CHRISTIANITY'S ANSWER TO THE LIFE'S GREATEST QUESTION

Christianity is the Faith with a spiritual axiom that provides a premise on which answers to the one of the greatest question are found: This Question made a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama to leave the comfort of a palace to seek answers Why do people live, suffer, get sick, grow old, get killed or just die? Is this what life is all about? Why was I born? These and many other questions prompted the Buddha to pursue a path that would lead him to finding satisfactory answers. In the course of his sojourn, he founded Buddhism.

Almost all the great religions of the world have and still are seeking answers to the greatest question above. People are still being born in trouble, get sick, grow old, get killed and die. The greatest mistake we make in seeking for solutions in our lives in this world is ‘missing the mark”. We seek answers to these perplexing questions in wrong places and from wrong people.

Wisdom calls that in order to find a lasting solution to a persistent malignant problem like that one posed by our question above; we need to find the root cause of the problem. Only the Christian Faith provides for this; that SIN is the cause of the problem highlighted in the great question and so long as the cancerous cells of sin still exist in human life , people will still die, grow old, get sick, fight each other, steal, enslave others, discriminate against others and the list goes on and on. 

The Bible in Romans 5: 12-13 points out that “therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. 13For sin was in the world before the Law was given; So it does not matter how many parliaments will make laws, the great question cannot be answered outside the Bible, and in that case, outside Christianity.

The Spiritual axiom in Christianity that provides a valid premise is found in the words of 1 Peter 2:24  “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” Dead people don’t envy, dead people don’t fight for positions and kill because they are already dead.

Each nation under the sun thinks that peace comes from peace treaties, and political alliances, they are all wrong. Life comes from Death. This is a principle of life. Something must die for the other to live. Plants and other vegetation have to die for other organisms to live. Animals have to die for the meat eaters to live. Where there is no death, there is no life. It is only in Christianity that this principle is clearly laid out. Why do people live, suffer, get old, get sick, get killed and die? Answer: Because of the sin that man committed when he disobeyed God.

Question: So shall man continue to live like this forever? What is the solution to this life’s great question?

Answer: The solution to the world’s problems is the death of Jesus Christ who “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24. Here in is the answer.

Samuel, Geffrey(2010), The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press

CRITICAL QUESTIONS

God's standards are so high that the people of this world dismiss them not because they are unfair but because they can't reach them. They are so high to the so called thinkers and as a result they start calling themselves atheists, etc because they have rejected the only way given to reach them. They are so high that many a pastor and the so called bishops try to explain them in vague terms and instead of preaching the truth they have all fallen into the preaching of the false gospel of prosperity and illusion. 

The standards are so high for me too because I know what they require me to do but I always rebel and take to my own understanding. I cannot meassure up to Job who after undergoing a suffering that no life on earth has ever seen except that of Christ on the Cross,said . "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. Job 23:10-11 . 

The Critical Questions for you to READ  and to ponder:
1. Does God know the way that you and I take?
2. When God has tested you and me, shall we come forth as gold?
3. Have your feet and My feet closely followed his steps?
4. Have you and I kept to his way without turning aside?

How many of us can say without batting an eye like Job?

I thank the gospel of the Cross of Christ preached by the Apostle Paul who wrote" in Romans 7; 21- 25, 'So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.

TRUST

We often hear this word used in various places and by various people. In fact, in Kenya there is a brand of a birth control device called TRUST. Nonetheless, the meaning of this word to those of who have gone through trying moments, those who have sinned terribly, those who have been rejected, despised, forsaken, ridiculed oppressed, disciminated against and even blackmailed, the word TRUST makes a very deep meaning that ought to make us shout HALLELUYA THE LORD IS GOOD!!!!

First, the word denotes reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, love and protection, of a person or thing; To the Christians, our object of TRUST is GOD through the finished work of Jesus Christ. When we look up to the Cross of Christ, our suffereing and the despicable situations we undergo, just become learning experiences of hardening us towards the finish line. So do not give up. Belt up and focus. KEEP ON KEEPING ON.

