By Ambrose .J. Chakre | EMN
Remember your leaders, who spoke the Word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:7-8
The secret behind every success lies in the mind of every concerned individuals and leaders. The great men and women of God did not become great because of their own strength but they became legends because of their dependence on the Spirit of God. When we study the life history of all these saints, we find that they prospered because of their faith in God. The truth of God’s Word always guided them in all their walks of life.
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians says “I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me ( 1st Corinthians 4:14-16). The life of faith Paul lived is an example for us to follow and to live by. When Oscar Wilde said that every saint had a past and every sinner has a future, it refers to the past sins of the saints and the redemption of the sinners. In the bible we read that David the anointed king of Israel committed adultery with Bathsheba, and to add to the gravity of the crime, he even murdered her husband so that he could sleep with her at times ( 2nd Samuel 2 ). He suffered because of his sins, but he also prospered again because of his love of God. He knew that what he did was wrong, but he repented and God forgave him and in the end he left his legacy of honour to all his descendants.
All the prophets of the past were honoured because of their life of commitment, dedication and dignity. The prophecies that they uttered were the revealed will of God. They fasted and prayed that all sinners may turn to Christ. They laboured day and night that the purposes of God might be fulfilled in their lives and in the lives of their people. It was not without reason that they laboured, for they knew that their labour in the Lord would never be in vain.
The prophecies about the emergence of a new leader was realised when Christ was born two thousand years ago. To highlight the importance of this New Leader, the scripture states “ In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways., but in the last days he has spoken to us through his son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. ( Hebrews 1:1-3 )
The whole passage talks about the uniqueness of Christ and the abundance of His blessings. This New Leader is the One we worship and the One we look up to. This powerful New leader, whom we call Christ, paved the way for salvation and made it possible for us to be reconciled to God. The leaders of the past were great and influential but the Leader (Christ) of our Church, the Church of Christ is the greatest of all because of His Divine Nature. The Word assures us that if we follow the Legacy of Faith, we shall be like the saints of the old. Truth is the signs, wonders and miracles which they performed were all done in faith, through the power of the Spirit. God has promised us that we can do greater things if we follow the legacy of faith which our leaders followed. (Hebrews 13:7-8) We should pledge our allegiance to this New Leader, whom God had chosen to redeem mankind of their sins. This New Leader is the messiah, the giver of life and the way of salvation. We the Church of Christ pledge to follow the Legacy of our Leaders, as we strive to become more like Christ. Christ is the master of all the past and present leaders and we pledge to live by the truths of His Word. Follow the Legacy of Christ.
