FATHERS AND MOTHERS OF MANY NATIONS! – By Pastor Bose Adelaja

A nation is defined as a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or territory. It is a large area of land that is controlled by its own government. In talking about nations, we are referring to everything that makes up a state or people group, such as its citizens, institutions etc, everything that is encompassed by it.

A father on the other hand is known as a male parent, and a mother is his female counterpart. In this context however, I use “mother and father” as founders, or progenitors of nations. I refer to them as mothers and fathers of the whole globe, people who will establish, birth, and lead something, not only in their nations but in many nations of the world.

My study of the bible reveals that God’s scope of view with regards to earth is the nations. His perspective is large and He not only focuses on individual people but He sees all nations. He speaks to the nations, He speaks to the earth. As carriers of God’s nature, this must also be our scope. Unfortunately, we often limit ourselves by lowering our scope.  We seem to be more concerned about ourselves, our families, and relatives. We generally limit ourselves to the people around us. Most people’s line of thought is for them to be able to provide for their families and a few more people. This is wrong.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Martin Luther King

God did not send us solely for the people around us, but for the nations. God did not send us to just a few people, he sent us to the nations, and not just to our nation of birth or abode. God sent us to all the nations of the earth.

God is the God of heaven and earth. When He sends a person, He sends him to all of the earth. Even a child that is born today and even the children that are yet to be born have been sent to the earth with a purpose. God sent us to the earth, to our world and generation. Our purpose is to take charge and subdue nations, but how far we get on the earth will depend on us. Therefore, we must look for ways to influence all the nations of the earth.

“The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind.” Psalm 115:16

As mentioned in the above scripture, the heavens belong to God, but the earth He has given to men, to us. The earth is our territory; it is our area of influence. The earth is the scale that the Lord has given us. We have to care for everything in the earth. We should maintain that scale and go by it, not lower it.

Whether we accept it or not, the events of any nation of the world affect us, either directly or indirectly. With the knowledge that every part of the world is in our potential sphere of influence, we cannot afford to be oblivious to the wrangles and scrambles of any nation. A global man, or any serious believer in the God of the heaven and earth, ought to be concerned and be praying for the affected nations around the world.

“We are the world. The world is you and me, the world is not separate from you and me.”- Jiddu Krishnamurti

However, Satan, uses the bane of our ignorance, and has succeeded in making us believe that what happens around the world is none of our business. He wants us to believe and think that there is a dividing line separating us from the events of other nations. The truth is that we are being affected, consciously or unconsciously.

In 2014-2015, there was political unrest in Ukraine. Despite the fact that this was mainly between Russia and Ukraine, all other nations of the world were affected. Nigeria, America, and other nations were affected from their homes. How? We see that this was not just a physical conflict, but a spiritual one, too. Some empathized, others were direct victims, but all were affected. This is how connected we are and it proves our need to influence nations.

We are connected to everything that is going on around the world politically, economically, or physically. The Persian Gulf War, for instance, had not only an impact on the American economy, but also on the world, at large. Industries were hit hard as were businesses. From investors to consumers, each one was a victim in one way or the other. How then is it possible for us to think only of ourselves? How is it possible for us to close our eyes and pretend that we cannot be impacted by the plight of nations in trouble?

Most of us are more concerned by what our governments can do, or how we can benefit from them, but that is not what God sent us here for. We are not only given to a family or a marriage. Those are just focal points, to give us an identity. They are the base from which we exist and participate on earth. Everybody takes action from a local site, like an office, but we can affect the world.

It does not matter where your office is, what matters is your scope of influence. It does not matter where we are located in the world, what matters is what we are aiming at, who we are influencing. Location should therefore not be an excuse for not subduing and influencing nations.

“If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse”-Vanessa Savery

International companies like Coca-Cola, Samsung, Toyota, etc. have offices operating in different parts of the world, but this has not limited them from going global. In fact, this broadens their reach. The point I am passing across is that it does not matter where you are located or where you are operating from. What matters is your focus, your amplitude. What excuse do you have?

“Think globally, act locally.”–Paul McCartney

Dear friend, I want to challenge you today to start thinking globally. Start thinking internationally. God himself is helping us and there is a lot of technology making this possible for us. Technology has made things easier for us than before.  All that we need is available to us and within our reach; the time to start is now! It is not enough to just begin; we must maintain action at that scope and keep working at reaching out to the whole world and influencing the nations. We are the fathers and mothers of nations.

The world has become a global village. It has no demarcations, no borders, it is seamless. Unfortunately, we still create our own borders, and live within them, so we confine ourselves to our countries and don’t see any further. We limit ourselves only to the areas around us, forgetting that God has given us the whole earth. It is possible to live in denial and confine ourselves only to certain areas, even though the whole earth is ours. We are called to spread our wings as wide as we can, and take charge, subdue the nations. Everything belongs to us.

“For all things are yours.” 1 Corinthians 3:21b

If you are a man, you are a father of many nations. If you are a woman, you will know that you are a mother of many nations, not just one. Race, status, feelings and our position in society have nothing to do with our becoming fathers and mothers of nations. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the circumstances we find ourselves in. The fact of the matter is that even when you are going through difficult situations; do not think at any levels less than globally. Do not allow circumstances to limit your vision. Do not be a victim of your circumstances; use them as the stepping stones to reaching out to others in similar situations.

“As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.”

Gen 17:4

Fathers and mothers of many nations is what God has put on the table for us. He is offering all the nations of the earth to us. The question is, what will you take? Is it family? Marriage? Education? Or nations?

