THE MESSAGE PART 2. THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST AND THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW

THE MESSAGE PART 2. THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST AND THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW

We have seen so far that Christ is the message. The prophets all spoke of Christ. The Apostles stuck with speaking about Christ. Even Jesus kept speaking about Himself. We cannot afford to be different. Any man that is not preaching Christ is not doing ministry. He should never preach again until he knows the message of Christ.  Click here to read part one of The Message if you have not read it.
From this part 2, we will be looking at the content of the message of Christ. What it really means to preach Christ. It is not all about mentioning Christ in your sermon. The message of Christ has a content . I have heard people say we preach Christ, but when you start explaining to them the details of the message of Christ, they get offended.  One basic detail of the message of Christ upon which other details are hinged  is that the message of Christ is centred on the sufferings of Christ  and the glory that should  follow.
Jesus after His resurrection met two disciples from Emmaus. They were discussing the things which had happened about Jesus. Luke 24: 13-27. Jesus ask them what things they were talking of?  Verse 19. 
Luke 24
19  And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
20  And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
21  But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
22  Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
23  And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
24  And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25  Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Notice the narrative of the scriptures above. The two disciples heard of what happened, how that Christ is risen. Notice, Jesus called them fools in verse 25. This was because He sees thier unbelief as foolishness. Notice the emphasis in verse 25. Slow of heart to believe  ALL THAT THE PROPHETS HAVE SPOKEN.  So the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus was all the prophets have spoken. Verse 26, Jesus said, ought not Christ to have suffered these things? Which things ? The things they have been talking about. The death of Christ and His resurrection. Notice Jesus didn’t just proof to them that He is risen, He showed them from Moses and all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.  What things ? The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. That is the message. Verse 27, Jesus  expanded to them from Moses to all the prophets. The Greek word for “expand” is “Diermeneuo”, it means to explain, to translate or interpret. It is the same word used for interpretation of tongues in 1Corinthinas 14:5, 13, and 27.  The interpretation does not always look like the original. The old Testament books must be interpreted. All thanks to God the interpretation has been done for us in the epistles as revealed by the Spirit of Christ. This is why we must not take whatever we see in the old testament books literal. It must be viewed in line with The interpretation. For us today, The interpretation of the message in Genesis to Malachi has been done and is written in the epistles.  The epistles contain the message clearly interpreted. Genesis to Malachi contain the message in mystery. For more on Bible interpretation click here to read the truth only  part 3.
What do we mean by the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow?  When Jesus appeared again in the same Luke 24 before all the disciples, he repeated same essence of the scriptures.
44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and inthe prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Notice verse 46, Jesus instead of saying to suffer and enter into His glory, He said, to suffer and be risen from the death. Peter also spoke of this sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
1peter 1
10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
Notice Peter talking of salvation in Christ said, the prophets enquired in these things. In shadows and types, the prophets saw and spoke of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.  They prophesied grace unto you. 'That should come' is italicized, meaning it was added by translators. Grace has always been. Even angels desire to look into this message. Angels do not know the message except they attend gatherings where it is taught. 
The sufferings of Christ is the death, burial of Christ. The glory that should follow is His resurrection and ascension into our heart.
The glory that should follow  has always been the intention of God from creation.  It was what Adam fell from. It has always been the dream of the father. For more on this, read my teachings on God’s eternal purpose before the beginning,  and the dream of the father comes through.
What then is the essence of the sufferings of Christ?  Why did Jesus have to die for that glory to become a reality?  You may think that Jesus died to appease an angry God. That is not true. You will never see a reference in the Bible of Christ death relating to appeasing God. Rather what we see is that Jesus died to pay for the sins of man so that man can have life.  If Jesus died to appease God, there wouldn't have been need. How can God be made manifest  in Christ to appease Himself?
Adam has already brought sin into the world by what He did. You can click here to read more on the fall of man.
Romans 5:  12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Therefore Christ death was a payment for sin. The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Notice where God is seen is life not death. But for that life to be available to man, sin that has been brought by man has to be paid for by man. Here lies the story of love, that God had to become man in Christ to die for man. The death of Jesus is taught as the love of God  never the anger of God. God so loved the world, He sent Jesus to died for them so they can have life. John 3:16.
Ephesians 2
4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
It was due to the richness of God’s mercy, not the richness of God's anger that made Jesus die our sins.
Romans 4
24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Notice verse 25, Christ was delivered for our trespasses. It was for our sins that He died on the cross, to the end that we may have justification unto life. Now we can stand before God without any sense of guilt or sin.
The sufferings of Christ was for sin. The glory that should follow is who we are now after putting faith in the death of Christ. We now have the spirit of God.
Colossians 1
26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Christ in us was a mystery to the men before Christ came. This was a hope of glory for them. For us it is a realisation of glory. The glory is that we have Christ in us by the Spirit. Every other thing we are is in the Spirit that we have. The Spirit  is what John calls eternal life which is in Christ. 1John 5:10-14.
Therefore the message is centred on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The message Is base on who we are because of this sacrifice. This is the entire curriculum of the gospel.
1 Corinthians 15
1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. note note
3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

In summary , the message is centred on what Jesus has done and who we are because of what He has done. This is what it means to preach Christ. It is to learn of the sacrifice of Jesus and the nature of the believer. This is why we can boldly say we are justified because of what Christ has done. We are righteous because of what Christ has done. It is our nature. We have power in Christ. This is the message. In the next part of this series, we will look at same message, different topics. How to centre all our teachings on Christ.  Does it mean people  Can not have their own message ?   Watch out for the next part.

BY
OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY

A generation has risen who will stick only to the message of Christ with mighty signs.  For in this generation, those that will not preach this message are loosing their relevance. You are that generation that will give your all to ensure the message of Christ is preached.