Secondly, the word TRUST speaks of having confidence. If we say we trust in God, our actions, beliefs, behaviour and attitudes must be governed by honesty. Honesty as an attitudenal aspect should permiate our lives as much as dealing with matters that matter in life like; relationships, dating, marriages, parenting, work ethics, studies, and preparedness for exiting this world. Like in an examination, performance, sporting athletics, contests and situations where we are being tested, confidence produces the best results. Here, if indeed we TRUST in God, we ought to deligently study His word and live according to His perfect will. When we find ourselves in situations that are threatening, we have no fear of failing because the Holy Spirit ensures that we do the Things that pleases God. The WORD that we have hidden in our hearts produces confident expectation of God's DELIVERANCE because He is God and worth of our TRUST.

Thirdly TRUST means confidence in the certainty of future reward, this could be an equivalent of credit: Trust also refers to a person on whom or thing on which one relies: Who is your TRUST? Nations of the world have their TRUST in Nuke heads, weapons, and the power of the gun. Citizens of this world have their TRUST in politicians, presidents, money and wealth. But Christians TRUST IN THE LORD GOD and this gives us hope.God is my trust.

Since in these matters of TRUST we are in a condition of one to whom the gospel has been entrusted.We ought to know the scripture apply scripture live by scripture. Here is where the rubber meets the road.We hardly honour the obligation or responsibility imposed on a us especially when in positions of leadership. The people we lead have placed in us confidence and authority. Leaders occupy a position of trust, charge, custody and care therefore we need to be stewards and not masters. Most of the leaders we have are rulers: they are the "it is either my way or the highway type of people. These sort are those who instead of Trusting in God, they have trusted in themsleves and their way in disregard to other people's opinions and feelings.

The Chracteristics of a Christian whose TRUST is in God, is described beautifully in Jeremiah 17:7-8
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

MAVI USIYOYALA WAFUKUZIANI NZI ?

The title of this liitle message may not be polite. I purposely ignored the use of euphemism because it is an African saying coined to produce the same feelings it has produced in those of you who understand it and in those who will understand it. I am always made to blame for being blunt sometimes but in this I had no choice but to use this saying.

To the Non Kiswahili speakers and those who did not take Fasihi ya Kiswahili, Mavi is waste matter discharged from the bowels after food has been digested; excrement. The second word has been conjugated from the verb "la" or "kula" which means "to eat". Used in this form renders it a negation- ie.do not eat. Wafukiziani -translates to- why are you chasing away ? Nzi -is a fly. Translated , Why chase away flies from the faeces you do not eat?

I relate this saying although crude to why people get offended when we Worship God and believe that Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY LIFE AND TRUTH to the Father. If you feel this is FOOLISH, WHY ARE YOU AFFECTED BY WHAT YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN? I am not sure I know why some feel offended when we say we believe in God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. I do not KNOW why some don't like it when we say that there is God in heaven the creator of heaven and earth in whom we believe. I have never understood why others feel offended when we say that Jesus is the only WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. Does this offend you? Why?

I Reproduce Paul's intruction 1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

THE FOOLISHNESS IN CHRISTIANITY

Many mordern people find Christianity as a way of life that is chosen by those who are foolish, irrational, backward and those who believe in things without questioning. If you sit and start thinking deeply about this scenario, you will indeed see foolish things happened and are still happening even today. How does life sustain itself? How do human beings and animals live? It is foolish that both animals and humans live on dead things. Insects too. They eat dead things. Isn't that foolish? WE cannot eat meat if an animal doesnt die. Isn't that foolish too? Even plants have to die for us to have life after eatining them.

Now the Climax of all foolishness is when God, the almighty God comes down to His creation after the creation rebelling against Him, God becomes man and in Jesus Christ lives among His creation. The brightest of His creation, those clever ones, the sharp minds, the analytical minds, scrutinize Him, follow Him, investigate Him, dispute with Him,marvel at His miracles, eat the bread and fish that He foolishly multiplies, some refuse to follow Him and some follow but decided to cleverly go back to their trade-fishing after this God dies foolishly on a rugged cross. A shameful death designed for foolish people who coomitt grevoius mistakes like treason, blasphemy, and robbery.

This God is arrested after being betrayed by one clever guy, who thought wisely, that this guy who claims to be God is worth 30 pieces of silver. He again cleverly, plans and plots on how to identify this God to the brightest of all. The ones who came to arrest this foolish guy, were definately clever and wise. They arrested him at Night. He was foolish because He did not run away, he did not defend Himself, He was hunted down like a robber and did not know where to hide. Isn't this WISDOM?

