“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
(Revelation 1:8)
The first aspect of Christ’s person we shall be looking at is his might. His infinite might. His almightiness. For upon this one aspect of his hangs a lot of other things. In fact we can say upon it hangs every other thing. In Revelation 1:8, Christ introduces himself as the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” As God in the flesh he proved all through his time that he was not subject to the limited might of man. He walked on water, he raised the dead, walked right through the midst of an angry mob that wanted to kill and went his way, he forgave sins, he died, he rose, he ascended to heaven, and more.
One of the most important things about a person is his power. A lot of things come together to determine a man’s power and some of them are his wisdom, knowledge and understanding, his wealth and affluence, his status in society, the office he occupies, the power vested on that office and the term of his occupancy of that office, friends, allies and connections, and sometimes even physical strength. All these and more come together to determine a man’s power. God also grants divine powers to those he chooses. I wrote on how God bestows power on especially the meek in my article titled, “THE COST OF POWER,“ citing the lives of Moses and Peter who were extremely meek people.
It is written, “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20). The power one has that can’t be felt is of not much use. Power must be felt either directly as when one uses his might to execute justice against the wicked, or it must be felt indirectly as when the fear of his might makes wicked men to keep from wickedness. The kingdom of God is not in mere words, but in power, and not power that can’t be felt but in the very manifestation of power, as it is written, “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” (Acts 6:8). People or things without power, I really don’t know what they exist for. In all his servants we see a varying amount of power, but in Christ we see infinite power.
The truth that most people won’t like to admit or don’t know to be a truth is that might is right. Some people are fond of arguing that might is not right, but a closer study of God and of nature proves the contrary. When we study the Bible closely, we shall be forced to agree that there’s nothing wrong or right in most parts. Things become right or wrong because the Almighty who has the most might has declared his own stance on these things. What exactly is wrong with lying, theft, or others? What would you say is wrong with those? It hurts? So who cares? Your feelings can’t be the basis for determining what is wrong or right. If it hurts the injured party it gratifies the offending party. Mere feelings cannot be used to determine what is right or wrong. Why do we cringe before the thought of adultery, fornication, incest, and other evils, but we are quite comfortable eating meat of slain animals? In fact we love it and we love them served hot. Why? Because God has condemned the former as abominations, but has permitted the latter. Right and wrong has nothing to do with the looks of things, feelings of affected persons, etc. It is God’s command that determines what is right or wrong, and that is because he’s the Almighty, the one with the ultimate might. The reason why all actions based on love are right is because he himself, the Almighty, is love (1 John 4:8).
I guess the reason why it may be hard for some to see that nothing is wrong or right in most parts is because we have been taught certain principles to hold from a child. And having tasted its goodness we take them as right and good. But why do most people err from the good path when they realise that the good path does not appear to gratify, but the wicked path seems to gratify? Judging by feelings alone, evil then becomes good and wickedness sports. We run into a whole mess in our reasoning if we fail to understand that right and wrong is tied to the might of God.
The truth is right and wrong is defined by the Almighty because he has the might. He has the unmatched might to both punish and reward as he pleases. He chooses to punish the wicked and reward the good. Sometimes he rewards the wicked in this life and allows them to prosper to test the righteous. To see if they are righteous for his own sake or if they’re righteous for profit’s sake. He may choose also to reward the wicked by allowing them prosper to reserve them for eternal damnation, for hardship may cause the wicked to reconsider his ways, find out his fault, repent, and be forgiven. He may also of his own will allow the righteous go through hard times to keep hypocritical lovers away for the dread of the hardship he allows the righteous go through. He can also choose to reward the righteous for their goodness. But no matter what goes on under the sun and no matter what he permits, he shall eternally damn the wicked and eternally reward the righteous with eternal rest. The man that therefore goes against his almightiness sins against his own soul. Not because of one universal law or the other that makes things right or wrong, but simply because of his might.
It is written in Proverbs 20:2, “The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.” In other words the fear the king inspires is as when a lion roars. This speaks of the incredible might of the king, and given such a might to provoke such a person with such might to anger is to sin against one’s soul. But on what moral grounds? It was not mentioned, but that action of provoking him to anger is sin against oneself even without any reference to a moral precept that was contravened.
