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GOD HAS NOT GIVEN UP ON YOU

By Oyin Itunu-Abitogun

‘And the Lord said, Simon, behold satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not: and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren.’ (Luke 22:31-32 KJV)

God is not a liar neither does he give false consolation. He stands by whatever he says, and says whatever he will stand by.

The Bible tells us in the book of Genesis that God made man in His own image and after His likeness, in order for man to have dominion over every created thing, Genesis 1: 26. The story took a sad turn when satan found his way into the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were living, and caused them to disobey God. From that point, all of humanity became satan’s captives.

The fall of man from grace to sin did not please God, and so he devised a way by which man would be saved and restored back to his lost glory. The first Adam led humanity into sin, another Adam needed to undo what the first did. God became that second Adam, He came as a man who is known as Jesus Christ. He came that he might overcome satan, and redeem humanity from all hardship. He knew that this process of redemption might take time to be completed in the physical man, and he is ready... even if it meant forgiving.

Peter’s Sin
Simon Jonah also known as Peter was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He was the most vocal of the 12 closest men to Jesus; he was a natural leader. He had a close relationship with Jesus. Among the apostles, he was the first to receive a direct revelation from God the father.

‘And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven (Matthew 16:17).

When many of the disciples deserted Jesus because of some hard words He spoke, the Bible records that it was Peter who spoke up for the remaining disciples that
‘Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.’ (John 6:68,69).

These passages tell us one thing about this Mr Simon Peter, He was a major figure among the disciples, Jesus’ right hand man. One who knew who the master was.
With this analysis on the man Peter, it comes as a surprise then to know that the master suffered many terrible things from him. A very shocking thing he did was to deny knowledge of the master. Peter the great apostle; the one who some few months ago told the other apostles that Jesus is the Messiah. Peter, the man who walked on the sea at Jesus’ command, who healed the sick and cast out demons with the authority of Jesus later denied Jesus.

We all know it can be excused if a person with whom you have no close relationship with turns against you or blackmails you. It’s not as painful as when someone who is close to your heart- your spouse, parent, trusted friend or child turns against you or forsake you when you need him most. I pray that this will not be your experience in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter and the other apostles were very close to Jesus; they were His brothers, confidants and associates. They were not just his students He called them friends. For three and a half years, they ate together, travelled together, lived together, and got into and out of persecutions together. They loved their master, and he loved them unconditionally. Then all of a sudden, a deadly situation arose, and the captain of the Apostles denied knowledge of Jesus, his master and mentor of more than three years.

The explanations above makes it clear that denying Jesus was the last thing expected of Peter. He was not expected to do that, no matter what the situation was. It is of particular interest to me that Peter’s denial was not done once, so it was not a slip of tongue. He did it three consecutive times. It was an action taken consciously, probably under fear, but every follower of a leader or principle knows that the leader should not be denied no matter what.

The over six million Iraqis who went out to vote in 2004, despite insurgent threats attest to this fact. We should not also forget the Ukrainians who defied the severe winter of Eastern Europe to demand a re election in 2004. MKO Abiola of Nigeria did not give up his mandate of being elected the Nigerian president in the freest and fairest election in my country. Though he was put in jail under terrible conditions for four years and had his wife assassinated, he held on to his mandate till he died. If worldly men could do this because of earthly things which they believe in, how much more Peter, the man who dined with God.

Jesus’ forgiveness
Even though Peter did what was not expected of him [because he feared the powers that be]. He later came back to his senses, repented and was totally forgiven by Jesus Christ. This tells us that God will forgive our sins once we truly repent.

The next time Peter met the resurrected Jesus, He was not condemned. It is not on record that Jesus ever mentioned the incident again. Simon’s past record of failure was wiped off; how blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven by God. Jesus says of our sins that ‘I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds’ (Hebrews 10: 17, The New Living Bible).

…Oh oops! Another mistake
As if Jesus’ forgiveness was to be taken for granted, Peter again did something bad which Paul records in Galatians 2:11-14. Peter, now an elder of the church was in a city called Antioch eating and having a nice time with the Gentile Christians. This interaction with gentiles was not permitted under Jewish laws, but permitted by Christ. While he was doing this, some Jewish Christians arrived from Jerusalem; on sighting them, Peter withdrew from the Gentile believers.

This was a pure act of racism and cowardice, which was capable of weakening the faith of the non-Jewish believers and disintegrating the young gentile church. A total display of hypocrisy from Peter the man whose name Jesus changed from reed (Simon) to rock (Peter). I am not saying that Peter was racist, but he bowed to the pressure from those who were not as knowledgeable as he was about the universality of the church of Christ.

He was forgiven again
This book is not trying to paint a bad picture of the Apostle Peter, he recovered from all his mistakes and is in heaven now. His good works still speak for him today. Nevertheless, the mistakes of this great man will not be excused. What I want to point out is that even though Peter made mistakes during his ministry, Jesus did not give up on him.

What is more disappointing than your close confidant denying knowledge of you in order to get himself out of a bad situation. How would you feel if such a person almost destroyed your whole life’s labour by his mistakes and men- pleasing attitude? Knowing that you told him before you left to feed your flock, and he did not object to it? Borrowing a leaf from Sir Alan Sugar of England Peter would have been told ‘I am sorry, you are fired!’
Peter’s display of human weakness nearly caused confusion in the early church, but instead of giving up on him, God told him ‘Pete. I understand your weakness and limitations; I will not give up on you. Even though you think you are a disappointment to my cause, I still love and trust you. Apostle Peter, you are hired!