Everyone born into the world was born through natural birth. Such life is without Christ. A new life has experienced a change as a result of encountering Jesus Christ. It is a life that is no longer controlled by the sinful desires of the flesh but by the Holy Spirit. The teachings of the bible emphasize this transformation.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. The verse underscores that it is not a feeling but an action. Anyone who accepts Jesus has a new identity, which is not contestable because of its manifestations, as highlighted in the bible.
1. A Terrorist Turns Evangelist
The bible offers numerous examples of individuals who transformed their lives through faith.
A terrorist is someone who uses violent action to force others to do something, especially for political and religious purposes. Saul was a terrorist; he was a Pharisee who greatly opposed Jesus’ disciples. He approved the killing of Stephen, the first martyr.
As Saul was getting closer to Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him. (Acts 9:4) Saul responded by asking who was talking to him. The voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’ (Acts 9:5).
Thereafter, he was instructed to go into the city, where he would be given further instructions. Saul’s friends who travelled with him were speechless because they only heard the voice of a person but did not see anyone.
As Saul was about to get up from the ground, he realised he could not see again, so he was led to Damascus by his friends. He was blind for three days; he could neither eat nor drink anything.
Meanwhile, there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, whom God had spoken to in avisionn to go and place his hands on Saul in the house of Judas on Straight Street. Saul has also seen Ananias in a vision while praying, placing his hands on him so he could regain his sight.
Ananias told the Lord the reports he had heard about Saul and the purpose of his coming to Damascus. The Lord replied to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel’ (Acts 9:15).
The Lord also told him how much Saul would suffer for Him. Ananias went to the house where Saul was, placed his hands on him and immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he was able to see again. Saul was baptised,d after which he ate food to regain strength. He spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
Immediately, Saul began to preach Christ in the synagogue. Those who heard him were surprised because they knew him to be a terrorist who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers. Nevertheless, Saul grew more and more powerful as he affirmed to the Jews in Damascus that Jesus is the Messiah.
Later on in the church at Antioch, while some prophets and teachers were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke to them to set apart for Him Barnabas and Saul for the work He had called them to do. Having placed their hands on them, they prayed and sent them off.
Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia, from where they sailed to Cyprus. They were also in Salamis, where they preached the word of God in the Jewish synagogues with the help of John. At Iconium, Saul, now called Paul (Acts 13:9), and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue as usual.
They preached so effectively that many Jews and Greeks believed in the Lord. Jesus made a difference in the life of Saul. Witnessing Christ became Paul’s life mission until his death. He became a witness to the same Christ he was persecuting. When a person has Christ, it will be evident because it cannot be hidden.
2. A Healed Mad Man Preaches the Gospel
Narrator: One evening, Jesus said to His Disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ (Mark 4:35). They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with unclean spirits who had been living in the tombs came to meet Him.
The man was so fierce that no one was strong enough to overpower him. Oftentimes, he had broken the chains used to tie him. He went about every day among the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and knelt before Him, shouting, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’ He pleaded with Jesus not to torture him because, before that time, Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him.
Thereafter, Jesus asked for his name, and he replied, ‘My name is Legion, for we are many.’ The evil spirits in him pleaded with Jesus not to send them out of that area but into a large herd of pigs feeding on a nearby hillside.
So, Jesus gave the unclean spirits permission. They came out of the man and ran into a herd of pigs, which numbered about two thousand. The pigs ran down the steep slope and drowned in the sea.
Narrator 2: The herdsmen who owned the pigs ran to their town to report what had happened. People came out to see things for themselves. When they got there, they saw the man who was possessed by many evil spirits (also called demons) seated, dressed neatly and in his right senses.
They were afraid. Those who were there when everything happened told others, and they begged Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat to leave, the man who had been delivered from the unclean spirits pleaded to follow Jesus, but Jesus told him to go to his people and tell them what He had done for him and the mercy He had shown him.
So, the man went away to the Decapolis and began to testify how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were surprised.
3. A Tax Collector Becomes a Disciple
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man (The Romans levied heavy taxes on all nations under their control at the time, including the Jews. Zacchaeus was a mere tax collector, but the chief, so he had many tax collectors under him. Tax collectors today in Nigeria can be likened to Federal Inland Revenue workers and customs officers.)
As Jesus Christ entered Jericho and was passing through it, he wanted to see who Jesus was. However, being a short man, he could not see Jesus because of the crowd. So, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Jesus.
When Jesus got to where Zacchaeus was, He stayed in his house. Zacchaeus was so happy that he came down immediately and welcomed Jesus.
They complained that Jesus wanted to be the guest of a sinner. Zacchaeus stood up and said to Jesus that he would give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he had cheated anyone, he would pay back four times the amount. Jesus, therefore, said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’
Jesus came to the world to seek and save the lost, like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was also a descendant of Abraham; thus,s he had a right to salvation as other Jews who believed salvation belonged to them because they were descendants of Abraham.
4. The Timid Become Bold
Peter was a fisherman, and so was his brother, Andrew, before he became Jesus’ disciple. Though he was an outspoken person, on different occasions, he was timid. He denied Jesus three times during His arrest. He was also timid when Jesus invited him to walk on the sea with Him.
Read Acts 2:1-5, 12-15, 37-41. On the day of Pentecost, all the disciples were together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound like the blowing of a violent wind from heaven, which filled the house where the disciples were gathered. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
The Jews who heard the sound and saw the disciples speaking their languages were surprised and confused. Some made jest of the disciples, saying they had drunk. Responding to their ignorance, Simon Peter stood up with boldness with the other eleven disciples and addressed the crowd.
Peter told them they were not drunk, as it was just nine in the morning. He made it known to the crowd that the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit upon him and the other disciples made them speak in the different languages they heard.
The Holy Spirit also made Peter, who had been timid, become courageous. When the people heard this, they asked Peter and the other disciples what they should do. Then, Peter asked them to ‘Repent and be baptised…in the name of Jesus.’
Peter not only responded to the accusation of the crowd, but he also used the opportunity to preach to them boldly. That day, about three thousand people accepted Christ and were baptised.
5. A Pagan Worship God (Ruth 1:6-19a; Ruth 4:13-17)
Narrator: Naomi, Elimelek (her husband) and their two sons- Mahlon and Lilion- left Bethlehem in Judah during a famine to live in Moab. (The Moabites were idolatrous; they worshipped Chemosh) Elimelek and his two sons died in Moab. Naomi was left with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. When Naomi heard that the famine was over, she decided to return home.
Naomi: May the Lord show you kindness as you have shown to your dead husbands and to me. Please, return each to your mother’s home. May each of you find rest in the home of another husband.
Orpah and Ruth: No ma, we will go back with you to your people.
Naomi: Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husband?
Orpah: (She kissed her mother-in-law) Goodbye, ma. (Then, sheleftn the stage)
Ruth: (Clings to her mother-in-law)
Naomi: Ruth, your sister-in-law, is returning to her people and gods. Go back with her.
Ruth: No, ma, do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you say, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.
Narrator: What a great determination!
Naomi: Ok, let us go.
Narrator: So, the two women went on to Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, Ruth married Boaz, and they had a son named Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. Jesus Christ, our Saviour, was from the lineage of David. Read the similar post on this page.
