By Dr. Abu Bako

July 2013

The following is a transcript of a lecture given by Dr. Abu Bako at the Geneva Institute of Leadership & Public Policy which took place in Geneva-Switzerland for a series of days at the United Nations Conference Centre in Geneva (Centre International de Conférences Genève). It has undergone only the slightest of editing to make the document better understandable for the reader. The content is 99% as was spoken.

Mat 28:18-20

(18) And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

(19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

(20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

If we talk of baptism of nations, did we read: Baptising nations? Go and do what? Making disciples and disciples of all nations. We can talk about all identifiable people groups. But even in terms of nations—as of people, organized body of people having a common agenda, it is still applicable here.

Why? Because we know according to:

Exo 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn

Israel is my firstborn, even my firstborn son. And if you do not let them go, I will kill your firstborn. It is not an individual firstborn in Egypt, it is the firstborn of every Egyptian household. Meaning—this was a national phenomena.

If it comes to God, a nation is an identifiable entity. He sees the nation as an individual entity rather than a number of human beings. In that case, if God is saying we disciple nations, he is not just talking about the individual human beings, he is talking about the nation being taught what it is supposed to be. He also says baptising them in the name of the Father.

Baptizing Them In The Name Of the Father

Mat 28:19

(19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

The first thing we have to baptisze them into is the Fatherhood of God. Because baptism comes from the word baptism (βαπτίζω, baptizō), which is derived from the word baptō (in Greek – G911).

Simply put, it means to be fully overwhelmed, to be dipped into, to be fully submerged, to become wall to wall. That means that the Fatherhood of God, the nature of the Father would have taken over that nation. This means, we are supposed to be the expression of Fatherhood for the nation. It means if God is to be seen by the nations, when we go in and disciple nations, we would begin to express Fatherhood. And the first thing a Father has is LOVE.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

What is He saying in essence here? That everyone of us should get to the point that we can carry a nation like fathers can carry the nation.

Gen 25:22-23

(22) [Two] children struggled together within her; and she said, If it is so [that the Lord has heard our prayer], why am I like this? And she went to inquire of the Lord.

(23) The Lord said to her, [The founders of] two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

Rebekah asked the Lord, what is happening in me, what is this, what is this happening to me? What did the Lord say? You are pregnant with two nations!

More to this in:

1Th 2:11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father
doth his children

1Th 2:7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

The nature of God is such that you can be father and mother at the same time. Therefore you can say to one another: You are pregnant! You can be the masculine expression of God and the feminine expression of God.

Isa 65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

God is the one who brings the moment of birth.

Isa 66:9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

Isa 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

That means that God is both a father and mother. God expects you to father a nation. The essence of a true father is that he is ready to lay down his life for his children. This is why most fathers and mothers are ready to go hungry for the sake of their children. How many of us are ready to love the nation we came from to that extent?

Are we ready? Realise, that without love it is not possible for you to take a nation! You might have successful programs and that is all you might end up with. We are tempted to measure our success with how many people attended a program, how much money came in. We are not any more evaluating how much of the nature of God we have imparted. I could come here but if the purpose of this message is to impress you, then I have missed it. One prayer I have on my heart:

Lord help me to become a channel of love, so that you can love people through me. Even if nothing else is remembered, let my love come from my heart and touch each heart.

This is the most important. I want you to know, from the depth of my heart that I love each one of you. I may not even know you by name but my question to God is:

I want whatever you want for that life, more than anything else. It does not matter what I try to do, it will never measure up to what you want to do.

So He said: Go and make disciples of all nations. It means that we are supposed to make nations disciples of Jesus. We start baptising them in the name of the Father. In the book of Acts, when someone gave his life to Christ, you baptised them (the water baptism). Now we read—”…baptising the nation in the name of the father and of the Son“.

Baptizing Them In The Name Of the Son

Now with the aspect of Son-ship, I have already quoted Exodus 4:22 where God the Father says, “Israel (a nation) is my son”.

Exo 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel (a nation) is my son, even my firstborn

There is the son-ship of nations. It takes only sons to be able to disciple sons. You cannot help somebody to become a lawyer if you are not a lawyer. You cannot mentor an architect, when you are not an architect. You must become that which you want to produce, before you are able to produce yourself. If you want to be able to disciple a nation, you must become a nation yourself.

This is why we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people… according to:

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

So as a nation, according to Matt 21:42-43 you must produce fruit.

Mat 21:42-43

(42) Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

(43) Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

It says that because you do not produce the fruit, the Kingdom is taken away from you and given to another nation. Another nation? What nation? It is the nation that Jesus is now building that is now discipling other nations: It takes a nation that now disciples nations!

God actually wanted Israel to be the one to disciple other nations. But now he has decided to ‘up’ this whole thing by making it a nation that he has put together in Christ, a nation that now is capable to disciple all the nations—baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son (this is what I mentioned about son-ship of nations). We revisit that:

Isa 51:16-20 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. (17) Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. (18) There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. (19) These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? (20) Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.

