The International Missions Director (IMD) of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Emmanuel Gyesi-Addo, has declared that Jesus Christ did not die a vicarious death for Himself, but suffered so that humanity would be set free from sin and eternal damnation.
He explained that for one to benefit from the death of Jesus Christ, they must acknowledge Him as their Lord and personal Saviour and He will turn their sorry situations around.
“Jesus went through hell which separated Him from God. For the first time He couldn’t call God, ‘Father’ because He took our place and bore the sins of the world upon Himself; it was not for His sake. He died that we might live. He went through hell so that we may not go through hell again. He did that as punishment for sin in order to save us,” he pointed out.
Apostle Gyesi-Addo stated this in a sermon on the Good Friday on PENT TV as part of the 2020 Easter celebration by The Church of Pentecost which is being held on the theme, “Jesus Died That I Might Live” – 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10.
Speaking on the topic, “The Message of the Cross” based on John 19:28-30; 1 Corinthians 1:18, he explained that the cross was a symbol of shame, punishment, and curse and that death on the cross was only reserved for the most wicked criminal.
However, he stated, when Jesus went up to the cross, the narration about the cross changed, saying, “Every situation that Jesus comes into, He transforms it even if it is one of a shame and curse when Jesus associates Himself with that kind of situation, He transforms it.
“From the time Jesus went to the cross and associated Himself with it, today the cross has become a symbol of glory and beauty. So no matter how your life is, just invite Him into it and He will transform your life.”
According to the IMD, there are so many theories that have been fabricated by men about the death of Christ. He said that some people say that Jesus fainted and died, others say that just as He was about to die His body was smuggled, while others also say that he was exchanged for someone else. “No matter what the theories say, the Bible confirms that Jesus died and the fact is that He did not die for Himself – He died to bring benefit to others; He died that we might live,” he stressed.
Apostle Gyesi-Addo mentioned that the physical sufferings that Jesus went through was meant to give eternal life to men. “The Lamb of God was killed in order to give us life. He went through intense sufferings for our sake; He went through hell for us. Jesus was made sin and, therefore, had to pay the penalty of sin, and the penalty of sin is death,” he pointed (2 Corinthians 5:21; Luke 16:19-24).
He indicated that when Jesus shouted, “Tetelestai” meaning “It is finished,” it implied that He had finished the task of working on the salvation of humanity that was assigned Him by God, that all His sufferings on earth from the beginning of His ministry all the way to the cross had come to an end; the period of fasting, temptations, the insults, false accusations, hunger and thirst, weeping, emotional and physical torture had all come to an end.
“Whatever you go through in life has an expiry date written on it. You may not see it but God sees and one day it is going to be over. One day every suffering will come to an end,” he assured.
“When Christ cried Tetelestai, He was saying that the work given to Him by the Father has been accomplished. It means that every debt – the debt of sin, weakness and shortcomings, the debts of our parents and ancestors that have had bearings on us have been paid in full.
“You don’t owe the devil anything for Jesus’ sake. So as we celebrate Easter this year, it doesn’t matter the condition under which we are celebrating it, the message of the Cross is still the relevant and the same,” he stated.