HE STOOPED TO CONQUER

HE STOOPED TO CONQUER.

I had often wondered about the English idiom “stoop to conquer.”  The famous 18th century English playwright,  Oliver Goldsmith had used this same expression as the title of one of his more famous works. The comedy, “She stoops to Conquer” was the story of an upper class lady who posed as a maid in order to help her suitor. (Said suitor seemed to to have difficulties in articulating his feelings in the presence of aristocrat ladies. So believing that the lady was a maid, he felt free to express that he fancied her and they carried on until the truth was known. But she achieved her aim at the end of the day and they got married.)

Like the lady above, have we ever had to do something we considered was beneath us, but we did it anyway because the benefits thereafter would far outweigh whatever inconvenience we felt at the time? Maybe that is the case for some and not all of us. So here is what I discovered: The Merriam-Webster dictionaries define the verb “to stoop” as: “to descend from a superior rank, dignity, or status.” And then “to conquer” means “to be victorious” or “to win by overcoming obstacles or opposition.”

Please let me tell you about ONE, who descended from His Majesty in order to win us back to Himself. His name is Jesus and as we prepare to celebrate His birth, I find myself listening to a lot of carols. One of my favourites is “ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY”; and the second stanza goes thus:

“He came down to earth from heaven,

Who is God and Lord of all,

And His shelter was a stable,

And His cradle was a stall;

With the poor, and mean, and lowly,

Lived on earth our Saviour holy.”

Jesus Christ, is GOD, (THE SON)! And it couldn’t be any clearer than the words above that He came down to earth from Heaven. And we know this too:.”Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool:” Isaiah  66:1a KJV   Kings sit on thrones. And Jesus is the  KING OF KINGS.  Royalty just does not get any better than that. So this King, left His throne and came to make His home a cattle shed, a stable, a stall, a manger. He came to the lowest of the low. God did this for a reason. Oh yes! He did. He did it for you and I. He stooped low to win us back to Himself. And as another carol goes “(He came) To save us all from Satan’s power. When we were gone astray,”. (From God rest ye merry gentlemen! )

How many of us will leave the comfort of our fully air conditioned SUV’s on a hot sunny day in Lagos, Nigeria and hop on a “Danfo”, to get to our destination?  Of course some of us will. But some will never even dream of it. And might just end up getting late or missing the appointment altogether.  But God wanted to reconcile sinners to Himself and He did not mind stooping low to achieve that. He came as man to dwell with man.

Dear friends,  for this reason, (in spite of all that we have been through in year 2020), let us thank God for this very kind gesture. He has not left us as orphans nor has He left us to a future doomed to eternal condemnation.

So it’s more than the lights, the trees, the carols even, much more than the gifts we give and receive.  It is about the LOVE of God, who reached down to mankind. Who stooped low, leaving every trace of His royalty behind, to conquer and destroy the works of Satan. I imagine that some of the angels might have wondered why God went to such great lengths. Well,  I will tell you why.

He did it for you.

He did it for me.

He did it for LOVE.

COME THEN, AND LET US WORSHIP AND ADORE JESUS, WHO STOOPED TO CONQUER DEATH AND THE GRAVE!

 

OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©