Sermon

The Issues about Women's Liberty pt 15

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  1. Hi there. Welcome to NECF. We're excited to share

  2. today's message with you. Don't go anywhere.

  3. Stay with us till the end for some valuable resources

  4. to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon.

  5. Now, we've been trying to... Go through a series

  6. for some time on the matter or the topic issues

  7. about or around women's liberty. So if you are

  8. coming newly or you have not been following us,

  9. it will be good to find the teachings online.

  10. Whether you're a man or a woman, this teaching

  11. is for you because ministry is not done in isolation.

  12. It's a collective responsibility, which means

  13. that you will need to always work with other

  14. people to accomplish God's purpose on earth.

  15. So if there is a problem with part of the church

  16. where you're supposed to collaborate, where you're

  17. supposed to cooperate together, and you despise

  18. the gift of God, you're not going to be blessed

  19. by it. Are we together? So if you're a man...

  20. And you despise it. And it happens between, oftentimes,

  21. sometimes between husband and wife. When the

  22. husband always think, and that's where we try

  23. to correlate with the few teachings, I think

  24. the past few, two teachings, to understand that

  25. when it comes to the grace of life, that you

  26. are equal partners in Christ, there is no male

  27. or female. Scripture says, Peter was discussing.

  28. 1 Peter 3, 7. Husband, likewise, dwell with them

  29. according to knowledge. Are we together? It's

  30. a giving honor. You can't give honor to your

  31. wife when you have no understanding that you

  32. are equal partners of the grace of life. And

  33. that's why, you see, sometimes husbands will

  34. be... struggling on some certain things, and

  35. the solution is there in their house. You know,

  36. I was telling some of our sisters, they said

  37. one of our sisters was sick, and I said, what

  38. did you do? She said she's not going to be able

  39. to come to cell meeting. And I said, what did

  40. you do? And then I tried to encourage them to

  41. know that they have the grace to heal. why didn't

  42. you lay hands on her? I said, when you go back,

  43. and I will ask them, when you go back, go and

  44. lay hands on her. And I told them that sometimes

  45. my body is doing me because I listen to my body.

  46. When I begin to feel something small, my wife

  47. will lay hands on me. Did you understand what

  48. I'm trying to say? If you're a coward of a husband,

  49. you will neglect the gift of God. Did you understand

  50. what I'm trying to say? You will neglect. Recently,

  51. we were talking with Pastor Chidi. I told him,

  52. Pastor Chidi, since you know this thing, I'm

  53. not going to read about it. I'm not going to

  54. do anything. I'm coming to you. Just tell me

  55. this. Just tell. How can I see a gift closer

  56. and then I'll be going to suffer somewhere? You

  57. remember what Pastor Ima told us? In the sun.

  58. So to partake from the gift of God, from the

  59. blessings around you, you have to acknowledge

  60. the greatest thing that destroy or that that

  61. makes you not to partake of the grace and the

  62. blessings around you is dishonor. Are we together?

  63. So this teaching is so that just because we say

  64. women's liberty, you say, it's not for me, it's

  65. not for me. You are joking. Are we together?

  66. And if you have been following, you know that

  67. it's for you also. So we have discussed a number

  68. of things, whether it's scriptural for a woman

  69. to speak. or to keep quiet because there are

  70. scriptures that appear to look as if they say

  71. women should keep quiet in church. You know,

  72. one thing you don't ask, and they use those texts,

  73. and you have not asked, why is it that you, you

  74. are a lady, you are still talking in church?

  75. Even the church that they say they shouldn't

  76. talk, they are still talking. I mean, there are

  77. scriptures that you know that, even if you don't

  78. know scripture, you know that that interpretation

  79. is wrong. because it's not practicable that every

  80. of these ladies should come here and keep quiet.

  81. They never talk again. Even if you say, bless

  82. your sister. Hallelujah. And then we looked at

  83. that way. We looked at true scriptures and we

  84. checked also, is it permitted? One of the biggest

  85. problem, is it permitted for a woman to lead

  86. a church? You understand? To lead a church or

  87. to pastor a church? You understand? Or to teach

  88. men? And we looked at that and we gave the answer

  89. through scripture. And then we are in the next

  90. thing which we have been on it for a long time.

