THE PASSION AND SACRIFICE OF CHRIST FOR HUMANKIND: WHO WILL SALVAGE NIGERIA?
By Taiye Olaniyi
Without a passion, no conviction is attained and without the highest level of sacrifice, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ would have been meaningless and unenviable to emulate.
With his passion and sacrifice, Christ Jesus left the realm of supernal glory to be incarnated in mortal flesh but still retaining the expression of deepest love of God for humankind through His begotten Son, Lord Jesus Christ.
We may be tempted to ask, why should the most trusted, most priced and most loved Son of God be asked or allowed to come into the world earlier prevabricated by they that in spirit and garment of flesh thwarted from God's initial plan of glory?
In John 3 : 16, it is indicated that "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
On the premise of this immeasurable love of God, Christ came into the world and made himself as a sacrificial lamb, scapegoat and a brutalised being for the redemption, reconciliation and the regeneration of our souls back to Omneity, the Creator of who and whatever is.
By this token of Master Jesus, the Teacher of Truth, he became the way, the truth and the life through whom only, humankind, humanity has the assurance of attaining Christ Consciousness within the domain of self and so be equally crucified as a living sacrifice, dead to the darkness of the mundane world, enlivened as holy sacrament into Light, Life and Love.
This is the significance of the goodness of this
" Good Friday" for which many of our highly placed Nigerians, their Excellencies including many highly placed clerics and position riders remind us annually, to remember and take to adapt and adopt as our passion and sacrifices for building a virile Nigerian nation.
To appreciate the kindness of Christ Jesus we must all join hands to epitomise the God in us by dropping our inordinate ambitions, empty pride that we are all in all, the haram in salaries, allowances and perquisites of appropriated and misappropriated being enjoyed at the expense of others.
The sliding tackles and death meted to others in our bid to be, and seeking a way out for the non-sustenance of our democratic process by not letting the Anti-Corruption War be pursued with vigour because of numerous allegations against many of our highly placed public servants which are clearly anti-Christ in all ramifications.
Those in positions of rulership and leadership, legislators and the judiciary should and must learn to discard the Barabbas, Pontius Pilate of corruption in them while the spirit of Judas Iscariot, the spirit of betrayal be subdued to pave way for that of honesty, trustworthiness, reliability, selflessness and kindliness.
We need salvation in this country but then we need to decide the way and path of the Cross and our crucifixion as sacrificial lambs and holy tabernacle for the redemption of our souls and nation at large.
My prayer is, God bless Nigeria.
Taiye Olaniyi, a retried Postman of the Nigeria Postal Service, is based in Lagos