*Says a new Nigeria will emerge
Success Nwogu
The Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Dr, Mike Okonkwo, has said that the cricifixion, death and ressurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ restored dominion to Christians over satan, sin, and sickness.
He stated that Christians are no peripherial to the world, adding that they must act in that realisation and be bold about it.
He spoke while delivering his Easter sermon on Sunday at TREM International Headquarters, Anthony Oke, Gbadaga Expressway, Lagos. His sermon was titled: ‘Dominion Restored.’
He also said that a new Nigeria will emerge.
He admonished non-Christians to accept the free salvation offered by Christ through his death.
Bishop Okonkwo said that Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of the sins of the world and was raised back to life to prove that he had made Christians right with God!
He said that Christ did not know sin but that he was delivered because people. He explained that God has to be satisfied, and had to judiciously ensure that mankind was redeemed without the devil pointing accusing fingers on manking and say, ‘you are not just.’
he added that God delivered Jesus Christ for the offences of the world and that Jesus Christ was raised for the justification of the world.
He said, “We have peace in God. There is no doubt whether God is happy with you or not. God is happy with you.”
He quoted from various scriptures which include:
Romans 5:1-5
Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us. Our faith guarantees us permanent access into this marvelous kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God. What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory! But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!
Okonkwo said. “Your future is well.You will not end in shame. I do not care what you are going through but it will never end in shame. All is well. Our life is worth a living because He lives. God is happy with you always.
Rom 3:19-
Now, we realize that everything the law says is addressed to those who are under its authority. This is for two reasons: So that every excuse will be silenced, with no boasting of innocence. And so that the entire world will be held accountable to God’s standards.
The cleric said that the death and ressurection of Jesus Christ, is a reality and not a histocal fact. He stated thatJesus Christ died that humanity might be alive. He
He said, “became stranded so that we will be stranded in life. The greatest things you can do is to experience and enjoy the reason why he died.”
1 Corinthians 15
The Resurrection of Christ
1Dear friends, let me give you clearly the heart of the gospel that I’ve preached to you—the good news that you have heartily received and on which you stand. 2For it is through the revelation of the gospel that you are being saved, if you fasten your life firmly to the message I’ve taught you, unless you have believed in vain.
3For I have shared with you what I have received and what is of utmost importance:
The Messiah died for our sins,
fulfilling the prophecies of the Scriptures.
4He was buried in a tomb
and was raised from the dead after three days,
as foretold in the Scriptures.
5Then he appeared to Peter the Rock
and to the twelve apostles.
6He also appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at the same time, most of whom are still alive as I write this, though a few have passed away. 7Then he appeared to Jacob and to all the apostles. 8Last of all he appeared in front of me, like one born prematurely, ripped from the womb. 9Yes, I am the most insignificant of all the apostles, unworthy even to be called an apostle, because I hunted down believers and persecuted God’s church. 10But God’s amazing grace has made me who I am! And his grace to me was not fruitless. In fact, I worked harder than all the rest, yet not in my own strength but God’s, for his empowering grace is poured out upon me. 11So this is what we all have taught you, and whether it was through me or someone else, you have now believed the gospel.
The Importance of the Resurrection
12The message we preach is Christ, who has been raised from the dead. So how could any of you possibly say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13For if there is no such thing as a resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, all of our preaching has been for nothing and your faith is useless. 15Moreover, if the dead are not raised, in 6 that would mean that we are false witnesses who are misrepresenting God. And that would mean that we have preached a lie, stating that God raised him from the dead, if in reality he didn’t.
16If the dead aren’t raised up, that would mean that Christ has not been raised up either. 17And if Christ is not alive, you are still lost in your sins and your faith is a fantasy. 18It would also mean that those believers in Christ who have passed away have simply perished. 19If the only benefit of our hope in Christ is limited to this life on earth, we deserve to be pitied more than all others!
20But the truth is, Christ is risen from the dead, as the firstfruit of a great resurrection harvest of those who have died. 21For since death came through a man, Adam, it is fitting that the resurrection of the dead has also come through a man, Christ. 22Even as all who are in Adam die, so also all who are in Christ will be made alive. 23But each one in his proper order: Christ, the firstfruits, then those who belong to Christ in his presence.
24Then the final stage of completion comes, when he will bring to an end every other rulership, authority, and power, and he will hand over his kingdom to Father God. 25Until then he is destined to reign as King until all hostility has been subdued and placed under his feet. 26And the last enemy to be subdued and eliminated is death itself.
27The Father has placed all things in subjection under the feet of Christ. Yet when it says, “all things,” it is understood that the Father does not include himself, for he is the one who placed all things in subjection to Christ. 28However, when everything is subdued and in submission to him, then the Son himself will be subject to the Father, who put all things under his feet. This is so that Father God will be everything in everyone!