  91. What is God's original plan or intention in creating

  92. a woman? What's God's intention? And then we

  93. move and start looking. And there are other issues

  94. we need to talk about. But we're still on this,

  95. and there are a number of things that I want

  96. us to address. First, let's look at that scripture

  97. I call 2 Corinthians 5, verse 16. It says, Therefore,

    2 Corinthians 5:16

  98. from now on, we regard no one. Please, let's

  99. read together. It's here. Okay, one, two, three,

  100. go. Therefore, no one. Even though we ourselves

  101. have known Christ according to the flesh, yet

  102. now, hallelujah, we say we know no one, both

  103. male, female, according to the flesh. Even Christ

  104. before, this is Paul saying, we used to look

  105. at him, meaning from the natural standpoint.

  106. That means you cannot know anyone. from what

  107. you see, from the natural. Some versions will

  108. say from the worldly point of view. Meaning that

  109. if you want to know Jesus, you cannot know him

  110. through his ethnicity. And say he's a Jew, you

  111. understand? He came from Israel. Are we together?

  112. And on and on. You cannot know Christ through

  113. that way. You know, we did a teaching in the

  114. cell and we noted that even his brother, like

  115. James, When he was writing his epistle, he wrote

  116. nothing about the life of Christ. His physical

  117. life. Nothing. They knew him. They grew in the

  118. same place. They ate together. They slept together.

  119. He knew his childhood. You understand? Although

  120. he was his younger brother. You understand? According

  121. to the flesh. Are we together? Yet when he was

  122. writing, he wrote nothing. Remember? They were

  123. the ones who were telling him, go and show yourself

  124. now. If you are the Christ before. But when the

  125. reality came on them, when their eyes opened

  126. and they knew him, they knew he's not this one.

  127. Are we together? That I've been sleeping with.

  128. He's my savior. Hallelujah. Amen. The same way

  129. in this regard, you cannot know a woman in the

  130. sun after the flesh. We have to see her as God

  131. sees her. From the supernatural standpoint. From

  132. who she is. Matthew chapter 19. We are our brother

    Matthew 19 chapter mention

  133. red. Matthew chapter 19. Now, if you look at

    Matthew 19 chapter mention

  134. it, go to verse 4. Now, we have studied this

  135. passage before. And we said, the Pharisee came

  136. with a question about divorce. In responding

  137. to them, Jesus pointed them back to Genesis.

  138. He quoted two scriptures there, one from Genesis

  139. 1 .27 and another from Genesis 2 .24. And we

  140. studied that part to see how Jesus responded

  141. to them. The first response was, In Genesis chapter

    Genesis 1 chapter mention

  142. 1. Look at verse 4. And he answered and said

  143. to them. Have you not read? He who made them.

  144. Where? At the what? At the beginning. Made them

  145. male and female. So in the past couples of teachings.

  146. We have explored. The second one. Which is verse

  147. 5. And said. For this reason. A man shall leave

  148. his father and mother and be joined to his wife,

  149. and the two shall become one flesh. The two shall

  150. be one flesh. And we studied the idea of one

  151. flesh, bones of my bones, and we got to understand

  152. that this scripture is not actually about marriage,

  153. but about a realization, you understand, that

  154. you... And the one you are uniting with, that

  155. you are of the same stock. You understand? You

  156. are of the same stock. And we studied Ephesians

    Ephesians 5 chapter mention

  157. chapter 5. We saw that when you stay in the context,

  158. you understand, you don't lift any scripture

  159. out. You will understand that what Paul is discussing

  160. is about making the believers understand they

  161. are of the same family. Are we together? The

  162. same way we are of the same family with Christ.

  163. That's why he said, we are his body, the bones

  164. of his bones, and the what? The flesh of his

  165. flesh. Hallelujah. And Peter, where I also quoted

  166. 1 Peter 3, verse 7, is admonishing husbands to

    1 Peter 3:7

  167. come to their reality, what Paul was discussing.

  168. He said, giving honor unto her. You understand?

  169. As unto a weaker vessel, he said, and also heirs

  170. of the grace of life. Meaning that you are equal,

  171. you are of the same family. What she has, you

  172. have. That the husband ought to, that scripture

  173. is not talking about marriage, but is admonishing

  174. husband to come to a realization that their wives

  175. are equal partners in the grace of life. And

  176. it is by that you give honor unto her. is that

  177. by that you give honor unto her. So, today we

  178. will actually dwell, we will start to dwell on

  179. the first response. We didn't deal with it much,

  180. you understand, because we focused on the second

  181. response, which is verse 5, the one you quoted.

