On July 7th
2015, I woke up to a bright day. I called my mum to wish her a happy birthday
and then I proceeded to the Lagos State House of Assembly to meet with the
Honourable Speaker. (He was a colleague back in the University and he had
requested that I come see him) as I sat in his waiting room dreaming of the
June7project, I got a call from my dad and he said: “Ify is dead”
Now Ify
is my cousin. He is the son of my father’s elder brother and he was 19 years
old. Ify was born with Sickle Cell Anaemia and he spent all his years in pain
and almost emptiness. At the tender age of 5 and after battling numerous crises,
Ify suffered a debilitating stroke which rendered half his body almost
unresponsive. Ify could however still walk, although he had a limp. Along the
years, his condition worsened and soon after, Ify became confined to a wheel
chair. More painful was the fact that Ify stopped growing. At his death, Ify still had the mind of a
child and the body of a 7 year old. He was not able to comprehend things
children half his age could handle. It was always agonizing watching Ify sit in
that wheel chair, smiling and uttering gibberish. Why should this child have to
suffer so much?
In the
weeks leading to his death, Ify suffered another stroke, this time, he couldn't sit up straight. On the 7th July 2005, after years of battling Sickle
Cell Anaemia, Ify gave up the fight.
I got to
my uncle’s house at about 1pm that day;
all
my siblings were already there. Ify laid upstairs on his bed; his eyes and
mouth opened (attempts to close them didn't work) Even in death, his appearance showed that his last minutes were spent in
excruciating pain and torment. His face wore the expression of someone who had
suffered a gruelling defeat in battle. What is the meaning of life?
We
procured a coffin and buried Ify in an unmarked grave in a cemetery in Agege area
of Lagos State.
As my
father prayed before we moved to the cemetery… (My parents, my uncle and
elderly relatives couldn't follow us to the cemetery as this is contrary to our
native custom) he revealed something. Apparently, he had visited Ify a week before
and he had the leading in the spirit to pray with him and preach the gospel of
salvation to him. Despite the fact that Ify could barely speak, he was coherent
enough to repeat the sinner’s prayer and accept Christ as his personal lord and
saviour…Victory!
Now the
lesson…
Are
children automatic candidates of heaven or are they also subject to a will,
choices and judgement???
By virtue
of our being descendants of Adam and Eve, humanity was born into sin. We all
WERE born guilty of the original sin..
“Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me”. Psalm 51:5
Now, just as sinned entered into the world
through one man: Adam, salvation also entered the world through one man: Jesus Christ:
“For if by the one man’s offence death reigned through the one,
much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one
man’s offence judgement came to all men, resulting
in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also
by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous”. Romans
5:17-19
By virtue of our covenant
with Christ, we are can be exempt from the ORIGINAL SIN which all are guilty of
from birth. We can tap into the life source of Christ and claim exclusion from
the original sin. This way, we only become guilty of our own personal sins:
“The word of the Lord came
to me again, saying, “What do you mean when you
use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this
proverb in Israel “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine;
the soul who sins shall die”. Ezekiel 18:1-4
Let me
explain the import of this…
In the
old dispensation, every man born was automatically born into sin and if such a
man died in that sin, he would certainly not be eligible for eternal life. This
is why even when someone lives a pious life without accepting Christ as his
personal lord and saviour, he excludes himself from eternal life. The gift of
righteousness, eternal life and exemption from the original sin is freely given
to those who claim it.
The
process of claiming a heritage different from the heritage of Adam is why it is
necessary to dedicate a child at birth. The essence of the dedication is pretty
simple, you are claiming the heritage of Christ for the child and thus bringing
the child into righteousness. Baby dedication is not just a religious exercise,
during dedication, you are actually claiming for the new born, a life in Christ
as opposed to the life of sin through Adam. And if such a child dies before the
age of understanding, then I believe eternal life is assured since he has
already been dedicated to Christ.
Failure
to dedicate a child to Christ at birth and exempt him from the original sin
means such a child is still trapped in the old order emanating from Adam and
susceptible to the original sin. When Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed, I am
sure children also perished there. When God destroyed the world with water, I
am sure children were also destroyed. Such children obviously couldn't be saved
because they were born to parents who were still trapped under the old order of
sin.
However,
the moment the child has reached the age of understanding, then he becomes free
to chart his own destiny. He either does right or does wrong and by his
choices, he becomes a candidate for either eternal life or eternal damnation. When
a child reaches the age of understanding, he then has a will. Based on this
will, he has the ability to do wrong or do right.
If children have not
reached the maturity by which they can make this decision and they have been
dedicated to Christ at birth, they have not broken their relationship with God.
From the bible, I believe that once you are saved, (either by dedication to
Christ as a new born or accepting him as your lord and personal saviour when you
have reached the age of understanding) your name enters into God's "book
of life," only to be blotted out when you fall into iniquity:
“And the Lord said
to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book”. Exodus 32:33
Note the word “SINNED” in
the passage above. The bible didn't say “WHOEVER SINS AGAINST ME” this
presupposes to me that you don’t have your name in the book when you are saved
and then blotted when you sin and added again when you repent: no. When you are saved, by
being dedicated to him at birth and accepting Christ when you reach the age of
understanding, then your name is in the book of life. It is at the point of
judgement that your name would either remain or be blotted out “if you have
sinned against God”
Where such a child has not
reached the age of understanding, and he has been dedicated to Christ, then he
is in a state similar to Adam and Eve before the fall. Blameless and sinless. It
is this state before the fall that the second Adam (Christ) gives us when we
claim him. However, with maturity, (this maturity came to the first Adam after
he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he
understood right from wrong) the sinful nature creeps in and as such, the child
becomes responsible for his actions. At this stage, it behoves us as parents
to ensure that such a child never leaves the presence of God.
(The concluding part of this piece comes in shortly in Episode 5. Stay blessed)
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