When you read the book of Job and hear him reasoning with his friends about his sufferings, when God appears, what would you have thought would be his answers to Job? To explain to him why he allowed him to suffer? Like, “Job, I’m so sorry for your sufferings but it was necessary. You see, the Devil thought you were not a man of integrity and that it was my goodness towards you that made you the righteous man that you are. I needed to prove him wrong and so gave him the permission to allow you suffer, and look, you prevailed and proved him wrong. Sorry my son but I’m proud of you. Come give daddy a hug.” Then the text “THE END” appears and everything fades to black and white, and the credits scroll with soft music. Is that what you’d have expected? Yes, something like that is what I would have expected. It took me time to understand the deep profundity of God’s response.
When we hear God having a conversation with Job, we see that the response to Job’s questions were not given in reference to morality, rationality, logicality, or expediency of allowing him to suffer. The questions to Job were simply questions of might. Questions to find out if he had might enough to qualify him to question God for choosing to do what he wills even with him. Listen to some of the things God said:
“Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.”
(Job 40:7 – 14)
The questions here start with who has the power to make his judgment stand. Job or God. Who has the power to declare himself righteous? Job or God. These two refer to power. The remaining questions are directly to inquire about his might. The next two questions are if Job has an arm or voice like that of God. If a dispute were to break out and a fight broke out because words couldn’t settle the matter, could he with the arm of flesh wrestle with God and prevail?
Then comes an interesting series of instructions to Job to the end of proving his might. He asked him to first deck himself with majesty and excellency, and to array himself with glory and beauty. This one instruction requires financial might. Lack of financial might would make one broke in no time should one attempt to do this. And how disgraceful a thing it is to glorify oneself in a way that can’t be sustained. In the knowledge of the limitedness of our financial might, wisdom teaches us to be humble, moderate, and humble.
He then said Job, in this glorified state, should cast the rage of his wrath abroad. Why are people reserved and choose not to express their wrath even when angry? Because of the lack of might. What if somebody steps on your toes, you get angry and you push him, but he’s stronger and beats you to pulp? If only a person would have a might that is unsurpassable and that none could inflict injury on him for his actions, only then can he truly express his anger as he truly wills. Only such a man can carry out this simple instruction to Job. And it is such a person when he restrains his anger that we can know truly has self control. But even without self control the limitedness of our might advises us to be humble and to restrain our anger.
I remember once I was in a humble keke convoy. I think it was a keke. Convoy because commercial vehicles sometimes travel towards the same destination as if deliberately in groups, except to pick or drop off a passenger. And keke is a commercial tricycle in Nigeria. So it was on an evening and I had just met with one of the disappointments that often meets a young business person in Nigeria’s unpredictable, unprincipled, and unethical business arena. A deal didn’t fall through. It appeared the keke rider had had a bad day too. Then a man in his expensive car drove roughly past us endangering the keke. The keke man was furious and hastily overtook the car again and deliberately brushed it. Then the man, a tall alhaji, came down slowly from his vehicle, very furious but silent. Not only was he evidently wealthy, he was also evidently stronger. He came to the kike rider and gave him a well aimed blow in the face, and he had a ring on his hand which tore the face of the keke rider. I quickly came down and interposed pleading with the alhaji not to go further. With much pleading he reluctantly got into his car and drove off. I was now left with the keke rider and his bleeding face. The rich strong man was wrong, but it didn’t matter. It was unwise for the keke rider to “cast abroad the rage of his wrath” because he felt offended at the driving of the rich man. Limited might does not have what it takes to cast wrath abroad. Rather it restrains wrath. To cast wrath abroad with limited might is sure to bring manifold sufferings.
But supposing the keke rider had his own might. Supposedly he too came down slowly and landed a blow on the jaw of the rich man and smashed his head on his windscreen, shattering everything. Then four hefty guys come down from the rich man’s car to save him from the keke rider, but he beats them all and lays them in a pile. Then after that fifty passersby who know the rich man rush to the scene to avenge him, then with a whistle from the keke rider five samurais in black clothes join him and cut the fifty passersby to neatly sliced pieces. And on and on and on till the United Nations, G7, Russia, and China had to get involved against the keke rider, all before my bewildered eyes, and none under the sun could do anything against him. They launched rockets and missiles of all types and from all sources at him but all the rockets and missiles bounced off his puffed out chest and returned back to the exact spot where each was launched from causing a mass destruction. It is only then that it becomes completely safe for the keke rider to “cast abroad the rage of his wrath” because in doing so none can do anything against him. It is only then that one could really carry out that simple instruction which God gave to Job.
We have a Biblical example of this in Judges 18. The house of Micah was robbed by the children of Dan who stole his god and carried his priest with them. When Micah gathered a company together and overtook the children of Dan to recover his god and priest. When the children of Dan understood why he had come with such a company, it is written, “And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.” (Judges 18:25 – 26). It would have been foolishness for Micah to “cast abroad the rage of his wrath,” for he would have lost his life and that of his household, and also achieve nothing by such foolhardiness. So he quietly returned as wisdom advised him.