  182. No, no, I mean second scripture you quoted from

  183. Genesis, not response. So, we will start to deal

  184. with... The first part of the scripture he quoted,

  185. which is verse 4. And he answered and said to

  186. them, have you not read? He who met them at what?

  187. The beginning. Who met them at the beginning?

  188. Who met them at the beginning? Now, I want to

  189. note something very fast before we continue what

  190. we noted earlier. And I don't want you to miss

  191. that. I don't want you to miss that. is look

  192. at the response of the Pharisee. I mean the questions,

  193. rather. He said, the Pharisee also, verse 3,

  194. came to him testing him and saying to him, is

  195. it lawful for a man to divorce his wife just

  196. for any reason? To divorce. Some other versions

  197. say to put away. Look at how they are thinking.

  198. To do what? To put away. To put away. I want

  199. you to note something. See. See what's. Genesis

    Genesis 3 chapter mention

  200. chapter 3. See what Adam said. When God brought

  201. the woman to Adam. Adam knew why God brought

  202. the woman. Look at. We have studied that in chapter

  203. 2. But I want to add something. In chapter 3.

  204. Verse 12. Look at verse 12. He said. Then the

  205. man said. The woman whom you gave to be with.

  206. Oh, talk with me. To put her away. He said the

  207. woman, which he do what? To be with. But then

  208. why is the Pharisee, he says, to put her away?

  209. So this is not just only about marriage, but

  210. their idea about how they see a woman. The idea

  211. of how they see a woman, not as equal partner,

  212. as one, just like an object, you know, somewhere

  213. you can just put it away because you have not

  214. recognized. her part in the agenda of God. Because

  215. if you have understood her part in the agenda

  216. of God, you will not be thinking of putting her

  217. away. Are we together? You will not be thinking

  218. of putting her away. Never. So Jesus answered

  219. and told them that no, she's not for putting

  220. away. Never. She's not for putting away. Hallelujah.

  221. And he pointed them that you have not been reading.

  222. There's something wrong with your way you read.

  223. We talk about that word, read, anagnosko. That

  224. is how you pay attention to details. You are

  225. scholars. You know these days, scholars. Whereby

  226. you pass in here, you pick this one, pick this

  227. one, pick that. Those of us who have been, especially

  228. PhD student and master's student, yes, must have

  229. understood this. Where you just pass here, pass

  230. here, you carry somebody's thought, you put here,

  231. carry this one, put here. You don't even care.

  232. I know some students have been doing that. You

  233. give them an assignment, they will go to Wikipedia

  234. and copy it and paste. Then bring anything and

  235. put here. You understand? They don't know that

  236. anywhere you pick, we can find the place. So,

  237. and I gave, recently I gave one of my PhD students

  238. an assignment. And he did something. He went

  239. and just did anything. When I sat down to read

  240. the first line, I mean, the first paragraph,

  241. I knew he used AI. You understand? I don't have

  242. a problem with using AI. I told him already.

  243. We can guide you how to use it ethically. And

  244. I taught him how to use it. I don't have a problem.

  245. But I see a man who has become lazy. You know,

  246. every field has a resistance. Meaning there are

  247. words that you use that are only applicable to

  248. certain fields. But you see, Chad GPT, I mean,

  249. you see, because you want to make your professors

  250. see that you didn't use the AI to generate it.

  251. So you use humanized AI to humanize it. But you

  252. see, the humanized AI does not understand registers.

  253. Do you understand what I'm saying? So the word

  254. that Chad GPT have tried have brought a lot of

  255. technical word that has to do with that. By the

  256. time you are humanizing it, humanized AI will

  257. use English. You understand? To humanize it.

  258. But because you did not read it, you are lazy.

  259. So you pick whatever the humanized AI gave you

  260. and then bring it. Like in biochemistry, you

  261. cannot say that the authors theorize or the theory.

  262. No, we don't use those words as theory. You understand

  263. what I'm saying? You go to physics, that's okay.

  264. We cannot use him by chemistry theory. You can

  265. use hypothesis. You can use propose. Do you understand

  266. what I'm saying? So there are words that once

  267. I start reading, I already catch you. Do you

  268. understand what I'm trying to say? So I guess

  269. the Pharisees are in that category. They will

  270. just go over without actually paying attention.

