We, Christians, must do our father’s business

Our Lord Jesus Christ left a legacy of working hard to accomplish God’s wish on earth. There was no idle time for Him, as He preached the good tidings all through His lifetime. The work of God was uppermost in His mind and He worked earnestly to satisfy the purpose of His coming to earth. He hit the nail on its head in John 4:30-34 saying: “Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 31: In the meanwhile His disciples prayed him, saying; Master, eat. 32: But He said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33: Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought Him ought to eat? 34: Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ left the comfort of heaven to earth to declare the word of reconciliation with a view of restoring the lost kingdom through the preaching of the gospel. Evangelism was the purpose of His coming; He ensured the work was tackled head long with all His might. At the time He came sin had taken over the world; Satan, the Devil was holding sway but Jesus Christ challenged him; hence the world vehemently was against Jesus Christ ministry.

Although the world rejected Him, it was never a deterrent for Him to evangelise the word. He came to finish the work of restoration, introduce people of the lost kingdom into the culture of heaven kingdom. His aim was to make the people perfect and make heaven when they die. He was aware of the magnitude of work before Him and was focused right from His childhood. At the age of 12, while on a visit to Bethlehem with His earthly parents, they lost contact with Him but when they eventually found Him, He was in the temple searching the scriptures with the spiritual elders and eggheads in Israel. He was not found in the field playing football, as many children of that age in this generation would do. And when the mother expressed dismay, He said: “They should know, He must be engaged with His father’s business.” What then is the father’s business that He has come to finish? Luke 19:9-10 says: “And Jesus Christ said unto him, this day is salvation come to this house, for so much as He also is a son of Abraham. 10: For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, lost the kingdom after they disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. They left the presence of God and fell from His glory. The kingdom of heaven whose colony was established on earth was lost and man was equally lost to the Devil. This made man to commit sin uncontrollably under the supervision of Satan, the Devil.

However, God promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of serpent — the instrument Devil used to deceive man. To defeat the Devil, man must allow the spirit of God to abundantly dwell in him.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came for this purpose and the people He has so far recovered are called Christians. They were made manifest for the first time at Antioch with this expression: “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year, they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

As many people as our Lord Jesus Christ converted, He instructed them to continue His Father’s business till He comes again. The people clearly took the message in faith and were moving from one city to another preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all.

The people of Antioch witnessing the practical expression of love among them and the teaching of the good news mocked them, saying these people are Christ-like — shortened to Christians. As Christians are Christ-like, they should do the work, which our Lord Jesus Christ had come to do on earth. It is, therefore, expedient adhering strictly to the biblical injunction in Mark 16:15-18 that says: “And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.16: He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17: And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18: They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” These are the very last words of our Lord Jesus Christ, while ascending into heaven. He charged His disciples to be occupied in the business of the father. They should not discriminate, but transverse all the nooks and crannies of the earth to preach the word of God and make sure that the good tidings get to everyone on earth.

The will of God is that all human beings should be saved and come to the knowledge of God (1Tim 2: 3-4). In the course of preaching the gospel the disciples of Jesus Christ, Christians, are to heal the sick, deliver the spiritually caged from their evil bondages by praying for them. The people should be preached to, to renounce their old lifestyles of serving the Devil or doing evil and other practices against the will of God. They should embrace Jesus Christ, love one another, lead a holy and righteous lifestyle and shun everything that has to do with the Devil. The disciples of Jesus Christ should keep teaching the people to be focused and to prepare for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The work of God is no longer an indoor business; like the apostles of old, we should all go out into the field to preach the gospel of repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible; converting them to Christianity.

Today, let everyone professing Jesus Christ understand that as Christians we should at all times do the business of the father, as our Lord Jesus Christ charged us to do till He comes. The preparation for His second coming should also remain evergreen in our minds. We should be prepared and not to be taken unawares when the trumpet shall sound.