God next says to Job that he should behold everyone that is proud and abase him and bring him low. This is just like the previous challenge but only harder. One of the most dangerous things to do is to try to take a man’s pride from him and abase him. He will retain his pride by everything he has. A man may choose to walk away even when you cast your wrath abroad against him though he has a means to harm you. But not when his pride is at stake. Pride is extremely precious to every man. Even the blessed apostle Paul said, “… it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.” (1 Corinthians 9:15). While his glorying was void of vanity yet it shows how precious our pride is to us once we pride ourselves in something. So this challenge to abase EVERYONE that is proud and abase him too is a great challenge that can’t be done. You may successfully abase a proud employee of yours, but even that comes with a serious damage to a business or enterprise. I have seen employers who can’t sack their employees because the progress of their enterprise relies on those same employees. Even David could not abase his own general and the brother of that general. Rather he only lamented, “And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me…” (2 Samuel 3:39). But even if you have a might mightier than that of David the great king (which of course you know you don’t), you just can’t abase “EVERYONE” that is proud, high, and/or lofty.
However, God shows his might by this very one act of abasing the high and lofty. It is written in Isaiah 2:12, “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” And again in Isaiah 23:9 it is written, “The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.” Only God has the power to truly bring low ALL the proud and lofty. And actually puts this into action, as his other mighty acts, that men might acknowledge his might, as it is written in Isaiah 33:13, “Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.”
After the days of the prophet Isaiah he actually did this on proud Nebuchadnezzar just to mention one, as it was said to him, “That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.” (Daniel 4:25 – 26). His abasement was all a show of power to the end that “thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.”
After the fulfilment of this prophecy Nebuchadnezzar had this to say, “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou.” (Daniel 4:34 – 35). He, by his own abasement, knew and admitted the most High rules with an everlasting dominion.
If God chose this way to demonstrate his matchless might it tells us that it takes only the Almighty to abase just anybody at will including the high and lofty. Where shall Job get to himself the might to execute this? Oh poor Job.
The challenges from God to Job after this are about the same and point to the same thing; lack of might on Job’s part. God then concludes, “Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.” Here is God saying that if Job can do all these things, of which we can see that not even one can be attempted, then he as God will himself admit that Job’s right hand has the power to save him.
What does this all point to? No creature of all creation can or should rise up from its dust and ashes to question God. You can’t contest his judgment with yours therefore the questions, “Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?” By this conversation with Job, God himself holds that might is right. There are times that a man’s rights may be taken from him. Why was it taken from him? And when I say taken, it implies it was taken against his will. Why was it successfully taken? Because he did not have the might to retain it.
So the might of God makes his will, whichever way it turns, right. When talking about provoking the jealousy of God, the apostle Paul asked a very pertinent question. He asked, “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:22). Of course we aren’t stronger. Therefore wisdom must advise us to steer away from whatever may provoke him to jealousy. That possession of might is what makes all the difference.
The rightness of God is hinged on his infinite might. We are only lucky that he who has the might is himself love and so love dictates the use of his supreme might. It is written in Psalms 45:6, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” Also with his sublime love is perfect wisdom, perfect understanding, perfect knowledge and more. So we are most blessed. Let’s not lose sight of that fact of the blessedness of being under the sovereign rule of the most excellent majesty of the Most High.
An unknown hymn writer expressed this blessedness in the following words:
“We praise, we worship Thee, we trust
And give Thee thanks forever,
O Father, for Thy rule is just
And wise, and changes never;
Thy hand almighty over us reigns,
Thou doest what Thy will ordains;
’Tis well for us Thou rulest.”
Indeed it is well for us that a God who is himself love rules over us.
Even in human affairs doing things on the grounds of might is often sure to succeed and those done on the grounds of sentimental trust in the good will of others have many hiccups if not ultimate failure. For example, you start a business and entrust certain aspects of your operations to somebody trusting on his good will, and he gets involved in stealing from the company and ultimately ruins it. And doing so he goes scot-free because you didn’t have the might to do anything about it. But when you entrust an aspect of your business into someone’s hands, without trusting or appealing to his good will, but arming yourself with the might to dish out punishment on any behaviour that is injurious to the company, that is you have what it takes first to detect it as often as it happens, and also to punish it as often as it happens, then would you have trustworthy behaviour from those you entrust aspects of your business to. The might to detect comes from proper documentation and monitor-able business processes, and the might to punish comes from proper legally binding agreements and precautions.