  271. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? So

  272. Jesus told them, have you not read? They say

  273. they are the teachers of the law, but they have

  274. skipped details. They have not been thorough.

  275. Today, we have a lot of this type of professionals.

  276. Some of you, unfortunately, you are becoming

  277. that. We don't like it. I've told pastors, I've

  278. seen some people who go online. If you check

  279. their LinkedIn profile, you wonder, this is a

  280. professional. This is a professional. And you

  281. are lying. We know you, you don't know it. You

  282. don't know it. You understand? You'll be speaking

  283. BB grammar. In fact, if you know, you know that

  284. this is... I said, I'll just shake my head. And

  285. some people who are far away, they didn't know.

  286. I saw one professional from US. Even shared the

  287. thought of one of... I will not say the name.

  288. He said, that is how. I think I'm encouraged

  289. when I see this. I say, hey, hey, hey. Don't

  290. do that because you'll be implicating yourself.

  291. You understand? When you go to look for work,

  292. now they can go through your linking profile.

  293. And then when they are asking you questions,

  294. they don't see what is matching their heart with

  295. this one. Be sincere. If you have no reason,

  296. don't say it. You understand? Hallelujah. Let's

  297. return back to the Pharisees. What I'm trying

  298. to say is that he said, Have you not read? Have

  299. you not been thorough? Checking the details that

  300. in the beginning. In the beginning. He pointed

  301. to the beginning. Look at Matthew 22. The reason

  302. why there's a problem was that there is no knowledge

  303. of scripture. And you can't know scripture without

  304. paying attention to details. 22 verse 29. This

  305. time around, you meet another sect. They are

  306. called the Sadducees. And look at what he told

  307. them. When they asked you a question, he said,

  308. you are in error. You are in error. And he told

  309. them why they are in error. 29. He said, Jesus

  310. answered and said to them, you are mistaken.

  311. Not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God.

  312. Not knowing. That is, you see, that word mistaken

  313. means you are deceived. It's not just like a

  314. mistake like that, that happened like an accident.

  315. No. It's that you are let into the error. That

  316. is, this thing you are saying, actually you are

  317. being deceived. I've said it often times. You

  318. refuse to grow and know the scripture, you will

  319. be a candidate of deception. It's not a prophecy.

  320. It's that it's a reality. Are we together? He

  321. said, you are mistaken, meaning you are deceived.

  322. If we check the original word, it's that you

  323. are deceived. You err. Why? You did not know

  324. the scripture. You did not know the scripture.

  325. So Jesus exposed their idea. That their idea

  326. came from sin. Go back to that Matthew 19. Look

  327. at verse 8. Hallelujah. Look at verse 7. He said,

  328. they said to him, why then did Moses command

  329. to give a certificate of divorce and to put her

  330. away? Because when Jesus said, no, no, no, no,

  331. no, no, that's not it. They said, okay, but Moses,

  332. this is what Moses. Look at what Jesus said in

  333. verse 8. And he said to them, Moses, because

  334. of the hardness of your heart, they are still

  335. naked people. They are hardened people. They

  336. are unbelievers. They refuse to believe. He said,

  337. Moses, the reason, he said, he permitted you

  338. to divorce your wife. Why? The reason of divorce

  339. is not Moses. The reason of divorce is the hardness

  340. of your heart. Is the hardness of your heart.

  341. He said, but from the beginning it was not so.

  342. He again referred them back to the plan of God.

  343. It was not so in the beginning. Now let's go

  344. back to that beginning. Hallelujah. Genesis chapter

    Genesis 1 chapter mention

  345. 1. In the beginning it was not so. You haven't

  346. read what you are saying. It is your sin, your

  347. unbelief. That means the hardness of heart. That

  348. hardness is refusing to believe in the plan of

  349. God. Refusing to agree to be part of the plan

  350. of God. Moses have written already this thing

  351. before the issue of divorce. Moses has written

  352. to them. He has preached to them. They refuse

  353. to believe. He said, in the beginning, it was

  354. not so. Hallelujah. Verse 27, he says, so God

  355. created man. Let's start from verse 26. Then

  356. God said, let us make man in our image. According

  357. to our likeness, let them have dominion over

  358. the fish of the sea, over the breath of the air,

  359. and over the cattle, over all the earth, and

  360. every... And over every creeping thing that creeps

  361. on the earth. Verse 27. So God created man in

  362. his own image. In the image of God, he created

  363. him. Male and what? And female. He created them.

