A lot of Christians still do not understand God’s priority in sending Jesus Christ into the world to save us from our sins.

 

They think Jesus came so that born-again Christians can become the Spiritual Police of Heaven or the gatekeepers of heaven whose duty is to catch sinners and stop them from accessing heaven and the benefits of Christ due to the things they had done, which the believer believes were wrong.

 

Even if the person committed murder in this life, does that give any believer the right to insist the person must go to hell and never find redemption for their soul?

 

Why do we have prison ministries? Why do we get sent to minister to known criminals who had done very grievous things and had accumulated wealth and attained positions of strength and power in society with the message of salvation, even though we know they had done despicable things?

 

Jonah was meditating on the word of God all by himself when the voice of God came to him and sent him to Nineveh to preach the repentance of sin.

 

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the seat of the government of pagans who had troubled many nations and kingdoms, including Israel, for several generations.

 

Many of us may take a look at the story told by the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 36 and 37) and the book of Kings (2 Kings 18 and 19).

Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, whose palace was in Nineveh, came to Israel to boast and make demands that do not denigrate the people of God, but also troubled the king and citizens of Israel to the core.

 

In human understanding and reasoning, God should not extend a hand of fellowship, forgiveness, repentance, and love to such people.

 

The right thing in human reasoning is to punish such a nation and destroy it totally, according to the word of God, which states that the wicked shall be cut off from the earth because God loves righteousness.

 

Jonah couldn’t believe that God would rather call Nineveh to repentance rather than destroy the nation. He decided by himself not to deliver the message; he felt God was being unfair!

 

The prodigal son’s older brother also felt this way. He was the faithful son who never strayed, who had lived a holy and consecrated life since he was born.

He never gave his father a minute of trouble, and he had always been obedient

 

His brother, however, had always been wild and heady. A willful young man who consistently defied their father and troubled his soul. A cancer that ought to be cut off completely!

 

This brother collected his birthright while their father was still alive!

Who does that?

Who dares tell the living to share his properties as if he were dead?

His father indulged him, and he left home.

 

Naturally, his father should consider him dead. Delete his memory. Wear sack clothes and mourn over him. Disown him and forget about him.

That young man crossed THE LINE OF NO RETURN.

 

He left home without looking back.

As far as the brother was concerned, his brother was dead.

The father, however, kept vigil over the soul of his son daily.

What he collected was not the issue.

She got pregnant was never the issue.

He committed fraud was not the issue.

The issue was not in the action of the person; the issue is in the heart of the father towards the person.

 

The same reason God sent his only begotten son to die for the sins of the whole world, despite the fact that he had never tasted sin, and he was not born of the seed of sin

 

That same reason is why the born-again Christian is an ambassador of restoration, reconciliation, and love, and not an ambassador of sin or a gatekeeper of heaven who determines who can enter and who cannot enter.

 

Jonah the Prodigal Son’s older brother’s reactions were valid, but they were unacceptable to God and the father!

 

God compelled Jonah to go to Nineveh despite his misgivings and obvious disobedience. Jonah was forced to preach repentance and the nation of Nineveh repented even though he didn’t want them to.

 

Jonah got so angry after that, he asked God to kill him.  (Jonah 4:2-3)

 

He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

 

The Father said to his son, “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

 

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

 

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

 

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found

 

Many Christians today act like Jonah and the brother of the Prodigal Son.

A father determines the fate of his child.

A son has no say in the destiny of his brother.

 

Jacob tried to determine the destiny of Esau, and he failed woefully.

 

Consecration, Holiness, Right living, and other valid Christian doctrines are taught and preached for personal development in one’s walk with God.

They are not weapons or stones that we throw at other people like Pharisees condemning the woman caught in Adultery.

 

In the woman’s case, Jesus demonstrated that the heart of God was not to condemn but to redeem.

 

God is love!

 

PS: I know many Christians don’t understand this yet. I do not condemn them for not doing so. It took me years to come to the infallible understanding of the love of God and why those of us who are truly like him would never stop others from enjoying the fellowship of believers or prevent them from experiencing the joy in the fellowship of the Spirit.

 

-GSW-