A friend of mine asked me why is that whatever the G7 decides always holds sway? He said it was so unfair and that everyone should be able to do what they will. My response to him was that when you look at the member countries of the G7, they’re all military super powers. People can have different opinions which each thinks is right, but the presence of a person with ultimate might makes easy resolution possible. The might of fathers in the home, for example, makes running the home easy. That ultimate might is essential to the effective running of all human affairs. So power and might is crucial in human affairs to make right truly right.
Does it make it then that anything that is done by a person who can’t be challenged is right? By moral ideals, no, but in a way, yes. All history reveals to us that might is actually right. How do people become emperors who make laws binding on peoples of the world, giving them power to dictate right or wrong? By military conquest. I have often shared a story from the book The City Of God by Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, of an encounter Alexander the Great had with a pirate of the seas which goes thus:
“Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, “What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.””
The petty thief doesn’t have the might of an emperor so he’s called a thief, but the emperor, who is employed in the same thievish enterprise, not only becomes right by his might, but he himself dictates rights and wrongs. His will determines what is right or wrong.
As I write these lines I’m currently reading a book titled, “The Provinces of the Roman Empire, from Caesar to Diocletian. v. 1.” by one Theodor Mommsen, and it revealed to me that Rome, the admiration of the whole world from antiquity up till this present day, was nothing but people who possessed and controlled the territories of others by military might. From place to place, region to region, they, by the use of force, impose themselves on others, though not entirely bad in their government and purpose as they had their good sides, yet much of the wars they fought was to dominate others and because those who rebelled didn’t want the terms of their yoke. Nevertheless when people read history the notion is that the Romans were the good guys, and the barbarians were not only the bad guys but also the stupid guys. The might of Rome made them right, and rightly so. They had everything that makes for might. Military might in itself, wisdom, law, science, philosophy, discipline, and all. And this made them superior to their enemies in might. On the grounds of morality, as to whether or not it were moral to occupy people’s territories by the use of force and make them pay tributes to fill up the exchequer of the empire, what else is that than armed robbery? Yet we love the Romans for their might made them right. I admire the Romans myself for their many noble exemplary qualities, and there are indeed many things to learn from them.
Peace treaties come from force to form new rights and wrongs. When war breaks out for any reason, it is at the table of negotiation that new rights and wrongs are formed. In such circumstances it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong. The weak must make concessions for the strong. Though it was not the point of his parable, yet we can see that this truth was implied in the parable of Christ in which he says, “what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.” (Luke 14:31 – 32). If the person coming is stronger, the weaker party must make concessions for peace to reign. The boundaries of nations we have today were forged in the furnace of war, and anyone who violates those territories is accounted to be in the wrong. And it is in war they are melted again and reshaped for peace to reign.
Like in the case of Ukraine and Russia, the territories of Russia and Ukraine were defined long ago, but when war broke out, Russia began to claim more territories. Some people started fuming as to why it was wrong for Russia to claim Ukrainian territories forgetting that these territorial boundaries were forged in the furnace of war, war related turmoil, or efforts to avert war. Should war break out for any reason, those boundaries would melt and take new forms. The morality or the lack thereof lies not in the claiming of territories, rather it lies in the irresponsible acts leading to the war. Who broke what agreements, treaties, and who shunned efforts of dialogue that forced the war to start. If only we would take a good look at the world as we know it and how we shall ever know it, we shall realise that in most parts the world is only what the forces of might has beaten it into.
Indeed God himself gives kingdoms to kings and emperors by granting them victories in wars. He brought the Jews out of Egypt and gave them Canaan by the force of arms. By might the kingdom grew particularly under Saul and David. He gave the Jews over to Nebuchadnezzar at his will by military conquest. He gave Babylon over to Darius by military conquest. And so on and so forth. And once they claim power they start dictating rights and wrongs. And so the possession of such realms by use of force and prevailing by force are from God. The person or people that must be free in temporal things must maintain that freedom by might, for so must man live in a world marred by sin.
To get to the bottom of things we must be able to ask questions and question even firmly and widely accepted things, yet doing those with firm convictions on what is right and what is wrong. There is a philosophical process, called the Hegelian philosophy of dialectical reasoning, that involves three stages namely, thesis, antithesis, synthesis. Thesis are well known and widely accepted opinions of things. Antithesis is a contrary opinion designed to challenge the well known and widely accepted opinion of things. This process challenges accepted opinions to ask, “why is it not this or that way, or this other way instead? Why is it this way only?” Then a process of reasoning, discussions, and debates, according to wisdom, would weigh these things with the hope of attaining to a new, better, truer, or more beneficial opinion. This new opinion, hopefully better, is the synthesis. This process is essential if progress in knowledge and better convictions of the truth is to be achieved.
