{"id":9406,"date":"2025-09-22T10:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T10:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=9406"},"modified":"2025-09-22T10:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T10:06:08","slug":"controversial-sermon-makandiwa-claims-lucifer-was-meant-to-be-jesus-sparks-theological-uproar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=9406","title":{"rendered":"Controversial Sermon: Makandiwa Claims Lucifer Was Meant to Be Jesus, Sparks Theological Uproar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Innocent Sibonginkosi Ncube<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa of the United Family International Church (UFIC) has sent shockwaves through religious and social media circles with a controversial teaching claiming that the fallen angel Lucifer was originally destined to be the saviour of mankind, a role ultimately fulfilled by Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sermon, which has gone viral on social media platforms, posits a radical alternate history of divine redemption. Prophet Makandiwa stated, \u201cSatan ndiye aifanira kuita Jesu\u201d (Lucifer was supposed to be Jesus).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He elaborated that had events unfolded differently, humanity would be worshipping Lucifer today as the Messiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe could be calling him the Messiah and even picturing him on the cross,\u201d he told his congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Core of the Teaching<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Makandiwa explained that sin existed on earth even before Adam\u2019s transgression. When Adam fell, the divine plan allegedly called for Lucifer to descend to earth to redeem him. Instead, Lucifer rebelled against God, exacerbating the problem and becoming the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLook how the devil still works today \u2014 his power, his influence, and how much he controls in this world. All this shows how strong he is, even as a fallen angel,\u201d Makandiwa stated, arguing that reversing such powerful damage required a being of equivalent stature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He suggested Jesus Christ was this necessary counterpart, an archangel-level being who came to \u201ccorrect the problem\u201d and save mankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public Backlash and Theological Debate<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The teaching has ignited a fierce debate among Zimbabweans, with many condemning it as blasphemous and a dangerous deviation from orthodox Christian doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A common rebuttal, echoed by several commentators, references the Gospel of John:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut the word of God says everything was made through Jesus Christ including all the angels. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This view maintains Jesus\u2019 eternal divinity, contradicting the idea of Him being a replacement for a created being like Lucifer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One critic pointed to Hebrews Chapter 1, which explicitly states Christ&#8217;s superiority to angels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe is not an angel or a creature\u2026 he is actually correcting the bible\u2026 that&#8217;s heresy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Others expressed concern over blind faith in prophets. \u201cWe need to pray\u2026 the time has come to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and not follow a prophet\u2026 most of us will be led astray,\u201d one comment read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Divided Response<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the majority of reactions online were critical, the sermon also found a few defenders. Some argued it offered a new perspective on spiritual warfare, with one supporter stating, \u201cHe is not Claiming, He knows\u2026 My Prophet is Breaking new Ground with Revelations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another comment attempted to find a parallel: \u201cMaking sense because satan also tried to influence Jesus to go against God but Jesus refused\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this, the overarching sentiment leans towards rejection of the teaching, with many calling for believers to rely on their own reading of the Bible. As one Zimbabwean succinctly put it: \u201cVanhu ngavadzidze kuverenga shoko vega\u201d (People must learn to read the word for themselves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow us for more updates:<br>\u00b7 X (Twitter): @ZimGbc<br>\u00b7Instagram: @ZimGBCNews<br>\u00b7TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01<br>\u00b7Facebook: Zim GBC News<br>\u00b7YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:<br>+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For in-depth coverage, visit our website: www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News<\/strong> | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Innocent Sibonginkosi Ncube Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa of the United Family International Church (UFIC) has sent shockwaves through religious and social media circles with a controversial teaching claiming that the fallen&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9408,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9406\/revisions\/9408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}