This is the continuation of Unravelling the Mystery of Endless Prayer by Guest Blogger, Dr. Emmanuel Sogah. If you missed that interesting post, read it here.
Rev. Paul reminded Abu of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and the state of man after the fall.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.( Genesis 1:17)
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:6)
Using these scriptures as references, the Reverend Minister stressed that Adam did not die a physical death when he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but rather died spiritually.
“To die spiritually means to be separated from God and have no means of communicating or fellowshipping with Him. Adam’s understanding darkened – he was alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18),” Rev Paul said. “To die spiritually also means to see things differently (not from God’s perspective). Remember that Adam was naked from the day he was formed from the ground but suddenly became aware of his nakedness when he ate of the ‘forbidden’ tree (Genesis 3:7). His perspective changed – Adam began to relate with his environment from his senses.”
The first man, who expressed no sense of guilt in the presence of God, became timid and fled from the presence of God (Genesis 3:8). His ability to stand before God without the feeling of unworthiness was lost.
“That is the state of every man who hasn’t experienced the rebirth,” said Rev. Paul.
Apostle Paul in the Bible reiterates this when he said in the book of Romans 7:24.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
“You’ve got to understand the depraved and helpless nature of a man without God. It’s such a sorry sight when you think about the end of such a fellow (Revelation 20:15),” said Rev, Paul
Abu began sobbing. He expressed such profound pain towards the unsaved world. He was, however, stopped by the pastor.
“Cheer up! Jesus has overcome,” said Rev. Paul.
He looked at Abu and wondered the number of people who would be ‘moved’ to tears when they learn about the sorry state of unbelievers.
With the encouragement from Rev. Paul, Abu received strength and began to ponder over the words of the Minister.
Reverend Paul continued,
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).
“Jesus brought hope to the unsaved world. He was the answer to Apostle Paul’s question in Romans 7:24,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Abu noticed the change in the tone of Rev. Paul’s voice. He noticed the man was burning with passion as he spoke about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) and how he said ‘no man as yet has annulled this truth.’
By this act of sacrifice by Jesus, our fellowship with God has been restored and this has ushered us into the new life.
Learn more about the new life in the next post.
This post was written by Dr. Emmanuel Sogah. Dr. Sogah is a medical doctor by profession, a budding minister of the gospel who is passionate about teaching.
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