Christ himself is not opposed to such endeavour to advancement in knowledge and fine tuning of opinions. In the sermon on the mount, it was this kind of philosophical approach he used. Let’s take one of the points he made for an example. He said, “Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:21 – 22). So he started from the thesis, “Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time…” Then he proceeds to submit his antithesis, “But I say unto you…” Because he speaks authoritatively as the Christ, without need of further deliberation, reasoning, discussion, or debate, his antithesis automatically becomes the synthesis. Because the whole idea of this process is to ascertain truths, Christ himself is the Truth, and so his antithesis against popular opinion is naturally the synthesis.
Why is it important for us to dig to the root so as to know that right is might? Because when we say Christ is the Almighty, we understand the import of that to a great extent. We understand that upon that power lies a whole lot of other things and that this one quality is the most important aspect of one’s personality. It is risky, and indeed ruinous, to hold views without going down to the root of it. To shy away from such reasoning may seem wise and safe, but it is more unsafe not to think things through. Failure to do this makes people reason foolishly and hold foolish views. When you look at things at the surface level (as important as it is) you get all manner of absurd conclusions. Like in many cases women who think the reason why women should submit to their husbands is because they’re usually richer. So at surface level they perceive that men are mostly the providers for their homes and women play supportive roles. But they don’t, with intelligent questions, pry further to discover why these things are so. So, they absurdly think that should they somehow be able to earn as much as, or more than their husbands then their husbands by moral obligation ought to submit to them. They fail to go to the root of matters to realise that money doesn’t have any role to play in the submission with which they’re to submit to their husbands. This foolish thought is what drives women to pursue overambitious careers and neglect family life. They’re not driven by service to God, humanity, or family, not driven by any sense of duty, but simply driven by the quest for dominance. They fail to realise that submission lies not in who has the higher earning power, but it lies in the fact that he who made them male and female commands the wife to be subject to her husband. And whether they like it or not, he who made them has ordained it so. It’s not a question of equity, justice, or the foolishly coined “gender equality.” It is simply because he who has the power to ordain it so has said that is how it should be. The more people look at things at surface level the more ruinous our opinions shall be.
However, I do not present this as something we should do without caution. In the affairs of man, deliberations, reasonings, discussions, and debates are necessary to attain to our syntheses, but we must be careful when we do this in matters of religion. It was the introduction of antithesis by the Devil in the garden of Eden to God’s command that caused the fall of man. The thesis was that man is not allowed to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that the day he eats of the tree he will surely die. The antithesis was to question it saying, “did God really say you shouldn’t eat of the tree?” The synthesis was that God said so but said so to keep man from being like him, not that he would really die. And man fell. So we should be careful using dialectical reasoning in matters of religion. I do not say this to mean we should shun it but that we do it cautiously, and the only caution I prescribe is we must never challenge anything that the Bible says. We only apply it to our understanding of the Bible and explore the Bible in our effort to reach our synthesis which must of course be in absolute agreement with scriptures.
What do I say then? We can drift freely on the oceans of questions exploring various opinions, but we must do so with the compass of the word of God and convictions. It is good to praise the Lord, but why is it good? It is good to be honest but why? So why shouldn’t I be dishonest? In such questions we may wonder freely starting from what we understand of the Bible, then move on to entertain questions that rise in the mind, but being fully convinced that until you arrive back at a stand point evidently endorsed by scriptures with clear reasons, you haven’t had a successful rational voyage. When we engage in such an exercise we begin to have rational basis for everything we hold and this will have the effect of making the grip of the convictions with which we hold our faith firmer. For example, not only do we hold that we should praise God because we are told to, we then begin to see that it is ingratitude to fail to do so, and seeing this we shall begin to praise God with fervour and as a moral obligation. Not only do we see that it is good to be honest because we are told so, we shall begin to see that it is also foolish to be otherwise, and seeing this we shall maintain an honest life even when it hurts because we don’t want to be like one of the foolish ones. All these just because we questioned our beliefs while holding firmly to the veracity of scriptures.
So, on the things we have discussed on might being right, when you go to the root of it, stripping reason off its every feathers, you would find that close to the core of the reason why we should act in certain ways is always the dread of the almightiness of God. That might he possesses is what makes his ways right. For this reason, it is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom. That fear shall birth love for him and other moral traits and virtue, but the fear remains the beginning of wisdom.