  364. Male and female. He created them. Now, if you

  365. are distracted, wake up. Hallelujah. Wake up.

  366. Now, I want to, there are some things earlier

  367. on about this text. Now, the first, some interpretation

  368. I want to news to you before we go. Remember,

  369. this text, Jesus quoted, was in the response

  370. to Pharisees' question, you understand? Pointing

  371. them that in the beginning, you understand, it

  372. was not so. What is was not so? Putting away

  373. is not in God's agenda. That God brings a woman

  374. and a man together and his plan is that they

  375. will be part of his new humanity. Are we together?

  376. There are parts to be his house. Are we together?

  377. When a man does not recognize that or a woman

  378. does not recognize that, she will abuse the relationships.

  379. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? So

  380. he pointed them back to this. And I want you

  381. to pay attention to this. The first interpretation

  382. which I was growing, I got, the first one, was

  383. that Adam, that this scripture is talking about

  384. Adam. That God made Adam in the image of God.

  385. Now, don't worry. Whatever that image is, we're

  386. going to explore it. That's the reason why we're

  387. studying it. Because when we understand the image,

  388. we will understand why Jesus has to point to

  389. this scripture. Do you understand what I'm trying

  390. to say? So, Adam is made in the image of God.

  391. And when he ate the tree of good, I mean, the

  392. knowledge of good and evil, or he disobeyed God.

  393. Are we together? That. He lost the image. Follow

  394. me. That was what we were taught earlier on when

  395. I was growing. So Adam lost the image and then

  396. got the image of sin by his disobedience. And

  397. then they use this verse. Come to me, chapter

  398. 5. Chapter 5, verse 3. And Adam lived 130 years

  399. and begot a son in his own image. After his what?

  400. His what? Are we together? And he named him who?

  401. Seth. He named him Seth. They said Adam was in

  402. the image of God. And then Adam sinned and he

  403. lost the image. That's why he gave birth to a

  404. son. in his image, that that image that he gave

  405. birth to Seth from, that is the image of sin.

  406. And then that is a genesis of how people begin

  407. to think, are we together, of what we call the

  408. original sin, the concept of what is called the

  409. original sin. That when Christ came, was to restore

  410. us back from what Adam lost. Do you understand

  411. the concept? So they call it the original sin.

  412. which refers that the inherent state of all humanity

  413. to be at a state of sin, that is everybody on

  414. earth is born in sin. You understand? You've

  415. not done anything. They just get back to you

  416. and you're in sin. All humans share an inherited

  417. from Adam and Eve. You understand? Due to their

  418. fall. Now, let me tell you the problem with this

  419. interpretation, which later, as we grow, we found

  420. out. Now the problem with this explanation is

  421. that it makes sin, which is a spiritual problem,

  422. are we together? Like a genetic disease. Did

  423. you understand what I'm saying? Like a what?

  424. Genetic disease. Because sin is a spiritual problem.

  425. So sin is unbelief in the gospel. Because you

  426. believe in the gospel. It's an action of what

  427. somebody will do for him to be in sin. or to

  428. be in righteousness. Because how do you become

  429. a believer? By believing. Are we together? So

  430. you cannot become righteous because your parents

  431. are righteous. Are we together? The same way

  432. you cannot become a sinner, you understand, because

  433. your parents are sinners. Oh, are we together?

  434. So because it's a spiritual problem. So it has

  435. to be by the action of every individual. Hallelujah.