God wants to actually change the face of the earth, changing the nations, changing the earth, changing even the heavens using his own word in your mouth. Of all the sons she had brought forth, there was none to guide her. Of all the sons she has brought up. That means, of all the sons she has brought up, there was none to take her by the hand.

It means, that every nations is looking for sons to take her in to her destiny of son-ship. Israel the first born, another, the 10^th born, but it still is a son. It means we have to take every nation into son-ship.

Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

That means the Gospel of the Kingdom is what God wants to use for us to disciple nations.

Then the end shall come! Now the question I want to ask:

Is this the Gospel we are preaching? Is it the Gospel of the Kingdom we are preaching? Because if the Gospel of the Kingdom is just about what Jesus said… I hope you do not misunderstand me. I believe in Jesus. I became a believer in Jesus Christ in 1967. So by God’s mercy I have walked with the Lord through some years. The point I am making here is that Jesus was not preaching just believe and receive! He was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. Maybe be I should start with:

Mat 3:1-2 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, (2) And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

John the Baptist was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. He came to say, “Repent, because the Kingdom of God is near, is at hand”!

And then…

Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus came preaching, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is here”. That means, they came to preach the Kingdom. Put differently, they were talking about a new form of government, a superior form of government.

Then …

Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

He went through the cities, the villages etc. preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Luk 8:1-2 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, (2) And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

He was preaching in every city, every village – the Kingdom of God, in every city, every village!

Luk 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

What did he then tell his disciples to preach? The answer is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

It means what we are supposed to be preaching is, the Kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom of God at the end of the day?

The Kingdom of God is the dominion of God. The word ‘King’ – ‘dom’ is composed of God (King) and dominion—meaning the Kingship in a domain. That is why we need the Lordship of Jesus in our families, communities, towns, nations etc. We need the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

This is the kingship aspect. But his dominion must be in every domain. It is not one or the other, it is both. His dominion in our life, his dominion in our families, his dominion in our mentalities, worldviews, in our governance, in our money system, his dominion also in our educational system, in our media, in arts sports and culture. It is all important in His Kingship but it is His Kingship and His dominion in every domain.

The Kingdom has to do with the domain of the dominion of God. But we must see his rule in the realm of each person in at least three areas; the spirit, the soul and the realm of the physical. So we must see his rule in each human being in the realm of the spirit, we must see his rule in the realm of the soul (which has to do with our mind, our emotions, our will, our intellect, our conscience, mentalities, mindset, relational skills).

My question is, is the King in my relationships? Do I relate to Mike, or Hal the way God wants me to relate to Hal, irrespective of the way Hal relates to me? How Hal relates to me is between God and him, but how I relate to Hal needs to reflect how God expects me to relate to Hal. I should respect the rules set by God in the realm of relationships.

The rule i.e. dominion of God in every realm is what we need to know if we want to talk about the Kingdom of God. Every sphere of influence where we are active is an expression of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of GOD concerns not only the influence of the Kingdom but also the expanse; the instant of the impact: So that is the time the Kingdom of God has come. But not only that, it also concerns the extent of that impact – the extent of which the Kingdom of God is operational in my life. So it concerns all the domains of dominion i.e. the spheres.

What I have said basically is, we are talking about the Kingdom of God, of its expression and impression and the instant of the impact. So what we are talking about is that we have the 7 pillars of the Kingdom of God in place. The 7 pillars are:

1. the King
   
2. the throne
   
3. the foundations of the throne
   
4. the sceptre
   
5. the council of elders
   
6. the messengers
   
7. the subjects
   

As we are talking about the Kingdom of God, there is a King, and a King without a throne could not be operating. Then also you need foundations of that throne for stability and without a sceptre you cannot rule. The elders are there for the King to have the staff of office. You then need messengers to carry whatever decrees are made (spiritual and physical) and finally, a kingdom without subjects is not a kingdom!

The purpose of the Kingdom is impacting and influencing every sphere, every domain, every instance of operation and all of society. Different people are using different terms for the spheres. Sometimes they are called domains, sectors spheres, gates or sometimes mountains.

Different people have different numbers. You have 7 mountains, 12 gates etc etc.

About 1980, God introduced some of these things to me. I try to remember if it was a dream or something I heard, I began to think about it and came up with 8. They are:

1. Family
   
2. Belief systems (comprising our understanding of God, how we relate to each other even as people who are all believers; they have to do with mentality, mindset, tradition…).
   
3. Then you have Governance, Government and Leadership, as I am talking to leaders, you understand the differences.
   
4. Then you have the Economy, which has to do with management of resources
   
5. Then Education (the 5^th sphere, mountain, gate etc), which has to do with skills and values, of the society, which need to be acquired, accumulated and transmitted.
   
6. Then you have the 6^th sphere of Science and Technology
   
7. Then the aspect of the Media,
   
8. Then you have Arts, Sports and Culture (8^th domain).
   

If we are going to disciple nations, we need to be sons. In essence you are talking about who will take their initial positions as sons

Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

That means, if we are asking for a bottle of water, for houses, for outfit, for any other thing; we are still children, because children ask for bread.