In essence, I’m not challenging our understanding of things pertaining morals, rights, wrongs, the evil of oppression and tyranny, the blessedness of a just rule, etc., but to lay bear the fact that might is right, which should have the effect of removing our sentimental view of things. We need to see that to have the supreme might is to have the power to dictate rights and wrongs.
As I said earlier, provoking a king to anger is to sin against one’s soul simply because of his might, yet Shedrack, Meshak, and Abednego, provoke Nebuchadnezzar to anger. Was that a sin against their souls? No, I say it was not. But why? Because there is a mighty mightier than Nebuchadnezzar whose will was opposed to the will of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar then assayed to show his might thinking he can prove that anyone who provokes him to anger sins against his own soul. He ordered his servants to increase the heat of a furnace seven times and have these three men thrown into it alive. What a horrible way to die. And truly were they indeed in the power of Nebuchadnezzar to be so miserably destroyed, then their defiance should really have been a sinning against their souls. But in the end the fact that they had not sinned against their soul was manifest in the fact that when Nebuchadnezzar sought to express the full might of the wrath it was powerless for the mightiest shielded them and preserved them alive. It all still boils down to might. Because of the might of the mightiest they were preserved alive and unharmed, so it was no sin against their souls.
In the affairs of men, even when men suppose they have unmatched might, yet must they subject their rule to the will of him whose might is greater than the greatest, and who is himself love. So rulers must rule in love. This does not take away the necessity of firmness and executing retributive justice, but the ultimate end of all action must be the good of as many are affected by their decisions. Herein is love. It is also very evident that development, human prosperity, and societal progress does not happen when there is injustice and tyranny. But where people are fully protected by law and might of their rulers and know that their rights won’t be taken from them, then people thrive under such leadership. The welfare of king and nation relies on the people, and when the people aren’t happy and content, then the ruin of the king and nation is sure. So to be happy, nations must ensure that might is on the side of justice, truth, and love.
God who is the mightiest loves a just rule and for this reason, to use force contrary to the interests of men is rightly called tyranny and that is wrong. Though the Romans were people who ruled other people’s territories by might, yet they thrived mostly because of their devotion to a just rule of their domain. They laboured to know what is right and just, and having known it they devised means to ensure justice. We can read how it is written, “To whom I [Festus] answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.” (Acts 25:16). Such a civil act must have had the effect of people wanting to be under their protection.
You can see in Acts 21:30-40 the urgency with which Paul was saved by Claudius Lysias, the captain of the host in Jerusalem, from the mob that wanted to kill him, though they didn’t know at the time that he was a Roman, yet they quickly went in to save him from unlawful death, that is death without trial. Not only did they have just laws, the Roman system also ensured that anyone caught violating the ethics of the realm was in deep soup. Not that I know of anyone who got in trouble for violating such ethics, but I know by the way their officials avoided being caught. When Paul was brought to the castle, the moment they realised that he was a Roman, it is written, “Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.” (Acts 22:29). Because the Roman system was so strict in ensuring justice, particularly for Roman citizens, the chief captain was afraid because what he had done was against Roman custom. This same chief captain to cover up his error told a lie when he wrote to Felix the governor. The summary of what happened is that he only went to rescue Paul not knowing who he was. At the castle when Paul spoke Greek to him he expressed his surprise saying, “Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?” (Acts 21:37 – 38). So he saw Paul as an Egyptian murderer, and in the temple in Jerusalem of all places for an “Egyptian” murderer to be. But when he would write to Felix, he wrote, “This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman.” (Acts 23:27), meaning at the point he came to the rescue of Paul he already knew he was a Roman, and that it was the understanding that he was a Roman that moved him to act promptly to save him. What an absolute lie! He said this to protect himself from his error of binding Paul.
Another instance to show how Roman officials dreaded violating Roman customs, particularly of rights of citizens, is when Paul and Silas were put in jail. When they later asked the jailor to release them and it was revealed to the authorities that they were Romans, it is written, “… they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.” (Acts 16:38). They feared and had to beg Paul and Silas to leave the city. If the system wasn’t stringent against defaulting officials, those occupying positions of authority didn’t need to fear even to the point of telling lies when they erred. So by this means I know that indeed to err in the path of justice as a Roman official was a great evil that comes with great punishment. That is devotion to justice. This above others strengthened the realm.