“What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.” – Eleanor Powell

Every man and woman must agree and offer themselves, to become the fathers of many nations, since that is what we have been called for. The offer is ours to accept.  Anything less than that will disappoint God.

Let us take Abraham, for instance.

“So Abraham said to God, ‘May Ishmael live under your special blessing! » – 

Gen 17:18

What we see here is that God was concerned about the great matter of nations, but Abraham was concerned about little Ishmael.  Are we not guilty of the same? We might think: if our families were healthy and lacked nothing, then there would be nothing more to worry about. We are too blind and too shallow to see the nations God is entrusting us with.  Our worldly mentality has to be broken in order to give in to God’s word. Fathers and mothers of nations, that is the least we should be.

Dear reader, do not regard yourself as an ordinary person, No! You and I are God’s representatives here on earth. We are God’s agents. We are responsible no matter where we find ourselves. I am an agent of God. If there is anything I can do, I have to do it. I am the mother of many nations. Let us accept this offer that God has given to us, to become the fathers and mothers of many nations. God is in us and with us. He has made everything possible for us, our call is to accept and become responsible citizens of God.

“What is a nation comprised of?” you may wonder. A clear fact is that the church in any location is a part of the nation. The restaurants all over the country are part of the nation. The bus stops, recreational parks and museums, schools, gymnasiums, clubs, etc are all part of that nation. God wants us to think about all these places and all the people in them.

As believers, we have a great role to play in taking over nations. But unfortunately, we have two extremes in Christendom today and they need to be reconsidered. The first extreme is the church without walls. These “extremists” are very active in the church; this is commendable, but they consciously ignore the church and its role. They might not bother to come to church. They ignore the support of the church and after some time, they begin to lose their energy because they are not being fed. They gradually burn out and get frustrated.

The second extreme is the group of Christians who are locked up in the church. To this set of people, the outside world is too sinful, dirty, and dangerous. What they forget, however, is that even the church has sinful people, since no one is perfect. Also, many people come to the church with ulterior motives. Sin is everywhere, in every corner of this world.  This extreme focuses on building the church. They pray and fast for the world, they pray for nations to change. They pray for God to do something while they remain in the church. Is this logical? Prayer alone cannot subdue nations without our physical engagement.

“Extremes, though contrary, have the like effects. Extreme heat kills, and so extreme cold: extreme love breeds satiety, and so extreme hatred; and too violent rigor tempts chastity, as does too much license.”

George Chapman

Considering the extremes I spoke of above, what then is a balanced approach?

We do not need to go to any of the extremes. I will explain why. The importance of the church in the process of our becoming fathers and mothers of many nations cannot be overemphasized.  From the church, we access spiritual energy. Through the teachings, we acquire more knowledge. This is where we prepare ourselves for the world. We gain the theory that will be applied to the nations to get results. The Church therefore is to us what a charger is to a cell phone. Remember that a phone has to be recharged after the battery is out.

In the same sense, going to the outside world is practicing what has been taught to us, this is the practical aspect of it. Just as the cell phone needs to be recharged, believers need to go to the church for refilling. You will agree that the more we use the cell phone, the faster it uses up its battery, and more is needed to recharge. If you want it to function the next day, you will have to charge your phone. Therefore, if we are active in the world, we will thirst and hunger after God, we will hunger after the charger. We must not forsake the church, yet we must still be active outside the church. We are not called for one without the other, just like the physical body cannot do without the spiritual one. We must live in both worlds. We have to be effective in both worlds.

To understand this truth, we need not only an open mind, but an open spirit too. Not everything can be taught, some things must be caught. If you only open your mind, you get only what can be taught, but with an open spirit, you get more.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”- Isaiah 9:6

The understanding this scripture gives us is that you cannot be a father until you are a son. You must have been under authority in order to exercise it. To our nations, we have to be born as children; we must become the children of our homes. We are hereby challenged to submit to authority, before we can grow up to become fathers and mothers of many nations.

In the Jewish tradition, one transitions from childhood to adulthood at the age of 12. It is at the same age that Jesus said He must be about doing His father’s business, yet at the same time, He submitted to His earthly parents.

“True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself.” – Henry Miller

Having spiritual leaders and mentors is very important. It is important to listen to our spiritual mentors and leaders, and then go out and become mentors to others. This also is an avenue for us to subdue nations.

Opposition and attacks are an inevitable part of life, but we have to be true to our calling. We have to be true to our covenant with God.  We have to learn to overcome our fears in order to fulfill our purpose and attain our goals. Focusing on the bigger picture gives us the hope that, regardless of the challenges, victory will be ours. Nations are ours and we must be willing to pay the price. We have to be determined to be fathers and mothers of nations.

In conclusion, let us go over some of the main points again:

• A nation encompasses everything that is in it.
• God’s scope is the nations.
• God sent us to all the nations of the earth, but how much we get done on the earth will depend on us.
• Every part of the world is our potential sphere of influence.
• We are connected to everything that is going on around the world politically, economically, or physically.
• It doesn’t matter where we are located in the world, what matters is what we are aiming at, who you are influencing.
• Technology has made things easier for us than before.
• The earth is a global village. It has no demarcations, no borders, it is seamless.
• Do not regard yourself as an ordinary person, No!
• The church in any location is a part of the nation.
• The Church is to us what the charger is to the cell phone.
• It is important to listen to our spiritual mentors and leaders, and then go out and become mentors to others.

Becoming fathers and mothers of many nations is a covenant between us and God. This covenant was initiated by Him. Our God is a covenant keeping God. Let us do our best to keep our part of the covenant.

Godspeed!!!