Jesus Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Humanity

Copyright © 2019 Uche C. Ekeh.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Scripture quotations from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-7170-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-7169-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019904016

iUniverse rev. date:     05/13/2019

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1   Jesus, the God-Man

Chapter 2   Humanity’s Access to God

Chapter 3   The Antecessor of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 4   The Church and the Kingdom of God

Chapter 5   The Author of Life

Chapter 6   The Firstborn Son of God

Chapter 7   Women in Ministry

Chapter 8   Jesus and the Triumph of Faith: The Gospel Not Yet Preached

Chapter 9   Jews and Gentiles: One New Man

Chapter 10   Beginning and Ending of God’s Revelation

Chapter 11   To the Atheist, Religious, and Unbelieving Crowd

Epilogue

Back Page

Appreciation

PREFACE

In a world full of ideologies representing every aspect of human thought, there ought to be something simple and pure that would give humanity a reason to reject the trifles of selfishness for something more enduring beyond the scope of the temporal universe. After all, life flows from the temporal to the eternal, and the length of eternity is a question that each person can answer only for him- or herself. One name alone rings with equanimity as the bridge between the visible and the invisible, the temporal and the eternal, and only that name can ultimately unify divinity and humanity. That is the name of Jesus, Son of man and Son of God.

The purpose of this book is to communicate that God sent His Son Jesus to offer Himself on the cross of Calvary for our sins as the only acceptable offering to appease the heart of a holy God whose word was violated, for the salvation of humanity. The Word of God clearly says that God demonstrated His own love to humanity in that while humanity was still in sin, Christ died for all (Romans 5:8). Stressing what God desires for all humanity, 1 Timothy 2:3–4 says, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Until the event of salvation, few men and women were wise enough to seek God. Notwithstanding, God through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has sought out people, from generation to generation, through whom He keeps His plans alive. His plan of salvation will culminate with the second coming of Jesus to earth and the rapture of the church, which brings to an end the era of all despots, both human and spiritual.

Heaven and hell are actual places in our cosmic world, though before Lucifer’s rebellion there was only one dwelling place for all the heavenly hosts. Hell was later added specifically and appropriately for Satan, his demons, and people who embrace and follow his wicked ways. Hell was not made for humanity, but heaven was. Anyone who ends up in hell has committed the ultimate sin of rejecting the Son of God, who willingly offered His life to save us from destruction.

The title of this book came to me after a man who had murdered his five children, but had refused to end his own life, realized that the voices that urged him to kill his own flesh and blood had lied to him. This man was held in custody at the maximum-security unit of South Carolina’s Department of Corrections, where I was assigned to supervise him. On his first night there, he asked me whether he would be able to see his children again. I told him that he would but that he was eternally doomed to hell unless he repented immediately. This is not how we usually witness as Christians, but I was horrified by his actions—and I let him know that. Then he asked whether there was anything Jesus could do to help him. I told him that Jesus could forgive his sins but that he needed to ask Jesus to forgive him quickly, right there and then. The thought that he might see the faces of his children in eternity, though not here on earth, comforted him greatly, and he immediately professed faith in God through Jesus.

The one thing not found in any religion is the atoning blood of Jesus, which extends the true grace of God in the forgiveness of sin to all humanity. As in the case mentioned above, the blood of Jesus atones for the sins of anyone who calls on His name for forgiveness and salvation. Satan is a filthy bloodsucker who steals, kills, and destroys. When he enters and demonizes a person, he causes them to operate at a level lower than the scum of the earth. On the other hand, Jesus is a life giver, healer, deliverer, provider, protector, and forgiver. Lest we forget, while He hung on the cross with His hands and feet pierced by Roman nails and blood dripping from the crown of thorns on His head, His prayer was Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34).

Anyone with a question that the Word of God cannot answer is no longer made in the image of God. Without question, Satan has settled in and taken over that person, who is destined for hell because they have denied their own humanity and divine essence. Religion is darkness and death, but Christianity is light and life.

God did not create man to die; death is the result of sin. When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is full grown, it brings forth death (James 1:15). For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Whatever the struggle, my friend Jesus is on the other side, in the moment and in eternity. He waits for you in the place of safety, peace, and joy, longing to welcome anyone who calls on His name into the kingdom of God. His call is uncomplicated and humbling. Come by faith, believe in what Jesus has done, and receive freely the gifts of forgiveness for your sin and salvation for your soul. Jesus alone can prevail over any situation in which we find ourselves. He is the best thing that ever happened to humanity.

CHAPTER 1

Jesus, the God-Man

One way of understanding incarnation is that God became man to God so that man can be God to man. This idea came to me as I was reading The Sinless, Sickless, Deathless Life by Frank N. Riale. This question arose in my spirit: Why did God become a man? And just as soon as the question arose, it was immediately answered by none other than the Holy Spirit. The answer is that God became man to God so that man can be God to man. The union between God and man in the person of Jesus the Christ of God is what incarnation is about. God in Jesus became a man for the purpose of the cross, death, burial, and resurrection from the grave, and thus He extended to man the divine nature of God. By this act, Jesus became the author of eternal salvation, the giver of life, and the finisher of the faith of those who believe in God through Him.

When Almighty God, the Creator of all things, decided to do away with the covenant that He had made with His chosen people, Israel, it became necessary for Him to replace animal sacrifice with the blood of a sinless sacrifice for the eternal redemption of humanity. At this juncture in the history of creation and redemption, a second Adam, taking the place of the first Adam, entered the natural realm and took the form of a man, in body and spirit, to demonstrate to all of humanity that man is made not to die but to enjoy eternity with God Himself. By God’s own definition and prescription, Almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22), referring to remission of the sin of man’s rebellion against God. The ritual of daily sacrifice had become a stench in the nostrils of God, especially since sinners were not made any better by the offerings of animal blood. Only Jesus, the Son of God and man, could appear before God in His own blood to appease the heart of God for humanity’s eternal redemption.

This is the history of the coming of Jesus, the Son of God, in human form to save the world from its sins. Moving from animal sacrifice to the sacrifice of the sinless and unblemished blood of the Son of God is also a lesson in the progress of redemption from Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden and through the flood to cover all of God’s dealings with humanity, beginning with His chosen people, Israel.

In Hebrews 5:9, Jesus is referred to as the author of eternal salvation and also as the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus’s abode was in the spiritual realm, though He simultaneously lived as the Son of God in the physical world. Because He was and is both God and man in the purest sense, His works—signs, wonders, and miracles—in the natural or physical world assumed supernatural significance because He was bringing down to earth things of heaven. He was demonstrating that the spiritual realm governs the physical world but also that humanity’s quest for a life filled with joy and abundance can be realized only through a relationship with the Father through the Son, with a kingdom mind-set. That is the significance of the prayer that He taught His disciples: Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven is full of the goodness of God, which He desires to be brought down to earth to improve our quality of life. Eminently good, God is compelled by His love for humanity to give us a foretaste of paradise as He works out His will in the present wicked system before His Son’s second coming. Humanity’s suffering results from sin and the rebellion of people who oppose and reject His Lordship.

Jesus used His own life to teach us what it takes to represent His Father here on earth. As the perfect Son of a perfect God, His goal was to produce not just godly men and