The Whole Duty Of Man Series

THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (KJV)

14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 - 14

Preamble

A couple of years back, the entire country Nigeria, was thrown in a confused state. Everyone was practically running away from one another. People could not shake hands or hug for fear of catching a deadly disease. The entire country and even Africa was thrown into a seriously fearful state. Anywhere you visited, you were told to wash your hands. Even medical personnel were scared, and Nigerians started heeding to the advice of maintaining hygienic lifestyle all because of the fear of a deadly disease called “Ebola”.

In Nigeria, the disease first berthed in Lagos State when a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer infected the medical doctor and nurse who attended to him, leading to the death of both. Everyone became more hygienic inclined. In fact, at some point, people were advised to desist from eating bush meat, the suspected conduit for the disease.

Handwashing became a culture, and health workers became more painstaking in the use of protective kits and procedures as measures to stop the spread of the disease.

Awareness Campaign Organizations suddenly sprung up to sensitize the general public on Ebola virus. Some states, particularly Ministries of Health suddenly started advising the people of their states to adhere to high standard of personal and environmental hygiene at all times, surveillance were activated by some states in a bid to mapping out strategies to check the spread of the virus. Precautionary measures were put in place to handle cases to prevent outbreak. It is important to note that churches also joined in the campaign too by issuing out notices of warning to their congregations, urging them to control their movements and be careful in how they relate with one another.

We can go on and on in a bid to give us a picture of what I’ll say is “The fear of Ebola, is the beginning of Wisdom”. Every church woke up to the responsibilities of educating their congregation on purity and cleanliness so as not to become a victim of the deadly virus (ordinary virus, I add).

Let us take a quick look at this. Ebola is simply a virus people fear most. But when you tell them “fear God”, they look at you like someone speaking Spanish to them. Why should I fear God? Is God real? Can God even kill? And you hear quite a lot of things which will pierce your hearts like a sword pierces a paper through.

They do not fear God but they fear Ebola, they fear evil, they fear death. People want to enjoy their life at the expense of their soul wasting in hell fire.

Introduction

Let me start by saying that “the very essence for the creation of man is to have an intimacy with his creator. Fellowship is the key factor to fulfilling purpose in life.” Regardless of any profession, career, job, or skills you practice or engage in, the ultimate is that your service must be heavenly focused.

In Genesis, God created man so that he can come in the cool of the day to fellowship with man. Then the unexpected happened. Adam fell and was cast out of God’s presence. He no longer dwelt with man as was the original plan. He only comes occasionally to those that decide to draw themselves to him.

Hence, the struggles, the challenges, problems, difficulties all came into play. Man began to do things their own way, sin penetrated into their hearts, evil plans and thoughts took grip of their hearts and mind. They no longer fear God who created them. They do what pleases them and displeases God.

Revelation 4:11 says “Thou art worthy O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created”.

Every man was created to give God pleasure and once your life is not giving God pleasure, definitely it is displeasing him. When a life displeases God, such is bound for destruction.

Our central scripture is found in Ecclesiastes 12:13, it says:

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: FEAR GOD and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, for this is the WHOLE DUTY OF MAN”.

King Solomon wrote this statement as inspired by God. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, “all scriptures is given by the inspiration of God…”

He was the wisest being that ever lived because God gave him divine wisdom. After so many wise sayings, preaching, counsels and proverbs, he concluded by saying, ‘after all is said and done, this is the end of the matter, this is the total summation, the very conclusion, the total package, the final judgment, the peak of all discussion, the main thrust of our discussion, the big picture, the final word,’ summed into two: i. Fear God; and ii. Keep His Commandment