KunamaKristu amaningi, who do their best and try everything they can to make the world love them. Because the world hates Christians. Sometimes it’s just too embarrassing to watch how far Christians go and eventually say or do things, that damage the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Only because they want to be liked and accepted by the world and become friends with the world. They compromise and think they are some big shot. While in reality they succumbed and are defeated by the pressure of the world. They may be liked and accepted by the world, but in God’s eyes, they are shameful. Because they were not able to stand on the Word and didn’t stay faithful and obedient to the will of God. Kunalokho, banayo waphika uJesu Kristu by watering down the gospel and compromise with the world. All because they were not prepared to die to ‘self’ and badela ukuphila kwabo Futhi landela uJesu.
Indodana kaNkulunkulu
But if you decide to landela uJesu, you have crucified your flesh (Mat 16:24, Mar 8:34, Uhu 9:23). Ngokuvuselela, which means that you’ve died to the flesh and your spirit is raised from the dead, Uphenduke u indalo entsha endaweni engokomoya.
Awuseyindodana kaDeveli, who has the spirit of the world; the spirit of the antichrist and you don’t belong to the devil and the world anymore.
But through regeneration, usuyindodana kaNkulunkulu, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Now you belong to God and His Kingdom.
What happened in the spiritual realm will become visible in the natural realm. Therefore there shall be a change in your life.
If you won’t experience a change in your life, you might ask yourself if you are truly azalwe kabusha and have become a new creation and if the Holy Spirit dwells in you.
When you become a son of God, you don’t belong to the world anymore and therefore the world will no longer welcome and receive you. Except if you compromise and stay carnal and keep living the life you’ve always lived.
If you live like the world and say and do the same things as the world, then it shows that you are not born again and don’t walk after the Spirit. Since the flesh is still alive and has the highest authority in your life.
The Word of God is quick and powerful
Ngoba izwi likaNkulunkulu liyashesha, futhi enamandla, nobukhali kunanoma iyiphi inkemba eyehla, Ukubhoboza ngisho nasekuhlukaniseni umphefumulo nomoya, kanye namalunga nommonka, futhi ungumqondo wemicabango nezinhloso zenhliziyo. Futhi asikho isidalwa esingabonakali emehlweni akhe: Kepha zonke izinto zinqunu, zavulwa emehlweni alowo esifanele azenze (amaHebheru 4:12-13)
Lapho uzalwa kabusha kabusha, it’s crucial to vuselela ingqondo yakho ngeZwi likaNkulunkulu. Because when you don’t renew your mind with the Word of God, you shall keep your carnal mind and keep walking after the flesh and say and do what the world says and do. You shall not get to know the intando kaNkulunkulu and therefore you shall not alikhumule ikhehla futhi hhayi gqoka umuntu omusha.
UMoya oNgcwele, Who dwells in you shall help you and guide and teach you. Ngenkathi ukhona indalo endala you maybe didn’t understand the Bible. The reason why you didn’t understand the Bible is that your spirit was dead and therefore your mind was darkened and couldn’t understand the spiritual things of God.
But when you became a new creation, your spirit was raised from the dead and by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, you received the Holy Spirit and therefore you shall be able to understand the spiritual things of God and His Kingdom.
UMoya oNgcwele uyakwazi ukujula kukaNkulunkulu, which are hidden in His Word.
By studying the Word of God, you shall not only get to know Jesus, but you shall also get to know God and His will. You shall get to know Imicabango yakhe futhi Izindlela Zakhe.
Zikhathi zonke, when you find out a truth in the Word of God that contradicts your former carnal mind and what the world says, you shall have to make a choice, to believe and obey the Word of God and walk in faith after the Spirit or to believe and obey the words of the world and your carnal mind and what your senses tell you and walk after the flesh.
You can only walk in faith if you believe that the words of God are the truth and obey them and do the words of God in your life.
When you are born again and start walking after the Word and the Spirit and therefore walk in faith, then one of the consequences will be that you won’t be so loved anymore, but rather be hated by those, abangabezwe, live in sin and are not willing to repent.
Because just like the Word divides spirit and soul, so shall the Word also divide soulish people, who walk after the flesh and spiritual people, abahamba ngemuva komoya.
