WINIFREDOMOAKA - original works - biblical depictions

ORIGINAL ARTWORKS - BIBLICAL DEPICTIONS

Fix your eyes on Jesus

Hebrews 12:2

Coffee, watercolour, ink and acrylic pen on paper

36x48 cm

2020

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the

joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the

shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2 NKJV

This is another recreation of the works created during my art degree.

fixing your eyes on Jesus conveys the characteristics of steadfastness

of every believer.

Briefly speaking, the book of Hebrews is a series of pastoral letters

Witten as a courageous warning to (at the time) a certain group of

believers who were heavily persecuted for their faith to not depart

from God despite the challenges they’re being faced with, confirming

that the Christ is for them, has gone through the tribulation before

and has sought his reward because of it.

From verse 2 (In Hebrews 12 :2), the first sentence of the scripture

'Looking unto Jesus, author and finisher of our faith'

The use of the binoculars is used as a model to illustrate how one

could be eager to look unto something with great focus. with this in

mind, the idea of the binoculars came to me as an object of the

observer, as its purpose is to help enhance what is visually far away,

it can help us to watch closely, to pay attention and to stay focused.

it is encouraged to have Christ at the centre of our interests, for He

is the one who narrates our lives and transforms our souls in perfect

condition, worthy for Our Father (God). it is Jesus that carries us

through the journey of salvation, shaping us in the likeness of

Holiness despite of the situations that may occur, whether if they are

negative or positive. It is reason why it is written that Jesus is the

‘Finisher' of our faith; for the agenda of Christ is to complete and

restore what was been started by God, provided we seek Him.

Therefore, the only thing we need to do is to keep our eyes on him

and what He did on the cross.

Concerning the cross, the pinnacle of the good news, the second part

of verse 2 says

'Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross'

what Christ did at the cross was the finishing work of salvation - He

took upon himself the debited price of sin and conquered death and

everything that hinders us from having fellowship with God. it is

because of this Jesus Christ is counted as the one who granted the

grace that God has given us in order to reunite with Him and have

Life.

Now that Christ has fulfilled what was necessary in Victory, (being

the bridge between man and God), He has obtained the joy of

reassuring the opportunity for us to reconcile from eternal

separation to God. this is simply the description of the good news;

therefore, we should rejoice for the great kindness God has for you

and me, His most priced creation.

Moving on to the ending of the scripture, we see the reward of the

work that Jesus completed (Will of the Father).

'Despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the

throne of God.'

I believe that every task we set ourselves to do whole heartedly is

never really easily done. with that in mind, we must understand that

the conflict of the Calvary was not easy to behold. Jesus, knowingly

so, had to take upon himself all of the physical, mental and spiritual

pain, the persecution, abuse, the absence of love, and the judgment

of sin, which was rightfully meant for us. He had done this great

thing knowing that if he was able to endure the complications of this

very act, He’d be able to save mankind; and because Christ decided

to honour God with his whole heart, not allowing Himself to be

bothered by the conflict attached to the cross, has had the tunnel

vision of God’s will, He has now been rewarded with great glory.

(Sitting at the right hand of God). We should remember that living

for Christ is not easy in as much as it has its great reward. We are

bound to go through difficulties that can affect us physically and/or

spiritually. It is important to stay vigilant, knowing that trouble may

come our way and not give in to them, but to consider Him, having

intensive focus on the cross, the solution to our problems.

what the scriptures’ declaring is that Jesus Christ is subject to great

reverence, and the perfect role model for our lives - as He sought for

God, we should seek Him. as Jesus endured the shame of his work,

we should in Christ endure the struggles of salvation for greater is He

that is in us than he that is in the world. and just as He has been

rewarded for fulfilling the will of God, we as believers will obtain the

reward of eternal life should we strive in obedience to fulfil God's

will.

In all this I conclude that this artwork relays that Christ is the source,

the expectation of our eternal relationship with God, and the cross is

the means of the source that concretes our access to the Father. if

we want all these things that God our father has blessed us with

(eternal life, love, peace etc) then we must understand that the

means to obtain it is to observe the gift that God has given us - Jesus

Christ.

The Sower

coffee, ink and acrylic pen on paper

36x48 cm

2020

Matthew 13:1 – 23

This piece is a remake of an original artwork made during my art degree at UAL. In my final year, I created a project that had the objective of illustrating the word of God as a form of worship, and sharing the gospel.

This piece is a depiction of one of Christ’s well-known speeches made during his ministry. As ascribed in Mathew 13: 1-23, Jesus spoke of a parable regarding the kingdom of Heaven. To quickly summarise, the story begins with Jesus’ conversing with a multitude of people on a riddle about how a farmer went out to plant some seeds on his field.

He tells them of how it fell unto four different surfaces, and then he goes on to explain the response of the seed's growth due to the foundations it fell in, from the least to the greatest. The scriptures ended with the decoding of the parable to the disciples, since they were the chosen followers of Christ, having access to the mysteries of Heaven.

I’ve taken a surreal approach to depicting this scripture as I thought of having a ' science experiment' theme to convey the conductive evaluation of the parable. To decipher the work from the top, the seed described in the beginning is depicted as the scriptures itself – the holy bible. in various parts of the New Testament scripture, Jesus has been identified as the living word, john 1: 1- 5 profoundly states that; and because of this Christ stated in Mathew 11:29 that He is the 'yoke' that we should take it upon ourselves and learn of him.

The man mentioned here is God and the in which He planted is the over all scripture, Jesus Christ. Everything about the scriptures is connected to Jesus, so his name is also the word of God. in the beginning he was the word, he became flesh and dwelt amongst men. hence why i have listed all the books of the bible, to visually summarise of the seed that is Jesus, which God planted in our hearts.

The beanstalk - like structure that floats mid air makes up the figure of a giant plant specimen that primarily counts as the life source of the seed, which is Christ. The word of God is aimed to make contact to what we now come to see with the four test tubes on the ground. The tubes are occupied with hearts which connote the foundations describe in verses 19 – 23 of Mathew 13

The first test tube depicts the one who has a hard heart: hears about the kingdom (good news) but does not understand it (birds eaten)

The second test tube shows the one who has a shallow heart: hears of the kingdom, rejoices over the news that is short lived due to doubt and problems (tribulation and persecution) (brunt sun)

The third represents those whose heart is crowded: receive the word but is distracted by the things that keep them off track from the truth, and becomes unfruitful. (Thorns strangling the heart)

The fourth represents the fruitful heart: the one who fully discovers the kingdom in reverence and understanding the word' and live according to His will, they are the ones who bear good fruit. (Heart of life)

The aim of this work is to bring us to reflect on how we are handling the message of salvation (gift of life). We should always question whether if we understand it, know it and believe it. In regards to the reconciliation of God, the love and mysteries of the Father are being revealed through Christ to those who accept Him into their lives, allowing the All-loving God to transform them and to use them to bring others to that same place to reconcile with Him too.

As for those who are affirmed believers of Christ, it is vital that we strive to be profound witnesses of the gospel in all we are and do. we should have the desire to continue the ministry that Christ left for us. When we share the gospel to someone, a seed is planted, and eventually will germinate. We being vessels of God are ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven, for it is God through us who plants the seed, and the Holy Spirit giving its increase (1 Corinthians 3: 6- 7).