So the Roman system was so devoted to the cause of justice, particularly for her citizens. Till date, Latin is still the official language of the law, worldwide which is a testimony of how the Romans laboured for justice in their realm. The will of God for powers in his world is that those possessing power must be just. It is written, “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” (2 Samuel 23:3). This is the will of the Almighty. And those who ascend to positions of power and reign with injustice and terror are soon swept away by him. There were many realms but they all waned and perished so soon. But Rome lasted as an empire for approximately nearly two thousand years, and continued for nearly another thousand years as Byzantine empire. Justice preserves a nation for justice from those in power is God’s will.
Seeing the cardinal importance of might, it reveals a lot to us about Christ who says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8). By his power he’s the ruler of all and none can challenge him. He alone it is that can cast the wrath of his rage abroad. He alone has power to save and power to condemn. He is the head over all principalities and powers (Colossians 2:10). He is the one who said of his life, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:18). He has the power to do all things.
We had said, “A lot of things come together to determine a man’s power and some of them are his wisdom, knowledge and understanding…” So when Christ calls himself the Almighty, his power does not just define one thing about him. It defines a lot of other things that makes him the Almighty indeed. His power is the cumulative sum of all his virtues, for example his matchless and infinite wisdom. So when we see all the things we have discussed on power, Christ is the one with the supreme power. He is the Almighty.
As we continue to explore the person of Christ, we should understand that all his qualities are hinged upon this one fact that he is the person with the most might. Not that he has the most might amongst a host of other powerful beings, as though with some strategic alliance they could bring their might together and through this synergy have a might equal with that of Christ or even greater. The truth is that not only is he the almighty, the fact is that all power belongs to him. Jesus says of himself, “… All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18). So the cumulative sum of all the other powers is as nothing before him. The Christ we are exploring is the great king against whom there can be no rising (Proverbs 30:29-31).
Before we bring this chapter to a close to explore other aspects of Christ, it is good to point something to the Christian man. When we realise the importance of power and might, it behoves the wise man to pursue power by all the legitimate possible means available. Why do I say legitimate means? Because there are illegitimate means of getting power too. As God has and gives power, so does the Devil in this world of sin. And this power he also offered Christ saying, “All this power [of all the kingdoms of the world] will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” (Luke 4:6 – 7). But Christ who is our perfect example refused the offer of the Devil and rather chose the legitimate way of getting power, the way of the cross. For after he was crucified and had resurrected, then could he say, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18). So also must we also reject all the means by which the Devil offers his power and choose the right and legitimate means of having power. The ways appointed by God. I’ll just share a few. The reader can explore more options and go after power that way.
First is seeking power directly from God. All power is from God, whether it is power we get from wisdom, physical strength, wealth, political office, spiritual power, and what have you. They all come from God and there is no power except it is from him. However I refer to seeking power directly from him, his power, as it is written in Isaiah 26:4, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” We get power from God by being born again. Being born into the family of God makes you a child of God, the Almighty, and that comes with power. Once you’re born again even the Devil knows he can’t mess around with you. I am a living testimony of that fact. When I became born again in 2005, even the Devil knew that indeed I was a child of God and with that status I was too hot to handle. Belonging to Christ has immense power that no power in the earth or beneath the earth can withstand. Unpleasantness may come your way, but it is only because of him who has called you to salvation sees that these unpleasantnesses would only build you. To his own Christ promises in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Furthermore, being baptised in the Holy Ghost, a privilege only the sons of God have, comes with power too. Christ promised, “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). It was this power that brought Christ much fame as it is written in Luke 4:14, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.” Obedience to God, particularly being meek, comes with power too. I explained this in my article titled, “THE COST OF POWER.” In that article, exploring the life of Moses and the apostle Peter, I explained that meekness is the cost of power. These are some ways of getting power directly from God.
These manifestations of power don’t have anything in this ephemeral world we can point to as its source. When Christ returned in the power of the Spirit for example, it was not because he had made friends with Pilate who had given him a band of soldiers who were to follow him everywhere and do his bidding. Nothing physically changed about him, yet his fame went abroad as if he had gotten some boon from Pilate or even the emperor in Rome.
Next is getting power through knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and right judgment. It is written in Proverbs 24:5, “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.” Being informed gives you incredible strength. So every one who desires power would engage in a life long pursuit of knowledge, seek understanding, get wisdom, and exercise right judgment. He shall read the Bible daily and read many other good books. He will also, if required in some pursuit of life, seek his necessary formal education. He will pursue relevant knowledge anywhere he sees that it can be found.
