The Aflao Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Michael Agyen Brefo, has assured Christians that faith in Christ Jesus is their greatest gain.
He made this assertion during the Good Friday morning service on April 7, 2023, while exhorting members of the Church at the Anloga sub-zone.
Speaking on the topic “Divine Exchange for Maximum Impact” with scriptural reference from 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 3:24-25, the Aflao Area Head declared that Christ Jesus, through His death on the cross of Calvary, has exchanged the loss of Christians into a massive gain.
He explained that man’s disobedience to God led to sin and its consequences. Sin brought disgrace, death, and fear of the devil upon all mankind.
However, God’s abundant provision of grace, evidenced in His sending of Jesus Christ into the world to atone for the sins of mankind, has brought divine exchange. In the sense that the debt of the sinful man was paid by Christ. The love of God was so deep that the righteous Jesus died for the unrighteous human being.
He stated that “It is impossible for someone to die for the ungodly, but God demonstrated his love for all humanity that while we were yet sinners, he sent Jesus Christ to die for us.”
Expounding the background to his message, he stated that had Christ not come, there was no way sin and its generational effect on the human race could be atoned for. In God’s own wisdom, the only remedy for this canker was the shedding of blood. Consequent to God’s redemptive plan, he called Abraham (the father of the Jewish nation) with the notion that through the ‘Seed’ of Abraham, all nations of the earth shall be blessed. He explained that this ‘Seed’ was Jesus Christ.
Before Jesus’ incarnation into human history, God through the Mosaic covenant, instituted the Old Testament worship as a shadow of God’s redemptive plan for humanity. In the Jewish worship, the chief priest makes atonement for the people once a year using the blood of bulls and lambs. This act of atonement as established by God was to enable His people to get closer to Him. However, the Old Testament worship was faulty in the sense that it brought condemnation, discrimination and also placed a yoke on the people.
“The Old Testament worship also led to slavery, death, curses, and made men rebels to God because it could not deal with sin and its effect. The blood of animals only made the Old Testament worshippers ceremonially clean on the outside, but it could not deal with the effect of sin within the innermost part of the human nature (Hebrews 8:6-8). God, therefore, sent his beloved Son Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of humanity,” he emphasised.
He further noted that: “Jesus was sacrificed for our sins once for all. He paid our debt once for all. In fact, his death is our gain. He died that we might live,” Apostle Agyen stressed. “His one-time sacrifice has also taken away the yoke, curses, burdens, death, pains, and afflictions of those who put their trust in him,” he added.
With many other exhortations, Apostle Agyen Brefo admonished the teeming members not to make the sacrifice of Jesus be in vain. This is because Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. It is through righteous living that all people will come and appreciate the love
Apostle Agyen Brefo also pleaded with those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord to continue to put their faith in Him and acknowledge Him as their Saviour and Lord.
Report by Pastor Francis Lamptey (Aflao Area Reporter).