  436. So sin is an unbelief in the gospel. It is not

  437. like a genetic disease that can be transmitted

  438. from parent to children. And I want to note you

  439. that if you, because Genesis from Genesis was

  440. read that way, that was not the teachings of

  441. Moses. Who wrote Genesis? Moses. It was not the,

  442. that means you have moved away from the teaching

  443. of Moses. Moses never said that sin can be transmitted

  444. from parent to children. Are we together? 2 Chronicles,

  445. look at that. 2 Chronicles chapter 25. 2 Chronicles

    2 Chronicles 25 chapter mention

  446. chapter what? 25. I will read from verse 1. He

  447. said, Amaziah was 25 years old when he became

  448. king, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His

  449. mother's name was Jehodan of Jerusalem, and he

  450. did what was right in the sight of the Lord,

  451. but not with a loyal heart. Verse 3, now it happened

  452. as soon as a kingdom was established for him

  453. that he executed his servant who had murdered

  454. his father, the king. If you have been following

  455. the canonical, the Bible through, you must have

  456. read this place. Are we together? Verse 4, however,

  457. he did not do what? Oh, talk with me. Let's read

  458. 4 together. 1, 2, 3. However, he did not execute

  459. children. but did as it is written by what? Oh,

  460. wait, wait, wait first there. So there's something

  461. that the law of Moses wrote that he did as. What

  462. did he do? Let's continue. Where the Lord commanded

  463. saying, fathers shall not be put to death for

  464. their children, nor shall the children be put

  465. to death for their fathers, but a person. shall

  466. die for his own word. Oh, read that last line.

  467. But a person shall die for his word, for his

  468. own sin. That was the teaching of Moses, that

  469. you cannot transmit sin, that everybody will

  470. die for his own sin. Hallelujah. Now, look at

  471. it. Where did Amaziah quoted? Go to Deuteronomy.

  472. Just move to Deuteronomy quickly. Deuteronomy

  473. 24. So Moses have taught, so you cannot pick

  474. from Genesis what is not in Genesis. Are we together?

  475. Look at what Moses said in Deuteronomy 24, 16.

  476. Genesis, Deuteronomy 24, 16. I want us to read

  477. together. One, two, three, go. Fathers shall

  478. not be put to death for their children. No children

  479. be put to death for their fathers. A person shall

  480. be put to death for his own what? For his own

  481. sin. For his own sin. For his own sin. And it

  482. is from Moses. That was why when Jesus said in

  483. Luke 24, O foolish ones, low of heart to believe

  484. all that the prophets have spoken. Right? Ought

  485. not Christ to have suffered these things and

  486. to enter into his glory? Verse 27 says, and beginning

  487. at what? Beginning at what? Moses and all the

  488. prophets. Now, the theology of scriptures starts

  489. from Moses. Other prophets, you know that's the

  490. way we used to say, the prophets didn't know

  491. themselves. You understand? At all. And they

  492. were able to write something the same. Sir. They

  493. know themselves. Some of them, yes, they are

  494. not contemporary, but they read from each other.

  495. Every of these ones read from the other. See,

  496. all the prophets that came after Moses, it was

  497. Moses' theology they used to communicate to the

  498. rest. Did you understand what I'm trying to say?

  499. Jesus, when he came to teach about himself, he

  500. started from Moses. So Moses never... So you

  501. can only read Genesis and say Adam was in the

  502. image of God. He lost it. And then... Everybody

  503. is born in sin. You understand? And then, no,

  504. no, no, no, no, no. That's nothing like original

  505. sin. That was not the message of Moses. Last,

  506. let me just read some few verse about some other

  507. prophet. You understand? Ezekiel. Come to Ezekiel.

  508. Quickly. Ezekiel chapter 18. Hallelujah. I'm

    Ezekiel 18 chapter mention

  509. trying to move as steady as possible by the grace

  510. of God. Because I don't want you to come back

  511. to these ideas again. Are we together? You have

  512. sufficient... You know, study of scripture is

  513. what? Evidence. He said, for what? For reproof.

  514. That's evidence. For reproof. Evidence. What

  515. did I say? Ezekiel 18, right? Look at verse 1.

  516. Ezekiel 18, verse 1. The word of the Lord came

    Ezekiel 18:1

  517. to me again saying, what do you mean when you

  518. use this proverb concerning the land of Israel?

  519. The fathers have eaten soil grapes. And the children's

  520. deeds are set on what? So where did you think

  521. the concept of children can inherit the problems

  522. of their fathers came from? It was a what? It

  523. was a what? It was a proverb in Israel. Proverb

  524. from God? Not at all. So these people were circulating

  525. proverb. You understand? That's what they believe.

  526. This is how they pick that. So don't walk with

  527. the proverb of men. Go back to Genesis, the true

  528. history. Look at verse 3. He said, As I live,

  529. says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this

  530. word, this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls

  531. are mine and the souls of the Father and as well

  532. as the souls of the Son is mine. The soul...

  533. Whose sins shall do what? Shall die. Go to verse

  534. 20. Verse 20. Then the soul whose sins shall

  535. do what? Oh, talk to me. Shall die. The son shall

  536. not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father

  537. bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness

  538. of the righteous shall be upon himself. And the

  539. wickedness. of the wicked shall be upon himself.