Clever guys of this world would not be arrested just like that. His disciple called Peter was more clever than Jesus because he used the sword to cut the ear of one of those who had come to arrest this guy. This God was foolish because He did not know that tit for tat is a fair game, He was foolish because He did not know that the law allows you to kill in self defence, He was foolish too because he placed the ear back. He was foolish because all His diciples ran away and left Him alone NOT KNOWING HOW TO RUN AWAY AND SAVE HIS LIFE, if He were clever, he would have ran as fast as Usain Bolt afterall He is the one who created these fastest people, So He claimed.

The whole spectacle of FOOLISHNESS was displayed on the Cross outside the city and this God was smucked but could not tell who smucked Him. He was spat on, flogged kijinga kijinga tu. He claimed that He could demolish the Temple and Built it up in 3 days. Even this Foolish God could not save baby Jesus Christ when he was being sought out by Herode, and the parents of the Baby Jesus, like all cowards do, become a REFUGEE and went to hide in a Africa a Continent of the foolish black people full of diseases,and backward people.

Jesus Christ could not curry His cross uphill until He was helped by another FOOLISH man like Him from Africa called Simon. You know foolish people come from Africa. This foolish person did not volunteer to carry this( my perspective) cross but because he was Black and a slave, he was forced, he did not offer himself and therefore foolish to carry the CROSS.If he were clever, he should have reasoned out with them and proved to them that he was a free man and could not be forced to carry a cross that would be used to crucify a bastard whose father was not known. a Jew could not be forced to carry a cross, a free person could not be forced to carry a cdross for a foolish criminal who claimed to God. Only a foolish Slave could carry a Foolish Cross for a foolish God. You see? Only Foolish people can do this.

Then came a foolish Apostle called Paul. He was foolish because, he decided to follow a person he claims to have seen in a vision on his way to Damascus to do what the clever people do -persecute the foolish Christians- how can a whole lawyer decide to become homeless, abandone his family, never talk about his wife and children, quit his occupation and decided to walk arround preaching about Jesus Christ. A whole memeber of the Pharasees council in Jerusalem, A roman Citizen -not an undocumented allien- gathering around some young people like Timothy and Titus and teaching them about a foolish way of life where people drink the blood of a dead Man Jesus Christ, and eat his flesh. Wasn't this foolish?

This Foolish guy called Paul then wrote some 13 letters which form a big portion of the Bible. To demonstrate the essense of all these foolishness, in one of his many letters, he wrote this: 18Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”…How did the foloish God make CHRISTIANS FOOLISH? The answer is in 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. I am FOOLISH, are you ? Faithful Ordinary Ordained Living in the Immortal Saviour's Hope.

The Use of the Politics of Fear

If we have love for one another, we cannot fear those who we are told are bad. Fear is described by psychologist as a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat that occurs in certain types of organisms. It is said that FEAR causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events.

I submit to you my brothers and sisters that our political leaders have used FEAR to divide us alongside ethinic, religious and racial lines making us fear those people who do not look like us, or do not speak our language or do not have the same Faith and beliefs like ours. Muslims are set against Christians and Vice versa, Hindus are set against Muslims and the chain goes on and on. We have made our young people look at others with animosity and hatred yet they are all citizen of one country, members of the same community and therefore citizens of this world.If we loved one another, there would be no refugees running away from wars in their own country. If we loved each other, we would not be manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.

Psychologist say that Fear in human beings may occur in response to a specific stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to body or life. Many young people are fleeing the African continent because they fear hunger , stavation, wars, joblessness, uncertain future and the phobia of failure. As result, of the political environment in the third worl countries, which is created by poor leadership by every succeeding goverment, the young able bodied Africans are ready to risk their lives and swim across the oceans just to save their dreams.

Parents on the other hand are ready to get very heavy loans to pay the so called agents to help take away their sons and daughters from the poverty that Afriacan countries have become. Every flight from the capitals of many African countries landing in Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific has atleast one or two young people who are fleeing from situations back home.

According to Stop the traffik Organisation, 600,000-800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year and approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors. At least 20.9 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide.This is what has now become new slavery and slave trade through human trafficking. If we loved each other as the Bible tell us we would not be having tragic stories of thousands of people dying in the highseas in search of work and peace.

The populations of young people leaving the African continent is as a responce to what the experts in the area of Psychology have categorized as, the fear response that arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat (also known as the fight-or-flight response), which in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) can be a freeze response or paralysis.

