The Crowns #5

I have introduced and defined the topic and tell us that from the time immemorial people have been receiving reward for what they are doing, and one of the reward people received is crown in the first article. In the second article I write about the positive and negative usage of the word crown and some of the uses of crown as found in the bible. In this article I desire to write on some other crowns mentioned in the bible and how they are related to believers.

I have written on controlling ourselves if we want to receive an incorruptible crown in the fourth article, as could be seen from the counsel contained in the epistle of Paul the apostle to the saints and brethren in Corinth. I will want us to see other points raised by the Apostle for us to receive the crown in this article.

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

“I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Cor 9:25-27)

The Greek word for subjection in the above verse is “δουλαγωγέω”, the romanticized form is doulagōgeō (pronounced as doo-lag-ogue-eh'-o) which means to enslave, to subdue.

The apostle from experience as a father to his spiritual children is talking to them here that they need to enslave (or subdue) their bodies to the things of God. They need to know that they do not have power of their own over their bodies again. This was the believe of Joseph, thence he could not do as he wishes neither as the woman wishes with his body.

“And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

“But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

“There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen 39:7-9)

He, Joseph recognizes that the life he lives does not belong to him again it belongs to the Lord and thence he rejects the offer to sleep with his master’s wife.

It is when we put our bodies under subjection or subdue our bodies, we shall know that we have no rights over our bodies again, as a woman who is married in this part of the world would drop his parent’s names to be bearing her husband’s name, so is God expecting us to be, that we shall hand over everything that is ours’ unto God and we shall not see ourselves as possessing anything again.

Many people still continue to sin because they are thinking that they own their lives and as we know that whatever we know we can use it as we pleases, that is how we view our lives which make us to be misbehaving and continuing in sin when we ought not to.

It was because King David considers himself as a person who owns his life that was why he could lie with Bathsheba but we see that Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah because he knows that his life does not belong to him he decides against the wishes and counsels of the king though he be the spiritual physical and the general controlling the land. (2 Sam 11).

God expects that we get to this position with him if indeed we want to possess a crown as this, we should stop seeing our lives as our own and see him as possessing us.

He told them that those who will possess the crown as this would be those who would know that a crown like this exists.

“I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:” (1 Cor 9:26)

Those who know that something is real, would attend to the thing well, but those who do not know that something is real, they would not pay attention to it, they would think that such thing is another means of duping people.

Therefore Jesus calls the devil the father of lies, because he presents lie to people as thing that is real and should be embraced. He will present sin to us as something that we need to do and continue to do.

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (Joh 8:44)

The apostle thence is telling the brethren in Corinth that he is running the race to receive a crown as this because he knows it is real, it is not fake as some people have supposedly think that there is no after life and that everything about the world after this world is a lie which no sensible person should embrace. Thus, such people cannot think of such a crown.

For you and I as believers the apostle is saying we need to run the race with certainty we need to know that there is after life, we need know a crown called incorruptible exists, and it is when we know that it exists that we shall run the race as we ought to, put our bodies under control, put ourselves under subjection showing that our bodies are not ours’ but God’s the creator of heavens and earth.

All believers have been called into a position where we are to sacrifice some things so that we shall be following the Lord and be pointing people to Christ Jesus by our daily living. It is when we do this that we shall be able to receive the incorruptible crown.

I shall talk on another crown in the next article.