  540. Jeremiah repeated that, Jeremiah 31, 29. Jeremiah

  541. 31, 29. I'm trying to tell you that these men

  542. are actually preaching the words of Moses. Jeremiah

  543. 31, 29. In those days, they shall say no more.

  544. The fathers have eaten sour grapes. Did you see

  545. that? and the children's teeth are set on it.

  546. That means this idea was not from God. This idea

  547. that children inherit the sin and the problem,

  548. that is, you take a sour... Who have taken a

  549. sour something here? That you couldn't understand

  550. your teeth again. How can you take something

  551. and then you are expecting that your children

  552. should face it? But now, even though they are

  553. doing that in our nations, our leaders mark our

  554. money and they are suffering. Are we together?

  555. But that's not good. That's not the idea of God.

  556. Look at what's starting. He said, but everyone

  557. shall die for his own word. Iniquity. Every man

  558. who eats the sour grape, his teeth shall set

  559. on the word. So don't think that you use Dabaru

  560. your life. You know, I was telling one of our

  561. sisters. I said, Dabaru is a Greek word of scattering.

  562. You know, you scatter it like. Hallelujah. Amen.

  563. You understand Greek word? This is a Greek word

  564. from Northern Nigeria. You see, when you dabaru

  565. your life, don't dabaru your life and think somebody

  566. will suffer for it. Are we together? Hallelujah.

  567. So what are we trying to say? We are trying to

  568. say that if you read Genesis, that there is original

  569. sin, that every human being on earth is born

  570. into sin. That is not Moses' message. You pick

  571. it from the rumors around. from a proverb that

  572. has been going on since in those times. That

  573. was not the word of God because that's a wrong

  574. thing. So you cannot interpret that text like

  575. that. Are we together? When Jesus came himself,

  576. let me read Jesus' words before we move away

  577. from here. When Jesus came, what did Jesus do?

  578. Look at John chapter 3. So it was never the message

    John 3 chapter mention

  579. of Moses, neither the message of the prophet,

  580. nor the message of Jesus or the apostles. John

    John 3:18

  581. chapter 3 verse 18. He said, he who believes

  582. in him is what? Is not condemned. But he who

  583. does not believe is what? Condemned already.

  584. Because what? He has not believed in the name

  585. of the only begotten son of God. That means everybody

  586. will have to take decision of himself to either

  587. become insane or become a sinner or be righteous

  588. to be in righteousness. Are we together? So salvation

  589. or sin is not a genetic disease. I mean, it's

  590. not by genetic transmission. Are we together?

  591. So the first one is not correct. Hallelujah.

  592. Are we together? Amen. Now, the second part,

  593. which I will introduce, because I have just few

  594. time, I mean, just limited time. The second interpretation,

  595. which of course we need to examine it also closely,

  596. which we have preached. I have preached that

  597. also. But then there are some texts that we have

  598. not also included in the interpretation. Remember,

  599. if you have been in this church, you will understand

  600. that each preaching we preach is in itself how

  601. to interpret scripture. Did you understand what

  602. I'm trying to say? Yes, it helps you to know

  603. how to interpret scripture. Now, let's go back

  604. to that Genesis. Genesis 1. Genesis 1, 26 and

  605. 20. So the first one, I mean, the second one

  606. is that, the second interpretation of this Genesis

  607. 1, 26 is that, that this Genesis 1, 26 and 27,

  608. that is talking about the man in Christ. You

  609. understand? That is talking about the man in

  610. Christ. That is the image of God is the man in

  611. Christ. Or the image of God is Christ. So if

  612. he said he made man in the image of God, that

  613. means he's talking about the man in Christ. Well,

  614. that is true, but not fully. Because there is

  615. a part that we need to include. And that's why

  616. I want you to pay attention with this. Please,

  617. I beg you to pay attention. I want us to think

  618. through together. So in this interpretation,

  619. it means that... Adam was not in the image of

  620. God. In this interpretation, because Adam was

  621. not in the image of God. So to be in the image

  622. of God, he has to believe in the gospel. But

  623. unfortunately, Adam disobeyed. Are we together?

  624. He disobeyed. So Adam is not in the image of

  625. God. Now, there are two. The problem now with

  626. this interpretation is that it fails to take

  627. into consideration at least two other scriptures.