You shall not be received and welcomed everywhere you go. Not even among your fellow brothers and sisters, who are worldly-minded. Hhayi-ke, if you say what they want to hear and don’t say anything that might offend them and as long as you do what they lindela of you, then there won’t be any problems.
But as soon as you speak the truth and confront them with the truth of the Word, instead of giving them your own opinion, that derives from your flesh; your carnal mind and your carnal wisdom, ulwazi, imizwelo, kanye nemizwa, then you shall experience resistance.
The world hated Jesus
Jesus is our Lord and if He was hated and persecuted by the world and was banned by His people from the temple, Abafundi bakhe, who are His followers, shall experience the same thing. Jesus spoke about it and said, ukuthi lezo, who love Him and obey Imiyalo Yakhe, shall be hated and even persecuted.
And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Mat 10:22, Mar 13:13, Luka 21:17)
Khona-ke bayoninikela osizini, futhi uzokubulala: niyakuzondwa yizizwe zonke ngenxa yegama lami. Khona-ke abaningi bayakukhubeka, njalo bazakhaphelana, futhi bazondane (Mathewu 24:9-10)
Nibusisiwe, lapho abantu bezalizonda, nalapho benihlukanisa neqembu labo, futhi bayakuthuka, futhi ulahle igama lakho njengelibi, ngenxa yeNdodana yomuntu. thokozani ngalolosuku, futhi gxuma ngenjabulo: okwe, bheka, umvuzo wenu mkhulu ezulwini: ngoba oyise benza njalo kubaprofethi (Luka 6:22)
Uma umhlaba uzokuzonda, niyazi ukuthi bekuzonda ngaphambi kokuba lizonda. Uma beningabezwe, umhlaba ubungathanda okwakhe: kodwa ngoba anisibo abezwe, kodwa mina ngilikhethile emhlabeni, ngalokho izwe liyanizonda. Khumbulani izwi engalikhuluma kini, Inceku ayinkulu kunenkosi yayo. Uma bengishushisile, bayakunizingela nani; Uma beligcinile izwi lami, bayokugcina neyakho. Kepha zonke lezi zinto zizokwenza kuwe ngenxa yegama lami, ngoba abamazi lowo ongithumileyo (UJohane 15:18-21)
Ukube bengingaze ngize ngakhulunywa kubo, Babengenasono: Kepha manje abanasondo ngesono sabo. He that hates Me hates My Father also. Ukube bengingenzi phakathi kwawo Imisebenzi okuyinto enye indoda eyenzile, Babengenasono: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father. Kepha lokhu kuza kudlule, ukuthi leli gama lingagcwaliswa okulotshwe emthethweni wabo, They hated Me without a cause (UJohane 15:22-25)
I have given them thy word; futhi izwe labazonda, ngoba abasibo abezwe, njengoba nami ngingesiye owezwe (UJohane 17:14)
Why the world hates Jesus?
Umhlaba awunakukuzonda; Kepha mina uyakuzonda, Ngoba ngifakaza ngakho, ukuthi imisebenzi yayo imbi (UJohane 7:7)
Jesus gave us the reason, why the world hated Him. Jesus testified that the works of the world were evil, which means that He confronted the people, ababengabezwe, with their sin. When Jesus said these words to His disciples, His disciples were still the old creation. They were still carnal and belonged to the unfaithful generation that belongs to the world. But when they were born again and received the Holy Spirit, they were also hated and persecuted by the world. Because they testified that the works of the world were evil.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in you and you walk in obedience to God after the Word in righteousness, the Holy Spirit will reprove the world a.o. yesono.
Ngakho-ke, you shouldn’t marvel and be surprised when people, whom you’ve never met and with whom you have never spoken with, hate you for no reason.
That’s because the one, who dwells in them, hates the One, Ohlala kuwe.
UDeveli, who lives in them hates Jesus Christ, Who lives in you. UJesu wathi, that you shall be hated because of Egameni lakhe.
Ngenxa yeqiniso, that you have died in Christ, you have laid down your own life and therefore it’s no longer you that lives, but through the resurrection of your spirit from the dead and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in you. When Christ lives in you, you shall speak and do His words and walk in the will of God.
Jesus spoke the words of His Father and the world wouldn’t receive His words. Njengesivumelwano esidala, when the prophets spoke the truth of God and were hated, sashushiswa, imprisoned and sometimes even killed.