The next is good character. This character is the mental and moral qualities that define you as a person. And when I say good character, I mean these qualities should be good ones. When we talk about good character we often refer to truthfulness, obedience to parents, etc., but it must not be limited to the moral qualities alone. The mental qualities are also a very important aspect of the character of a person. These mental qualities are what determines what we call strength of character. These entail courage, tenacity, resolve, consistency, etc. If you have character in terms of just moral knowledge of good and wrong and the mere desire to live by them without strength of character, if you come under pressure you will forget your moral values and do as wickedly as the wicked. It is written, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10). Without adversity strength can’t be proved whether it is great or small. It is when it stands in the day of adversity that one can know that he’s got strength. Strength of character is essential if the moral aspect of your character is to be of any avail. To have strength of character you need to exercise it and you will grow in strength as your experience increases. How do you exercise it? Know what you stand for, have convictions that are founded on God’s word, reason, and knowledge, and be determined to live by your convictions. Having character would make men revere you and your every word will become very potent. Be a person who always says what he means and means what he says. Let it be that whenever you say a thing it will definitely be done. That way, all your pronouncements shall come with power.
Though there are many more legitimate means of getting power which I encourage the reader to discover and explore, the last I shall mention is wealth. The Bible says, “… money answereth all things.” (Ecclesiastes 10:19). And there is a Nigerian saying that goes, “money stops nonsense.” If you add wealth to other sources of power, you shall be virtually unstoppable in the affairs of men. It is written, “The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.” (Proverbs 18:23). Save yourself from the humiliation of poverty. The power wealth gives to the rich is what makes them answer roughly which is a way of casting abroad their wrath, but the poor doesn’t have that and must use intreaties. Summary? Make money, it gives you power.
These things give you power. As we said earlier in this chapter, “A lot of things come together to determine a man’s power… All these and more come together to determine a man’s power.” Without power you shall be oppressed and oppression comes our way regularly and it doesn’t have to take the popular face of being arrested wrongfully and being jailed. It comes in subtle ways as simple as someone infringing on your rights. But when you’re a person of knowledge who knows your right and how to defend your rights, you shall be free from oppression. In this case your knowledge is your power. All the things that give you power are essential in enabling you live a good and victorious life because at the end of the day, your power is what determines how well you will live in life and how far you will go in life.
It is a sad reality that most of those who crave power crave it to abuse it. You should get power first to protect yourself from the oppression of those who wish to abuse their power, and secondly to stop the abuse of power against others. The righteous are at advantage in this life for the laws of all the world are made in defence of the righteous, yet sometimes you see the wicked so bold in their evil and getting to themselves so much power that it becomes almost impossible to bring them to justice. This is sad because the righteous in their timidity have shied away from power. The righteous are timid to contend with evil and seek to put a stop to it. At first assessment the righteous already has a great advantage over the wicked. The mere fact that the righteous chose the good and the wicked chose the bad reveals, at first assessment, that the righteous is wiser. But surprisingly the confidence and morale this first assessment gives usually wrongfully goes to the wicked. It is the wicked who sees the righteous, at first assessment, as a fool who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He sees it as a foolish thing to choose the way of righteousness, meaning merely being righteous already qualifies the righteous as a fool to him. How can you be a good person when there is so much benefit to be had in cutting corners, telling lies, falsification of documents, and other evil practices. On the other hand, for some strange reason, the righteous indeed most times does not see the wisdom in his choosing righteousness. Yes you’d hear things like, “all liars will go to hell,” “you can’t escape the hand of the law,” etc., as if they indeed see the wisdom of choosing to be righteous, but their reason doesn’t seem to bring them to the conclusion that it takes a superior wisdom and strength of character to choose the path of right over the path of wrong. This I suspect is because both parents, school, as well as the church are doing a shoddy job in instilling the love of righteousness in those they have influence over. The details of this would be another day’s topic. But there’s much work for the righteous to do in equipping himself for the battles of life. If there’s a time that the righteous ones need to go in legitimate search of power. It is today.
In summary, power and might is the most important thing in this life and beyond, as it is written, “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20). Christ, being the Almighty, is therefore supreme. As we proceed in this section, let’s keep this understanding at the back of our minds.
Let’s round off with this verse of a hymn from The New Metrical Version of the Psalms (1909):
“For His the kingdom, His of right
He rules the nations by His might;
All earth to Him her homage brings,
The Lord of lords, the King of kings.”
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, the Almighty, teach us acknowledge your matchless might and understand how blessed we are to have the God of love as our ruler. We are most grateful for this and all eternity shall not be enough to express our thanks. As we progress in this book, help us to understand you better. Thank you dear Lord Jesus. Amen.