Implications of the Resurrection
29If there is no resurrection, what do these people think they’re doing when they are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised, why be baptized for them? 30And why would we be risking our lives every day?
31My brothers and sisters, I continually face death. This is as sure as my boasting of you and our co-union together in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives me confidence to share my experiences with you. 32Tell me, why did I fight “wild beasts” in Ephesus if my hope is in this life only? What was the point of that? If the dead do not rise, then
Let’s party all night, for tomorrow we die!
33So stop fooling yourselves! Evil companions will corrupt good morals and character. 34Come back to your right senses and awaken to what is right. Repent from your sinful ways. For some have no knowledge of God’s wonderful love. You should be ashamed that you make me write this way to you!
Our Resurrection Body
35I can almost hear someone saying, “How can the dead come back to life? And what kind of body will they have when they are resurrected?” 36Foolish man! Don’t you know that what you sow in the ground doesn’t germinate unless it dies? 37And what you sow is not the body that will come into being, but the bare seed. And it’s hard to tell whether it’s wheat or some other seed. 38But when it dies, God gives it a new form, a body to fulfill his purpose, and he sees to it that each seed gets a new body of its own and becomes the plant he designed it to be.
39All flesh is not identical. Animals have one flesh and human beings another. Birds have their distinct flesh and fish another. 40In the same way there are earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. There is a splendor of the celestial body and a different one for the earthly. 41There is the radiance of the sun and differing radiance for the moon and for the stars. Even the stars differ in their shining. 42And that’s how it will be with the resurrection of the dead.
43The body is “sown” in decay, but will be raised in immortality. It is “sown” in humiliation, but will be raised in glorification. 44It is “sown” in weakness but will be raised in power. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45For it is written:
The first man, Adam, became a living soul.
The last Adam became the life-giving Spirit. 46However, the spiritual didn’t come first. The natural precedes the spiritual. 47The first man was from the dust of the earth; the second Man is Yahweh, from the realm of heaven. 48The first one, made from dust, has a race of people just like him, who are also made from dust. The One sent from heaven has a race of heavenly people who are just like him. 49Once we carried the likeness of the man of dust, but now let us carry the likeness of the man of heaven.
Transformation
50Now, I tell you this, my brothers and sisters, flesh and blood are not able to inherit God’s kingdom realm, and neither will that which is decaying be able to inherit what is incorruptible.
51Listen, and I will tell you a divine mystery: not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. 52It will happen in an instant —in the twinkling of his eye. For when the last trumpet is sounded, the dead will come back to life. We will be indestructible and we will be transformed. 53For we will discard our mortal “clothes” and slip into a body that is imperishable. What is mortal now will be exchanged for immortality. 54And when that which is mortal puts on immortality, and what now decays is exchanged for what will never decay, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says:
Death is swallowed up by a triumphant victory!
55So death, tell me, where is your victory?
Tell me death, where is your sting?
56It is sin that gives death its sting and the law that gives sin its power. 57But we thank God for giving us the victory as conquerors through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. 58So now, beloved ones, stand firm, stable, and enduring. Live your lives with an unshakable confidence. We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures.
Bishop Okonkwo stated that there would have been no claim of justification if Jesus Christ had not resurrected.
He said, “If Christ did not rise from the dear, you can not claim that you are justified.
“God unleashed the greatest power he ever had to have resurrection. The devil ensured that everything he had,he unleashed it to ensure that Jesus did not resurrection. But he did not know he was not dealing with a man but God.”
Eph 1:15-23
Because of this, since I first heard about your strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your tender love toward all his devoted ones, my heart is always full and overflowing with thanks to God for you as I constantly remember you in my prayers. I pray that the Father of glory, and honor the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and the realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age but in the age that is coming! And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given him the highest rank above all others. And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!
Okonkwo said, “Our lives should become advertisements. When the world sees us, they should see God.
“God has put everything beneath the authority of Christ and given him the highest authority.
Christians carry power. They are dangerously loaded but some if them do not know it. Every witch is under you. Darkness is nothing but the absence of light.”
Heb 9: 15-28
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.8 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For za will take effect only at death since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, d“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ion our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:7
And the high priest was permitted to enter into the Holiest Sanctuary of All only once a year and he could never enter without first offering sacrificial blood for both his own sins and for the sins of the people.
The Bishop said there are two receptions after death. According to him, for those who did not serve Christ, the devil will welcome them after their death while angels will receive those who served Christ
Rom 8:29-38.
He added, “Presently discovered that one of the most powerful prayers you can offer when you are in adversity us that ‘Jesus loves me.” Because he dies, he fights for those who he loves.
“The more they fight you, the more the Lord showcases you. They will leak the dust.
“Christ came and removed your shame and rejection. He came and removed your betrayer.”