As a manifestation of this reaction to the fear created by our political leaders in Africa, the young people have only two options: Fight or Flight. The former reaction creates a fertile ground for religious radicalization, terror gang mentality like the Mungiki, Sungu Sungu, Taliban the Mombasa Republican Movement, the Lord's resistance Army of Kony and the present South African political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, which is actually a direct result of the political situation in South africa created by Political Leaders who use Fear as an instrument of dividing the people. The only cure for this is GOD'S LOVE.

I once took a test in Poetry and was asked to explain the irony in a situation where an accident occured involving a concrete mixing truck and a truck ferrying hardcore prisoners to jail. I saw several imageries with many subtle similarities in this scenario where incarceration of the young people arrested in violation of any laws exacerbates the situation rather than curing it.

Many young people have convertated to radical religious sects because right there in the Prison they interact hard core criminals who are also highly educated but may be very ingnorant of true teachings of the religions they puport to preach.

Young people with the potentila of being engineers teachers and innovators are put together with rebelious criminals and just like the concrete mixer truck hardens the stuff by mixing sand, water, cement and pebbles, the petty offenders become robbers and terrorists because the prisons are also places where learning of anything can take place. This is confirmed by what Psychology teaches that in humans and in animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Irrational fear, also known as ethnophobia in our case here, creates enemity among people and those who are in power, decide to use the state apparatus defend their positions against those who are trying to resist.

We have very many examples in Africa where the use fear by political Leaders has destroyed many a nation. The Bible provides the only Road map to sanity and peace. In 1 John 4:18 the apostle tells us "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Let us seek the Perfect LOVE that has only one source- GOD as fully demonstrated on the Cross of Christ.

God's Radical Transforming Love

As the world reels in abject suspicion of everyone foreign or anybody who doesn't look like us, the gopsel of Jesus Christ is being preached allover the world. Surprisingly, it is not the mega churches that are preaching this gospel. It is not the so called apostles and bishops, and prophets, and miracleworkers who have all the time on the electronic and social media, IT IS BEING PREACHED BY CHRIST HIMSELF FROM HEAVEN where He is seated on the right hand side of the father. When they do not preach against sin, and continue building mansions and cathedrals that accommodate thousands of memebers here on earth, they see public money being stollen and fear to speak about it, some have even abandoned the pulpit and joine politics, the Gopsel is like the the mighty River Nile WHICH CAN NEVER BE STOPPED BY ANYTHING. What Jesus said in Luke 19:40 HAS COME TO PASS "But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!" Stones are now preaching the Gospel.

The bible shows that it is a living book that gives life to many by showing how radical Transforming love works. Look all over the world, the world has a new definition of the word "enemy" ---- which lexically, means "a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something".or "a hostile nation or its armed forces or citizens, especially in time of war". or "a thing that harms or weakens something else", but now the word enemy has been made to mean "someone who doesn't agree with you or looks different, or belongs to another nation or religion".

Rdical transformational love would change the young radicalized jobless Muslims and Christians who have converted to Islam in the major populous cities of African nations have been made to believe that anybody who is not a muslim, is an enemy. They have been made to believe that western culture is Christianity and hence anything from Europe including sports, Education and life styles, are considered to be of the enemy. Be it what it may, the Christian Faith is the only FAITH that teaches us how to live with all people who may be different from us.We also know that our God loves those who are fleeing from war ravaged countries. The cities of refuge played a very significant role in the life of ancient Israel and that is why God commanded Moses to build these cities.(Exodus 21:12 - 14, Numbers 35:9 - 34, Deuteronomy. Radical transforming Love provides solace to

Refugees are a people who are seeking protection and for theo of us who have lived in the East African region know that refugees bring with them God's blessings. Many Ugandan teachers who fled from Uganda's Iddi Amin Dada, became very instrumental in the education and Medical sector. I was taught by teachers from Uganda.Many doctors worked in our hospitals. Many refugees form Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Ruanda have lived with us in Kenya and brought Blessings to Kenya. What important role did the cities of refuge play in the life of ancient Israel? Why did God command Moses (Exodus 21:12 - 14, Numbers 35:9 - 34, Deuteronomy Jesus our Lord was a refugee at the age of below 2. He lived as a refugee in Africa and drunk water from Lake Victoria in Kenya. He knew that real love is demostrated by loving all....

The Radical love that can transform and will pacify the world, is not shown by signing peace treaties but by what Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-45“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.