[grip_daddy]

Ndigila,

This post seek to reason that the Church of God has always been protected, preserved, and honoured by God since creation. It also seek to point out that the Church is not a physical organisation but rather a collection of individual believers whose sole intention is to keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Your response is highly anticipated.

After creating a perfect man, God intended to finally vindicate His righteousness if the created Adam could have overcome the temptation of eating the forbidden fruit. When man failed Him, He decided to let him enjoy a temporal life as he stood up preaching His WILL, the WAY, and the TRUTH to his children, who were to carry out the same message until and after the appearance of the Saviour.

In this regard, Adam stood as the body (temple or church) of God in which God lived to manifest His promise to humanity. Adam used his privileged opportunity to instruct his children with immediate example being given in Chapter 4 of Genesis.

The death of Abel was not an easy thing to this first family and that's why the birth of Seth was received with joy, for through him the church of God could continue. The weakness of human flesh did not allow many to accept the call that man should live by obedience to God and the hope of the coming seed of the woman to crush the serpent's head. This led to deterioration of the number of them who could be relied upon by God to instruct others into God's ways through exemplified life. Thus when the deterioration reached extiction phase, God saw it wise to wipe out man from the face of the earth via flood save the family of Noah.

From Noah's lineage we trace that His name had been held high by Abraham of whom He called out of paganism so as to fully live the life worthy of His name. So we know that from Abraham through the son of faith God formed unto Himself a church; the nation of Israel.

This nation was given the precepts of God and was expected to safeguard it. Other nations were supposed to see how the nation was worshipping a different God; a God with holy laws and commandments, a God who keeps promises and blesses His people. A God who is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger. So God raised to the nation Judges, then Kings, and with them there were prophets and seers.

We do know that the Israel as a nation failed God terribly to the point of rejecting Him in whom they had hoped for. When their deliverer finally arrived as Jesus of Nazareth, they ridiculed Him, insulted Him and belittled His teachings. They then sold Him to the Romans to be crucified.

Though the nation fell, there were still a people, a remnant, in each generation of their existence that stood firm in the ways of God. During Elijah's time, the people were so down into heathenism until Elijah's wondered if he was the only person remaining faithful to God. But God told him that there were other 7000 individuals who had not turned to other Gods. Thus the true people of God were not those who were circumcised with the circumcision of Abraham, but those who were circumcised at heart.

That's why even Ruth was accepted into the fold of Israelites. That's why strangers who believed in the God of Israel were embraced as blood of Israel.

So after the Jews as nation rejected their promised Messiah, the Jews who believed in Him were instructed to turn to the Gentiles and with them, to form God's group of believers. The believers themselves were to form the Church of God, of which for the purpose of brotherhood and care, they formed themselves into a formal institution, which institution was ratified by God.

But as years went by and all the apostles finally died, together with the fact that non Jews from diverse backgrounds were coming into the Church, strange doctrines creeped in slowly. Some of these doctrines included worship on behalf of the dead, infant baptism, mass, and forsaking of Sabbath observance.

But all believers did not embrace the strange doctrines.

The few who rejected to follow pagan practices were persecuted, killed, tortured, and their families arrested. It reached a point where even possession of the bible by layman was illegalised which offence meant death penalty.

These few persecuted for their faith were the true church. They ran into the wilderness for refuge (see Revelation 12) and when the persecutor's prophesied period was over, they again emerged as the true witnesses of God, to obey the first angel's message, and to speak with a loud voice "fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come".

The church of God all through the ages, from Adam to present, has always been the remnant, "who have the testimony of Jesus, and keep the commandments of God."Revelation 12:17.

The children of Israel, as Paul said, are those who have been circumcised at heart ever since. Those whose hopes and faith have been manifested in continual honour of God's laws and will in life, speech, and deed are the true church in whom the promise of Christ holds.

When relying on tradition it is important to know that even the Jews acquired traditions over time of which distinguishing from the commandments of God became a problem. When Jesus told them that they were teaching the traditions of men for doctrine, they got angry with Him. The same can be said about many churches as are seen today.