The Senior Pastor of Power City International Church and Founder of Abel Damina Ministries, Dr Abel Damina has given another explanation to the figurative use of some expressions in the bible.
The Pastor, while teaching on the topic ‘The Misunderstood God’, during one of his recent bible teaching programmes, explained that it is the misunderstanding of Jesus’ rightful personality that makes people keep referring to him as the ‘Lamb of God’.
Pastor Damina explained that the use of the expression ‘Lamb of God’ in the bible to refer to Jesus was just a figurative expression (metaphor) to communicate the nature of role which Jesus played in the salvation of humanity by offering himself as a living sacrifice.
According to him, such languages were styles of expressions peculiar to writers of the gospel. Hence, a writer’s choice of Language is not enough to define to true personality of Jesus Christ.
He emphasized that Jesus is now glorified with the Father in heaven beyond being ‘a lamb of God’.
Hence, it is an error to keep portraying Jesus in that image as his proper personality is highly exalted in heaven.
In his explanation, the pastor explained that most information in the Christian Bible are expressed in figurative language.
According to him, it is the careful study of the message, contextually, that enables one to understand the implications of such expressions in the bible.
Relating the same idea with another portion of the bible which also describes Jesus as the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’, Damina stated the contradiction in the expressed personality of Jesus.
“How can Jesus be ‘Lamb’ and the ‘Lion’ at the same time. It is important for us to study the bible understand it’s meaning contextually. Certain figurative languages used in the bible by writers were their personal ways of expressing their imagination, views, opinions or feelings about the personality of Jesus based on the way they understood him. They shouldn’t form the basis of our reference to Christ.”
“Don’t contradict the personality of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not the ‘lamb of God’ who takes away the sins of the world. No, he is the God who reveals himself, lives among men and takes away the sins of the world by himself.”
Pastor Damina’s recent teachings on some biblical topics have generated a lot of controversies among bible scholars. Some tend to adopt his teachings while others are yet to consider his messages and teachings.