Jesus said that:

Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

So we are always asking for what to drink, what to eat, what to wear – this is what we do and all refugees do! Refugees normally have few needs. What do they ask for? What to eat, what to drink, what to wear, shelter over their head etc.They ask for security and transportation. If you crystallize your prayers and they are only addressing these subjects, I am sorry, you have a refugee mentality! That is what refugees ask for – sons ask for nations, children ask for bread.

Which nations are we asking for? With due respect to everybody, I would be the first to admit, that none of us knows it all. I do not know it all. Please bear with my infirmities. The point I am making here is, that many of us have ended up sometimes just asking for “nothings”, unless we have clear indications from God normally we shall go for nations! This is what the Lord is expecting from us as sons are to ask for nations—because:

Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

The Kingdom of God is the will of God being done on earth as it is already in heaven. When He want it, where He want it, how He want it. Not the way you feel, not the way you think, not the way it is most pleasurable for you. Forget whatever you are thinking, it is not about you, but all about Him. His Kingdom is where the sons of God are as a seed birthing nations.

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isa 9:7
Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isa 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Children are born. Sons are given. Let me ask a simple question: Are you a gift? Or are you just born to add to the number of mouths to feed on earth? Because when you become a son, you become a gift to the nation.

What am I saying? As a gift to the nation, the nation now sees you as somebody who can take her into her destiny. The nation sees you—for example when you become somebody who is a blessing to the nation, everybody wants to identify with you. As against if you are just adding to the mouths to feed. If you are really looking at this, what you want to say is:

God I ask you to help me to be a true son.

In Isa 9:6 it reads, … and the government shall be upon his shoulder. That means, that you are not a son yet until you take responsibility! We are still a child, it does not matter how big, when we are always thinking of positions and possessions.

Isa 22:20-25 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: (21) And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. (22) And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. (23) And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. (24) And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. (25) In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

If you look at this text, it says, you will not be called a miracle worker. Rather you are a miracle. You will not only be somebody who is the champion. Then He goes on to talk about the [missing text] of eternity , it trans-generational in his thinking, then going on talking about all the other aspects, including the aspects that you will be called a peace maker not just somebody who is peaceful—because you are actually producing, laying foundations for many generations.

That is why in Isa 9:7, it says, that you are sitting on the throne and you order it and put systems in place.

Father, I pray that you will help everyone who has yet to be called with a robe of son-ship. Remember the prodigal son? When he came back and he finally now came to himself, and he realised it is not about possessions or positions, he even was ready to take a lower position. What happened to him? The father came and put a robe on him. The robe of son-ship.

He said, Bring the robe, because the robe of son-ship is there for each one of us. My prayer this morning is, that each one of us will enter to be qualified for the robe of son-ship. It does not mean that we are not children of God, but to become a son you need to get to the depth of place where you are totally sold out doing his will not yours! Then he goes on to say, I will also make him a father to the inhabitants—fathering not only a city but also a nation. This is the responsibility aspect and the responsibility of the son Jesus Christ that will be committed to our hands. He said of Jerusalem and of Juda, meaning that if you are still a part of only your own household you are not yet a son. Why? Because you are supposed to father a city and a nation.

Isa 22:22 – that is a different thing all together. There are basically about 36 keys of the Kingdom I discovered so far one … 18 of them basic or if you want to go to the list number that are mentioned by the name “key” there are 9 in scripture, they are mentioned: Key of death, key of life, key of this and the other. So you have the staff of authority as key. You know, the right to exercise authority, because it is all authority in heaven and on earth that was given onto the Lord Jesus that now may be exercised by sons—his church.

I want to read to you the meaning of the word ecclesia – every ability, every strength, every judicial power, everything that has to do with running a nation, being in control – I have given you to go and to run the nation according to my patterns. Oh, but are we supposed to be running the nations? Yes according to:

Psa 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

I do not know about you, but this is my understanding: It was not fallen men that was given the control of the earth. It was loyal men. Because the moment he fell, he was driven out of the garden. But it seems we have now given to fallen men what belongs to our father (it does not necessarily mean that God cannot use a Cyrus or any of those people!).

Let us pray:

What is it that you heard from the Lord? I realise that I was to touch also

Lord, according to your word in:

Gen 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

You say, Joseph and Egypt and Africa at that time had become the treasury of your glorious rest in terms of the ability for us to perform that function of being the treasury of your glorious rest. Have everyone here to become like a Joseph, to become the one that can bring hope to our generation. Lord, there are many ways we can do it, even in terms of education. Help us to become people that can express more and more the reality of your Kingdom.

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Help us to treat nations like the children now that we are growing into sons, that we will become sons in reality. Father are there areas in my life, my brother’s life, my sister’s life, that are not showing son-ship, that is not showing maturity, that are not showing the fruit of the spirit love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, from this day, help us that we will operate in that. I declare concerning everyone here, that we would be the best sons you had in this particular season. We are going out of this place with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before us into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isa 55:12) because the whole creation is waiting for the manifestations of the sons of God (Rm 8.19) – in the name of Jesus, Amen.