It is imperative to state that the mission of Christ on earth was not to establish ‘a new religion’ –called Christianity, but to liberate mankind from the yoke of sin, and bring us back to the path of obedience to God, our Creator. Romans 3:23 unambiguously states, “ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Now, the real ‘sin’ that Apostle Paul talks about in this context, is actually our systemic disobedience to God’s natural laws and principles that govern the earth. Instead of acquiescence to divine authority, we have obstinately chosen to adopt and submit to the world system, orchestrated by Satan, to rebel against the sovereignty of God on earth.

The world system that is termed “cosmos diabolicus” means: “characteristic of the devil,” or the “devil’s world.” In the original Greek of the New Testament we find the word “world” many times such as in 1 John 2:15. The word for world is “kosmos,” from which, in English, we get “cosmic” or “cosmos,” usually translated world. Kosmos in the Greek describes a cohesive system or organization with a definite purpose, and structured authority, designed to subvert the thinking of the human race away from God. Cosmos is civilization functioning apart from God, which we also term “secularism.” Cosmos is the intellect of man that refuses to ascribe causativity to God. Therefore the world system under Satan is “anti-Christ. Lewis Sperry Chafer first coined “Cosmos Diabolicus” in his book “Systematic Theology” (Dallas Seminary press), 1947.

All the human ideologies and systems that govern the world today, were inspired and created by the Cosmic intelligence. They were deliberately designed to negate God’s natural principles that rule the earth. A cursory look at some of the man- made systems show some fundamental flaws in their ideologies. For example:
The economic system of capitalism is driven by greed, and not by love;
The political ideology of democracy is oppressive and manipulative- it creates a political class that often times subvert the purported wishes and aspirations of the so called majority;
The religious order is the most deceptive. It has substituted God’s natural principles for man-made religious doctrines, traditions and dogmas;
The justice apparatus is unfair to the poor who cannot purchase ‘justice’
The educational system is designed to perpetuate the world system. So on and so forth.

And so when Christ came to earth, He was clear about his mission to set aside the world system, as He unequivocally announced in Matthew 4:17, “… Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” To repent connotes a change of mind; an acceptance of a new way of thinking and living. To paraphrase His mission statement, He was saying “change the ideology that controls your life- the world system, and embrace Godly principles that will put you in a place of total submission to the rulership of God-the kingdom of God.

In fact, the apogee of his message was the urgent need to entrench the kingdom values and principle on earth, as the only potent elixir to salvage mankind from an impending apocalypse.
He therefore recruited disciples whom he taught the principles and values of God’s kingdom. He modeled the kingdom lifestyle that His disciples could emulate.

His radical teachings disrupted the status quo – the world systems: He rebuked the religious leaders, whom He called hypocrites for turning the people away from God through their burdensome and deceptive doctrines and dogmas. Hear him
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven in front of people; for you do not enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter” –Mathew 23:14

He preached love and not religion. He admonished His followers to love one another, “…and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”-Mark 12:31

He discountenanced the economic order that promoted excessive possessions of material wealth. He said to His disciples, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”-Luke 12: 15. He even had to advise a miserable ‘rich’ young man, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”-Matthew 19:21.
His concept of riches was not predicated on material possessions, as espoused by the economic system of the world, but was premised on how much we give to help others who are in need.

He revolutionized the concept of leadership, and speaking to his disciples he said, “Whoever wants to be first( leader) must take last place and be the servant of everyone else”-Mark 9:35

He challenged the justice system that oppressed the weak and the vulnerable. Imagine a woman supposedly caught in an act of adultery without the man, and she was about to be killed alone- what an unjust system! Where was the man? They brought her to Jesus, expecting him to endorse their injustice. Rather He ignored them and began to write on the ground. When He finally stood up, He challenged them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”- John 8:7. On hearing this statement, their consciences became the ’judge’ that convicted their heart of sin. And one by one they dropped their stones and went their ways. This scenario is typical of the unfair justice system of the world today. These and many more were the principles and values that He taught his followers.

After His death and resurrection He gave a mandate to His disciple, popularly known as the great commission, “Mark 16:15-16
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The ‘gospel’ Christ commissioned His followers to propagate was not a ‘new religion’, but a new way of life- the kingdom principles encapsulate.

No wonder, the early Apostle who were directly influenced by his teachings took the world by storm with their ‘kingdom lifestyle’ that was weird to the world, so much so that the people in Antioch, who observed their strange way of life, derisively nicknamed them ‘ Christ-like’, from where the word ‘ Christian’ originated.

The early Apostles in Acts:2: 44-46, made a mess of the world economic system that is characterized by greed and excessive accumulations, “All the believers were together and had everything In common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart…”

They continued steadfastly in their quest to dominate the world with the kingdom culture. And even Apostle Paul who was once a staunch antagonist to the ‘good news’ got converted and became a legendary missionary who took the gospel to the Gentiles- the non -Jewish world.

He implored the new believers in Romans 12:2 : “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.( New Living Translation)

But sadly, over the years, the gospel of salvation and transformation that Christ brought to earth, has been wickedly perverted and turned into a complicated religion- the ‘Christian Religion’. The ethos of the great commission has been lost to vain religious doctrines and dogmas. The degeneration of the gospel has taken a dangerous twist with the advent of Pentecostalism with it attendant commercialization of the gospel.

Today, the hypocritical believers who pride themselves as ‘Christians’ have not only conformed to the world system, they have also taken the front row in advancing the world system to the extent that the church has become more ‘worldly’ than the world.

But, surely Christ will reprimand them for their atrocious travesty of the gospel on that great day of judgement; “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’- Matthew 7:22-23
They can only deceive the people with their pseudo- piety, but not Christ who is Omniscience. But the hour has come for the true gospel to be resuscitated!

And God is raising an end time army of true believers that will preach the authentic gospel and change the world system.

The revival has just begun………

Azemobor Gregory is a Messenger of the Truth with a calling to propagate the virtue of love.
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