No Cross No Crown. Gabriel Agbo

      Jesus’ Cross and Crown

      Our perfect example is our LORD Jesus Christ. Today, He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords because He victoriously passed through trials, temptations and persecutions victoriously. He fully paid His dues to earn His current positions. That was why He made that statement "It is finished" at the cross. The price for our salvation and the total defeat of Satan and death has been fully paid. And God as a result gave Him the eternal crown and a name that is above all names. We also know all that Jesus went through. It wasn’t all that easy for Him. In fact, at a stage He was tempted to back out, but he managed to hold no. It was rough, tough, difficult and humiliating but He remained focused till the end. We already know some of the things He went through and how God settled Him.

      He passed through the cross and came out victoriously. And if He had failed at any stage, I believe the whole salvation plan would have been bungled. But thank God – the master planner! Jesus went through each stage successfully and ultimately achieved our salvation. The Greek word translated into salvation connotes regeneration, deliverance, preservation and eternal life. And this is the total salvation package. Nothing less!

      From birth the enemy tried everything to abort Jesus' mission on earth. When He was conceived, the devil wanted Joseph to divorce the mother – . Mary, but God intervened by sending an angel to him. The angel came and clarified His paternity and mission. Otherwise, Jesus would have struggled with the burden of an illegitimate child all through His life. Also, when He was born, the devil instigated King Herod to kill Him. And when God frustrated that plan, thousands of innocent male children in and around the city of Bethlehem paid with their lives. Like I have been saying, the enemy will always try his best to prevent you from fulfilling God's programme for your life, but God will also always frustrate his efforts. Praise God!

      The devil knew that Jesus was coming to do great things which included the destruction of Satan’s grip on man, hence, his attempt to kill Him at infant. Do you think the enemy is not aware of your mission on earth? Sure, He is. And this is just why he is doing everything to see that he frustrates you. When Jesus was born, they (the dark kingdom) immediately saw His star. And some of their priests came to pay homage to Him. The enemies can sometimes know what God plans to do with you. But I pray that no power of hell will be able to terminate God's programme for your life in Jesus' name!

      Temptations

      We were told that Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He was to begin His public ministry, but not without first going through the wilderness experience; where He would be tried, tested and approved. Yes, the spirit of God took Him there to be tested. The Greek word translated into tempted is the same as tested. So, the Spirit of God took Jesus to the wilderness to be tested before God would begin to use Him.

      There are things God can never give to you until you have passed through the wilderness experience. There are keys of the kingdom that God can never entrust into your hands without first taking you through the wilderness experience; where you will be tested, developed and approved. Read the scriptures very well, you will always find this principle. The men and women that God used mightily were well prepared ahead of time by great challenges, adversities, trials, persecutions, etc.

      For example, before David came to fight Goliath, he was prepared by his previous encounters with the wild beasts. Look at his statement when he was about go into that fight,

      "…I have been taking care of my father's sheep,' he said, 'when a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I will do it to this pagan philistine too."

      1 Samuel 17:34-36

      Great! The killing of lions and bears in the bush helped to prepare David for the future assignment of killing Goliath, fighting God's battles and ruling Israel. This is also what temptations and trials do in our life. They prepare us for the future. And we must always strive to overcome them.

      Back to Jesus, He faced the devil squarely in the wilderness. The devil came with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the glory of the world, but Jesus resisted all. How did He do it? By remaining focused on His divine assignment. He knew that the devil could not offer Him anything to be compared with what God kept for Him. He roundly defeated the devil and the bible said, "Then the devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus." When you successfully defeat the enemy, you will see God coming to comfort you.