  628. In Genesis. Genesis first and foremost. Because

  629. we have other scripture that talks about the

  630. image. Remember Moses. We have to follow Moses

  631. to know what he communicated. Are we together?

  632. And also understand from the audience. What did

  633. they hear? Are we together? What did they hear?

  634. Now let me just read before I conclude. Read

  635. these two texts. That normally when we interpret.

  636. Genesis 1, 26 and 27, we don't normally include

  637. them, you understand? It's chapter 5, you understand?

  638. Verse 3, chapter 5, verse 3. This is a book of

  639. the genealogy, verse 1, of Adam in the day that

  640. God created man. He made him in the likeness

  641. of God. He created them, male and female. Verse

  642. 1 and verse 2 is just repeating Genesis chapter

    Genesis 1 chapter mention

  643. 1, you understand? Verse 26 and 27. Right? Look

  644. at verse... He blessed them and called them what?

  645. Mankind. In the day they were created. That is

  646. male and female. Look at verse 3. And Adam lived

  647. 130 years and begot a son in his own likeness,

  648. after his own image, and named him what? So,

  649. if Adam was not in the image of God, and we have

  650. noted already from chapter 3 that he failed,

  651. you understand, to be, I mean, or he disobeyed.

  652. So, normally we would now regard that he is not

  653. in the image of God. The question is that, which

  654. image did he pass to Seth? Which image did he

  655. pass to Seth? His son. Is it the image of sin?

  656. Remember, we have already clarified that you

  657. cannot transmit sin. Did you understand what

  658. I'm trying to say? So it cannot be that the image

  659. of sin that Adam passed to his son. So what image

  660. did set God from who? From Adam. So you see,

  661. this is another thing we haven't explained. Go

  662. to Genesis chapter 9. That's the last one I'll

    Genesis 9 chapter mention

  663. say before now. When we come next, I will start

  664. from there and continue. Genesis chapter 9. This

    Genesis 9 chapter mention

  665. is the second scripture in Genesis that talks

  666. about the image. Hallelujah. Let me just read

  667. verse 9, I mean verse 6 alone, because I'm going

  668. to come back to study, we'll study this text

  669. also. He said, Whosoever shed man's blood, by

  670. man his blood shall be what? Shall be shed. For

  671. in the image of God he made what? He made man.

  672. So what he's trying to say is that, now look

  673. at it. If we hold that according to the interpretation

  674. we give, that Adam was not in the image of God,

  675. or that to say man is not in the image of God.

  676. Now if we hold that, that the image of God talked

  677. about in Genesis chapter 1, 26 and 27, is talking

    Genesis 1 chapter mention

  678. about the man in Christ. The question now is,

  679. is this text, talking about not shedding the

  680. blood of those in Christ alone? Is this text

  681. saying that, because he said, whosoever shed

  682. a man's blood, that means his only believers,

  683. because his only believers will be man's blood.

  684. So are we saying that, that shedding the blood

  685. of those not in Christ is acceptable? Because

  686. if you say, The image of God is only those in

  687. Christ. Are you saying that those not in Christ,

  688. of course, they don't have the image of God.

  689. So that means if you shed their blood, no problem.

  690. Did you understand what I'm trying to say? Hallelujah.

  691. So that's where our problem lies. This is where

  692. the problem lies. So that means already we know

  693. throughout scripture. I don't want to take some

  694. because we are already aware of it. Murder is

  695. murder. Whether it's a person that is a believer

  696. or not a person that is a believer. Do you understand

  697. what I'm trying to say? We don't need to go through

  698. that. So it's a sin to kill another man. Hallelujah.

  699. So we're going to start from there. This means

  700. that we need to now interpret what is the image

  701. of God in the reality that includes these two

  702. texts. You understand? Genesis 5 verse 3 and

    Genesis 5:3

  703. Genesis 9. verse 6 to make sure that our interpretation

  704. is consistent throughout scripture. Are we together?

  705. I think we taught that during cataclysmos. We

  706. said that when you interpret a place and you

  707. discover that it contradicts other areas of scripture,

  708. that means you need to read it again. Are we

  709. together? So I want you to think through me and

  710. you can go back again to sit down on this text

  711. shortly before we come. We're coming on Wednesday

  712. to continue from there. Are we together? Can

  713. you just thank the Lord and appreciate him and

  714. say, Lord, thank you?