As read from our text, we are told amongst other things, by God Himself that, ‘’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…’’ To be a child of God is a privilege, it is also a responsibility because the moment we repent and receive Christ as our Lord and personal savior – we abandon our old ways of living, thinking and perspective and we take on God’s way of seeing things and doing things because the ways of God are not our ways.

If we look at the mission of God in sending Jesus to this world, it was to save us from our sins and to reconcile us to God, God not willing that we should perish, after the sin of Abraham and Eve had separated humanity from God. How did God achieve that? Wouldn’t it have been possible and easier for God to simply say ‘’I forgive you; you are reconciled to me’’ will this simple pronouncement make it any less valid? NO. It would have been valid if God chooses to do so.

Why did the Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, come down and take the form of a man, go through all kinds of rigorous and a very painful road in order to bring us salvation? The Bible says that God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself.  In John 1: 1 – 5, the Bible records: Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn’t make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it.  And Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth.

The answer is not far fetched. God honours His word more than His name and so He cannot violate His word. The Bible says, “The soul that sinneth shall surely die…” and “The wages of sin is death” [Ezekiel 18: 20, Romans 6: 23]. Hence the penalty for sin is death and in order not to violate His word, the penalty has to be paid and the only person that can pay the penalty is somebody without sin and so no human was qualified. God had to decide to take the form of a human being in order to make sure that He does not violate His word and yet accomplish the redemption of mankind.

The Bible in Hebrews 2: 14 -18 records; ^‘’Since we, God’s children, are human beings—made of flesh and blood—he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death. Only in that way could he deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as slaves to constant dread. We all know he did not come as an angel but as a human being—yes, a Jew. And it was necessary for Jesus to be like us, his brothers, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God, a Priest who would be both merciful to us and faithful to God in dealing with the sins of the people… ’’ [TLB]

Our salvation and redemption from sin requires death and since God cannot die He has to take the form of a human being and also to experience the frailties of humans, feel the way we feel when we go through trials and challenges – He knows because He has been there. This is the wisdom of God. Sometimes, the ways of God does not make sense to us as humans. Jesus was born in a lowly place, in a manger. Angels announced His birth and went to shepherds in the bush to announce to them the birth of Christ instead of the king and the nobles – that is the way of God.

When Herod heard that Jesus was born he requested to see Him in order to worship. But God spoke to Joseph to take the young lad to Egypt because wicked people are after His life to kill Him – God running away from human beings? It does not really make sense because God does not need to do that in the first place. He would have just spoken a word and all the enemies will die. When the people that were after the life of the young child had died, God instructed Joseph to bring the child back to Israel. This explains the way of our God.

Jesus went through everything a normal person goes through – brought up by earthly parents, learnt how to do carpentry, went into ministry and suffered a great deal just like every one. These appear to be unreasonable but this is the way of God.

Today, we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The people of His day were expecting a messiah that will deliver them from the oppression of the Romans and so they were busy shouting Hosanna! Hosanna! But Jesus was focused, prepared to pay the ultimate price without been distracted. It was His last week on earth. Again, in going to Jerusalem as a king, Jesus showed humility by choosing to ride on a donkey [a beast of burden], which is not for kings, warriors, and highly esteem personalities.

Later, He was arrested; tortured, spat on by the same humans He created! God allowed all these to happen because He was focused on the end result, the salvation of mankind. Before they finally killed Him, Peter was so angry that he brought out a sword and cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest. One would have expected Jesus to say, “Peter you’ve done well; please continue to defend me.” Rather, He rebuked Peter to put away his sword, letting Peter know that if He needed defense He would have asked His father to send angels to defend Him. But knowing that there is a greater goal, He allowed whatever they did to Him so that the purpose of God is fulfilled.

When the person that was supposed to be our saviour was killed; hell and all the forces of darkness rejoiced that this “self-acclaimed” messiah is gone and whatever was His plan perished with Him. But the Bible in 2 Corinthians 2: 1 – 8 records: ‘’Dear brothers, even when I first came to you… I decided that I would speak only of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross… And my preaching was very plain, not with a lot of oratory and human wisdom, but the Holy Spirit’s power was in my words, proving to those who heard them that the message was from God. I did this because I wanted your faith to stand firmly upon God, not on man’s great ideas… and not the kind that appeals to the great men of this world, who are doomed to fall… though it was made for our benefit before the world began. But the great men of the world have not understood it; if they had, they never would have crucified the Lord of Glory’’ [TLB]

If the princes of this world knew that they were actually helping God to fulfill His purpose by killing Jesus, they would not have done so. They thought that they were hindering the plan of God from coming to pass. I am taking time to build this foundation because I want to show us how God operates and that His ways are different from ours. Sometimes, the way God does His things one may think that He has been flatly defeated and all hope is lost without knowing that God is still at work.

As a nation, we are today at a most dangerous juncture and the powers of darkness and evil are doing everything in their power to envelope this nation with thick darkness. During the just concluded general elections, divers sacrifices were allegedly made to show that they are ready for anything and rejoiced that they have everything figured out.

However, the good news is that God is going to surprise them and we are going to have Mount Carmel experience in Nigeria. “The God that answereth by fire…” will show up Himself and we are going to have another experience of David and Goliath. The nations of the world, seeing what God is doing in Nigeria will bow and say, “The Lord is God.” Let no man’s heart be troubled; God is at work, all we need to do is to spend time and seek the face of God for divine intervention. God will show Himself to be God and will not allow the heathens to ask us; “Where is your God?” He will destroy the powers of the devil and Nigeria will rise against all odds to fulfill destiny to the glory of our God.