rebuilt and it’s walls are completed,the people will stop paying taxes,and your royal revenues will decrease…” ( Lines 12 -16)
The salvation mission in God’s people is what could be referred to as rebuilding the Temple for the Lord’s worship,from destruction.( Ezra 5.11-16)
It’s also learned that while in captivity,these slaves were paying taxes and royal revenues.
These could be argued to be the costs they used to incur in consultations to magicians,witchdoctors,fortune tellers,which ranges from beards of cattle to money,properties such as houses,vehicles,etc as a means of appeasing these gods for wealth multiplications.
The above could be argued to referred to by Jesus,in Luke 22, as follows:
“For I tell you that the scripture which says ,’He shared the fate of criminals,’ must come true about me..” ( Line 37.)
These are the fate of criminals,taxes and revenues initially meant for the kingdom of darkness,Christ now expects to be used in rebuilding God’s temple.
The above could be argued to somehow try to answer some of my initial questions at the introduction part of the reflections.
We learn that once in union with Christ,in our walk with him in seeking to attain that Christ’s like nature,where by our physical human nature transfigures into the divine nature as was witnessed in the gospel episode of Mathew 17,the transfiguration.
This episode reflects the three persons who appeared in human nature and managed to be exemplary witnesses of the resurrection.
We learn that prophet Elijah,who was one of the witnesses of the resurrection in the transfiguration episode was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire in his bodily form.
We witness also Moses,whose face used to radiate rays of brightness while addressing the Israelites,a sign of transfiguration of his time,something that could be argued to mean that his body was also resurrected with the spirit just as Elijah and Jesus,but subject to theological gurus perspective.
Could that be argued to mean why the angel had to rebuke the devil who was claiming Moses’ body at death?
It could be argued that man’s physical body can’t foretaste the fruits / power of the resurrection ,thus the mortification process,which somehow could be argued to mean dying to bodily form, senses,pleasures,and cravings to tap into the mechanism of spirit filled man / Christ.
We witness a lot of disturbing experiences in our modern world where people no longer see their colleagues in God’s image, thus the various injustices,ruthless murders vented at mankind.
This could be argued to reflect how strayed man is from God,don’t know God or his ways / laws,what Jesus did at the incarnation.
This continuous separation of man from God is directly relative to man’s separation to his neighbour / brother,due to ego contests,hate,prejudices,injustices all results of materialism and self centeredness,self gratification / worship.
This makes it impossible for man to even believe any gospel messenger in form of man,thus unable to even believe the Lord’s message through those avenues, human beings, thus reneging on divine instructions which finally cost them their salvation.
This could be alluded to be why in saint Paul’s letter to Timothy above,states as follows;
“…For there is one God,and there is one who brings God and human beings together,the man Christ Jesus. Who gave himself to redeem everyone.” ( Lines 5 – 7.)
The above Scripture reminds anybody seeking God’s salvation,that it would only be made possible through the man Christ,and not through anything / means beyond this physical plane creation,since Jesus had delegated that responsibility to his earthly men followers not celestial beings / angels,thus the revision of the commandments as Love for neighbour / brother and that for God.
It continues that none can love the God not yet seen but has to love the man god he sees,which eventually would translates to loving the unseen God.
The above is what we have consistently been arguing to mean,the physical must corroborate the spiritual before any divine manifestations could be effected.
This process where human body having attained Christlike nature tend to “sublime ” or transform to the spiritual aspect of being with the physical body nature having wasted itself away,remains a mystery to date.
Best wishes for an inspired blessed weekends.
God’s blessings and Love,
Maurice.
Purposeful way of creation 