Ngakho-ke, lezo, who belong to Jesus and speak His words, which are the same words as the Father, shall be hated by the world.
Do you love God or do you love yourself?
As long as you don’t love God with all your heart, ingqondo, soul and strength and haven’t laid down your flesh, futhi uqhubeke uhamba ngemuva kwenyama, you care what other people think of you because it affects you. Ngakho-ke, you shall eventually succumb and compromise with the world.
But when you thanda uNkulunkulu ngenhliziyo yakho yonke, ingqondo, soul and strength and have laid down your flesh and walk after the Spirit, then it won’t affect you, because your flesh is dead. You are not surprised that the world hates you because Jesus warned you (Funda futhi: Bala izindleko).
Nokho, you will not let that stop you to speak the truth of God and keep preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. You shall not stop to preach and establish God’s Kingdom on this earth.
Ngokuphambene nalokho! You shall continue and keep walking after the Word and the Spirit and therefore you shall keep walking in the truth and the love of God.
You shall not compromise with the world. You shall not try so hard to be liked and to be accepted by the world. But you shall stay loyal to Jesus and stand on the Word and not deviate from the words of God.
As long as you keep walking the Spirit and the Word and therefore do the commandments of God, okungukuthi futhi Imiyalo kaJesu, you prove that you love God with all your heart, ingqondo, umphefumulo namandla.
You show that your love for God comes first in your life, futhi ngenxa yalokho, you keep walking in obedience to Him.
You know the reason, why the people, abangabezwe, ngiyakuzonda, but you shall not be moved by that. You shall neither become mad or angry because you don’t walk after the flesh and therefore you are not led by your feelings and emotions. Kunalokho, you shall be moved with uzwelo on them.
The world hates Christians, who follow and do the Word
Marvel not, Bazalwane bami, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren (1 UJohane 3:13-14)
The hearers of the Word shall not be hated, since they are no threat to the kingdom of darkness. Only the followers and doers of the Word, which means that you believe every word of God and do the words of God, shall be hated by the world, njengoJesu.
Ngobani? Because you testify by doing the truth and righteous works, that the works of the world are evil.
Look at Cain and Abel. Abel wasn’t killed by Cain because they had a disagreement or a fight. But Abel was killed because his works were righteous. The righteous works of Abel testified that the works of Cain were evil (Gen 21:41, 1 Okunguohano 3:12)
This also happened with Jesus. Jesus walked in the truth and did righteous works. That’s why He was hated by the world. Because by doing righteous works Jesus testified that the works of the world were evil.
The Light of the world
Jesus was the Light of the world and through Him, the evil works, which were hidden in darkness were brought into the light.
Amadodana kaDeveli, who were the workers of iniquity and belonged to the world, hated the Light and therefore they did everything they could to get rid of Jesus and eliminate the Light.
Okholwa kuYe akalahlwa: kodwa ongakholwayo uselahliwe, ngoba akakholelwa egameni leNdodana kaNkulunkulu ezelwe yodwa. Futhi lokhu ukulahlwa, ukuthi ukukhanya kufikile emhlabeni, futhi abantu bathanda ubumnyama kulokukhanya, Ngoba izenzo zabo zazimbi. Ngokuba yilowo nalowo owenza okubi uzonda ukukhanya, futhi akezi ekukhanyeni, funa izenzo zakhe zisoshelwe. Kodwa owenza iqiniso uyeza ekukhanyeni, ukuthi izenzo zakhe zingenziwa zibonakaliswe, ukuthi zenziwa kuNkulunkulu (UJohane 3:18-21)
And just like Abel, abaprofethi, Jesus and the apostles, Lokhu kusenjalo. When Jesus Christ dwells in you and you walk after the will of Jesus and do what He has commanded you to do and walk in righteousness in the truth and the light, then the world shall hate you. Because your righteous works testify that the works fo the world (isono) ububi.
Jesus knew this and foretold His disciples. His disciples knew this and foretold their disciples. And we, as His disciples should know this and inform our disciples, so that the truth is revealed and the disciples will know what to expect and become spiritually resilient and are able to stand on the Word and don’t phika uJesu Kristu. Because whosoever shall deny Jesus, him/her will Jesus also deny before the Father (Mathewu 10:33, 2 UThimothewu 2:12)
‘Yibani usawoti womhlaba’
