By Apostle Isidore Agoha
Everything the Lord Jesus did in ministry was purposeful.with God the Father and out of their relationship He got to know the Father’s purposes and the strategies adopted by the Father to meet such needs. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, "The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing" John 5:19. In other words, when the Father initiates His purpose in heaven, Jesus the Son implements the purpose on Earth. This principle guided all of Jesus’s ministry action and strategies.
One immediate purpose of God id to undo Satan’s work of corruption in humanity that began in the Garden of Eden and to restore us to our place of glory, authority, victory, prosperity and dominion through fellowship in fellowship with Christ. It can be safely said that this was a major purpose of the ministry of deliverance as revealed in many verses in both the Old and New Testaments. John, in his first epistle, clearly indicates this purpose, "The Son of God (Jesus) appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil" 1 John 3:8. The manifesting of Jesus from divinity and eternity to humanity and time was not a random demonstration of God’s counsel and miraculous power. It was a purposeful, sovereign act. The purpose was to destroy all the works of darkness being perpetrated by Satan and his forces.
Satan himself is also very purposeful and strategic. Jesus exposed Satan’s purpose, saying, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy" John 10:10. This evil purposed expressed as stealing, killing and destroying inspires and motivates all of Satan’s forces to carry out diabolic activities against humanity. However, within the same verse of Scripture, God’s glorious purpose for us is also revealed: "I (Jesus) have come, that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
The Lord Jesus also elaborated on this aspect of Hid deliverance ministry when He appropriated the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the coming Messiah and His Ministry. On a visit to a synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth on a Sabbath day, the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Jesus. In that context, he found where His purpose was expressed in the following words, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
The above declaration in all its ramification speaks of deliverance. This was of such importance that the Father by the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus in order to fulfill such a ministry. The purpose of Jesus’s ministry is summarily reviewed by Peter after Jesus had ascended and poured out the Holy Spirit, "God anointed Him (Jesus of Nazareth) with the Holy Spirit and with power and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." - Acts 10:38.
The above is a clear indication that Jesus was invested with the Holy Spirit and divine power for the purpose deliverance. This mostly resulted in the practical manifestation of God’s goodness and diverse provisions, especially healing of sicknesses and freedom from demonic bondage.
Apostle Isidore Agoha is the Senior Pastor at Triumphant Life Church in the Bronx, N.Y.
www.tlcny.org | http://twitter.com/apostleagoha
By Apostle Isidore Agoha
Jesus did various ministry activities such as teaching, preaching and working miracles such as deliverance, healings, raising the dead and the divine provision of material needs. Invariably, all these were done to accomplish God’s purposes in people’s lives. However, upon closer examination , the ministering of deliverance was central to Jesus’s ministry in two ways.
First, Jesus spent most of His public ministry time dealing with demons; rebuking them and casting them out. Apart from the many specific or named individuals who received deliverance through the ministry of Jesus, there are also several places in the record of the New Testament where Jesus dealt with demons in the lives of groups or masses of people simultaneously.
Second, another fact that underscored the place given to the ministry of deliverance in Jesus’s campaigns is that He employed this ministry at the beginning of and continued with it through the entire course of His ministry. He never contemplated backing off or modifying it. Towards the end of His earthly ministry, when some Pharisees sought to discourage Him from fulfilling His purpose of going to Jerusalem, they tendered an intimidation, "Herod is seeking to kill you." Jesus’s answer was no less intimidating, not only to Herod but also to the demonic forces behind Herod’s motive: "Tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today, tomorrow and on the third day I reach my goal" - Luke 13:32.
This answer not only reflects the vital place that deliverance occupied in the Lord’s ministry, it also reveals that deliverance as a ministry strategy was given a continuing practical emphasis. Furthermore, there is a goal to which the Lord aims to reach through the deliverance ministry.
Apostle Isidore Agoha is the Senior Pastor at Triumphant Life Church in the Bronx, N.Y.
www.tlcny.org | http://twitter.com/apostleagoha