"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty on high;" (Hebrews 1:1-3).
1) There are those Africans who say that "the whites came and
told us to give up our ancestral spirits and accept their ancestral spirit."
Jesus is not just a human spirit like the ancestral spirits. Jesus
died and arose from the dead and ascended to Heaven. Don't number Jesus with the ancestral
spirits. He is God who became man, God incarnate.
No other child had ever been born that can be compared to that
Child that was born to Mary, lying in the manger. He was despised by men, yet there is
none greater than He!
This Child was different to all other children. Can you name any other child whose birth
was announced by the angels themselves?
He was the first and the last to be born in this way. When He was born, Heaven was opened
and His birth announced to people on earth.
He alone upholds all things by the Word of His power. All things
exist because of Him.
We read in Matt 16:13-17, “When Jesus
came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say
the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter
(petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not
overcome it.”
He referred to Himself as the Rock of the Church, since Peter in Greek is
"petros" while the Rock is "petra".
So we build on the Rock, Jesus Christ.
"No man hath seen God at any time; the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
(John 1:18).
2) God spoke in time past by the prophets. These were the real
prophets of the Old Testament, not like the self-declared prophets of nowadays.
So we find these words of the prophets of God in the Old Testament. Through them God
already declared that a virgin will give birth to the Messiah, “God with us”.
Then there are even more prophets (over thirty) referred to in the
Old Testament, but they do not have a book dedicated to them. God also spoke through them.
God spoke in various ways and at various times. In the Bible there
are 66 books and if we read we find that not one book is exactly like another book. If you
compare Psalms with Proverbs you realise it's different. Also comparing Ezra and Nehemiah
with Judges it's presented in a different way. So even though it was written in different
ways, God spoke through them all.
So the Bible is for all people. It is God speaking through
different people to all people.
So ultimately God spoke through His own Son.
We don't need more prophets speaking after Jesus since He is God's own Son speaking to us.
He is the Ultimate Authority.
Do we hear God speaking to us? Do we hear when Jesus speaks? It
would be sad if we don't hear, for this is God speaking to us through His own Son. It's
not just man speaking, but God Himself. He is the Mighty Rock. We should fear Him and
honour Him. He should be the first in our lives.
Many people treat God like a spare-wheel. They forget about God
until they get into difficulty. How do you treat God? How do you start 2011? Is He first
in your life or only your spare-wheel?
We don't know what will come across our path this year.
If you want to prosper make God first in your life in everything.
