BVI News

Dickson Igwe

The greatest act of all time is symbolized by two of the greatest events in world history.  The birth of God into the world and the subsequent death and resurrection of that Selfsame God: an act and gift of love so profound, it is impossible to explain with the very limited and earthly imagination and vocabulary, available to man. Christmas 2010 is over, never to return, and over two millennia past, a baby born in a Judea and Samaria, under Ancient Roman suzerainty, and destined to live for approximately 33 years, would change the course and trajectory of a mankind destined for cataclysmic destruction.  Christmas is a celebration of that fantastical birth and incredibly astonishing event.

Now, and this is something forgotten in this ‘rat race’ called life.  The Child born in Immaculate Conception to the Virgin Mary came to do two things: provide a way of escape from an evil so overwhelming, that it was impossible for weak and mortal man to escape it, and to show us all the example of what God would do as a human being. Jesus Christ was fully Man and fully God, and came to show us all, the way to truly exist. Yes, God the Creator traversed the dusty streets of a remote and obscure region of Ancient Rome ruled by August Caesar and then Tiberius Caesar.

And amidst all of the rhetoric and exegesis of Christianity, and the Modus Vivendi of religious and secular life, the devil as always has attempted to blind human kind as to who Christ really was, and what he came to do.  Christ was first and foremost about love, and the re-establishment of a loving connection with a God of all might and power, a Creator who could not go back on a creative genius which determined that evil in all of its forms and manifestations must be destroyed: removed from His creation.

God in Christ therefore, came to offer himself sacrificially, that we all may escape a death and damnation too horrific to imagine. Consequently, for 33 years, Jesus went about a limited geography in today’s modern Palestine and Israel, in loving fellowship with a sick and dying humanity. He demonstrated selflessness, and a love and compassion that are clearly absent from the modern church, with its stress on things secular and material, and an orientation based upon power, privilege, and control.

Christ was not pro establishment, if anything, he was revolutionary in his appeal, and called the religious leaders of his time parasites and hypocrites. Frequently, they attempted to set him up, using the establishment infrastructure that was Imperial Rome. Christ was a radical persona who ate and drank with what today would be considered the poor masses: criminals, prostitutes, fraudsters, and common folk. He certainly was no social climber, but went about humbly, and without ostentation, caring for the sick, loving the unlovable, healing, praying, teaching, and performing acts of supernatural power that pointed to his deity. He probably appeared as a rugged individualist, with a high moral standard, but possessing a paradoxical kindness, compassion and humility.

But all of this was still not enough, as man being what he is, sinful, remorseless, wicked and murderous, needed much more in order to avoid eternal perdition and destruction.  And all the while the evil genius, Lucifer, was probably chuckling, thinking to his evil self, ‘’ what a waste of time!’’ Lucifer continued in his diabolical scheme to kill the God Child, something he first attempted at the very beginning of Jesus’ life.

And it appeared that he was being very successful when the religious leaders of the time; the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders, scholars and scribes, were able to accuse Jesus of blasphemy, painting him a threat to the power of imperial Rome, an accusation the cowardly Pontius Pilate was neither able to throw out nor discard. Cowards always use others to do their dirty work.

Thirty three years after his birth, God was taken before the authorities of the time in disgrace and ignominy: Satan was having a field day. This was the beginning of the time Christians today symbolize as the Easter Season. Easter is a time we celebrate another astonishing event, but which like Christmas, has been corrupted by a world dominated by the devil; and a materially oriented value system that loves the counterfeit of God’s original plans.

As Jesus’ short life drew to a close, Satan must have been overjoyed that a critical chapter in history was about to end. God, in Satan’s demented mind had failed to save man from catastrophe. Christ was murdered by the Jewish religious authorities of the time, using the bludgeon of Ancient Rome, and all the while, Lucifer thought he had everything under his tight tyrannical control.

However, a war was raging.  And in the invisible, intangible, demonic and fierce cosmos, the battle of all ages was being fought.  And as Jesus Christ gave up the ghost at Calvary, it must have seemed the lowest moment for his loved ones and friends. But in what was the greatest counter insurgency of all time, the greatest twist in history, God turned science upside down; 66 trillion dead human cells came back to life, God in Christ, after sacrificing Himself on the Cross, rose from the dead, and violently snatched the keys of the grave and death from the diabolical Lucifer.  A mystery incomprehensible to man’s limited thinking ability, but an event which saved sinful man from eternal damnation brought on by sin.

Three of the greatest miracles of all time took place within a time span of 33 years in a universe that is billions of years old: God stepped into time and space; God dwelled among his fallen creation but remained spotless in every way; Then God died on a wooden cross, but after three days, he rose from that death and purchased for all time eternal life for those who believe in Him.

Yes, when we look past all of the religious activity and commercialization, there is the acknowledgement of the greatest event in history.  The central theme of Christianity: for without Easter there is no Christianity, but without Christmas there would be no Easter.  And all God asks is that men believe in Him and confess this miracle and that gift of eternal life is given free of charge.  You see, God in Jesus Christ has already purchased this greatest of gifts for me and you.

The greatest gift of all time is yours and mine for the asking. That is the true meaning of Easter: the idea that death is not the end, that the grave does not have the last say, that there is life after death, and that life of eternity is the most glorious life of all. At Christmas we celebrate birth of Christ then at Easter recognize another central event in the Christian Calendar, His death, burial and resurrection all the while thanking God Almighty for giving a sinful and dying humanity a second chance.

As we approach a brand new year, as family, community, society, and nation, let us proceed into the future with the precious knowledge that God has given us all the victory over pain and suffering, and sickness, evil and death, through His Son Jesus Christ.   Praise be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dickson Igwe is a Christian Minister, author and writer

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