The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, has urged all people of the world to believe in Jesus Christ and live because He possesses the antidote to death.
According to him, Jesus Christ holds the keys (remedy) to all deaths (spiritual death, physical death and the second death) and that anyone who believes in Him will enjoy eternal life.
Apostle A.N.Y. Kumi-Larbi said this on April 10, 2020, during a televised Good Friday Service on Pent TV as part of the ongoing 2020 Easter celebration of The Church of Pentecost.
Speaking on the theme of the Convention “Christ Died So I Might Live” based on 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, Mark 14:32-50, Matthew 23:48-54, John 14:19 and Revelations 1:17-18, among other Bible references, the General Secretary explained that mankind was created in the image of God and possessed the mind and the Spirit of God. This, he said, enabled human beings to relate with God and share fellowship with Him.
However, he noted, the curse of death was pronounced on all humanity when the first humans, Adam and Eve, ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil even though God had forbidden them (Genesis 2:17).
Elaborating on the three kinds of death – the Spiritual Death, Physical Death and the Second Death, Apostle Kumi-Larbi indicated that Spiritual Death refers to the separation of mankind from God.
He said that as a consequence of mankind’s disobedience to God, they lost the privileged position that they once held among God’s creations.
“As a result of our disobedience, we lost the image and the glory of God we had, and not only that, we have now become separated from God, and this is what is known as spiritual death. Spiritual death is when a person is alive physically, but dead spiritually.
“We are all born spiritually dead, separated from God. The reason we are born spiritually dead has to do with sin. We receive our fallen nature from our parents. After Adam and Eve sinned, the death sentence was pronounced. All other humans have been born with their sinful nature except the Lord Jesus who was born without sin. Therefore, everyone comes into the world spiritually separated from God,” he explained.
Touching on the Physical Death, the General Secretary said that God created humans to live forever, but the “reward” for their disobedience was death. This death, according to him, is the separation between the soul and the human body.
He added that even after the pronouncement of death, the number of years that humans used to enjoy on earth was reduced by God when He became greatly troubled by the increasing wickedness of the human race, adding that human life continues to reduce further due to some human activities.
He, however, stressed that, although, death is an inevitable end for all mortals, “when you believe in Jesus you will live because the Spirit of God in you never dies.”
On the other hand, the Second Death, otherwise known as the Lake of Fire, is the eternal damnation that all unrepentant sinners will be subjected to upon the glorious return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:14). He said that “Second Death means man separated from God in the Lake of Fire forever.”
He, however, said that Jesus offers the gift of eternal life to anyone who believes in Him (Romans 6:23) and is the only one who can redeem mankind from all the three deaths.
Drumming home his point, Apostle Kumi-Larbi said that Jesus Christ came down to earth purposely to atone for the sins of humankind and restore all that has been lost. He said that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the broken relationship between humans and God has been restored. This essentially means that anyone who accepts Christ undergoes a spiritual rebirth and is no longer spiritually dead.
The General Secretary said that even though it is appointed unto men to die once, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead also gives every believer the assurance that Jesus would bring them back to life when He returns, and therefore, they need no longer nurse the fear of death.
He also said that, ultimately, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ would not suffer the Second death, which is eternal damnation but enjoy the gift of eternal life that has been promised to all those who die in the Lord.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi said that Jesus has already paid for the prize of all sins and triumphed over death. He, therefore, urged every person who is yet to receive Christ to reach out to Him so that He would grant them eternal life and take away their fear of death.
He further noted that since the tragic event in the Garden of Eden, human beings continue to battle for their survival and have faced various plagues over the years, including the novel COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in the death of thousands and continues to cause fear and panic across the globe.
“We have faced some pandemics in the past; we have had Spanish Flu, H1N1 etc., and although I do not want to sound like a prophet of doom, I can assure you that COVID-19 pandemic will also pass and another will come in the future; but what is more important is that we secure our life in Christ Jesus so that no matter what happens to us here on earth, we will be assured of eternal life,” he said.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi, therefore, urged unbelievers to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Saviour so that they would also benefit from His vicarious death on the Cross.
He stated that, “Christ rose victorious from the grave…never, ever to die again. His death became our death and the prize for our sin was paid in full. But His resurrected, eternal life became our eternally resurrected life – for just as He identified with our sin and died on our account – so by grace through faith we are identified with His life.”
The Easter Convention of The Church of Pentecost officially began on Thursday, April 9, and would be climaxed on Sunday, April 12, 2020. The event is being telecasted live on Pent TV and Atinka TV. It is also being streamed live on the official Facebook pages of The Church of Pentecost (@thecophq) and Pent TV (@penttvgh).
