“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” Psalm 2:1-3 (Read Psalm 2)

This psalm certainly described what took place in Jesus’ day, when He was rejected of His own people and nailed to the cross and crucified, and it was fulfilled when the religious rulers arrested Jesus’ disciples and commanded them no longer to preach in Jesus’ name (cf. Acts 4:23ff). Yet Jesus rose again in victory!

Is this Scripture describing the world of our day? The nations do rage and the people do plot a vain and foolish thing. Our rulers take counsel together against the LORD God and His Anointed (Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Savior of the world), saying let’s cut all ties with God and Christ Jesus and throw away the Bible, His commandments and anything which would bind us to Him!

But God, who is over all, laughs at man’s foolishness (v. 4-6). He speaks against it. How can people and nations free themselves from the Creator of the universe? From the one who holds their very breath in His hands (Daniel 5:23)? From the one who gives each one life in his mother’s womb and will be their judge (cf. Psalm 139:13-16; 96:13)?

In spite of man’s rebelliousness, the LORD God has sent His own only-begotten Son to redeem mankind and established His kingdom (v. 7-9; cf. Daniel 2:44f.; Isaiah 9:6-7; 53:3ff.). He reigns over God’s people – those who have repented of their sinful ways and trust in Him – and will soon judge this world and establish His everlasting kingdom (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 19:11ff.; 11:15).

And the Spirit of God warns the kings and judges of the earth – words which all of us should heed as well (v.10-12a): “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.”

We should all be wise and honor the Son, acknowledging Him as God’s only-begotten Son and trusting in Him to show us mercy for the sake of the redemption He accomplished for all when He suffered and died upon the cross and then rose again.

And the Spirit tells us that those who trust in Him are blessed – blessed with forgiveness for all their sins and a place in Christ’s everlasting kingdom (v. 12b). God grant to each of us such faith in Christ that we may be among the blessed.

O King of kings and Lord of lords, grant that we humble ourselves, repent of our sinful ways and look to You for mercy and forgiveness; and grant that we bear witness in this fallen world against the foolishness of rebelling against You. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” These are the opening words of Psalm 2 and so well describe the raging of our own day. In fact, if you read on in the psalm, it tells us the real root of the raging we see almost every day on the news and increasingly in our own communities and neighborhoods: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

Though I shouldn’t be surprised, I admit that I sometimes am amazed at how accurately the Bible describes sinful me and the world in which I live. It’s just one more proof of the 100-percent accuracy and truthfulness of the Scriptures, which should come as no surprise to those who accept the Bible’s claim to having the God who created the universe as the real author. But, back to the heathen raging.

“Why do the heathen rage?” Why do people, politicians and the mainstream media rage when someone takes a stand against such things as abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, adultery, divorce, etc.? Why do they employ dishonesty, name-calling, demonstrations and sometimes even violence in an attempt to sway public opinion to their side? The answer of the psalm: they are trying to break and cast off the bands of the LORD God of the Bible and His Anointed, Jesus Christ, from us and our society and nation. They wish to be free of all influence of God and the Bible and they rage against any who hold to the true Christian Faith or to a true Christian view of the Bible as God’s inspired and unerring word.

And, yes, the word “heathen” includes many who claim to be Christian. It includes all who do not live in continual repentance and faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross for the sins of the world. It includes all who reject the Christ of the Bible, who is true God and true man and held to the accuracy and truthfulness of every word of the Bible and called such things as adultery, fornication, evil words, evil desires and coveting, sin and worthy of damnation. It includes all who would soften the words and teaching of Jesus to make them more appealing to our modern world. It includes all who believe or teach that faith in Jesus and His cross is not the only way of salvation.

Why do the heathen seek to cast off the LORD God of the Bible and His Christ? It’s because they don’t wish to be held accountable to a God who condemns sin. They don’t wish to admit that they are living in rebellion and disobedience against the God who created them and gave them life. They don’t wish to hear that they will all stand before the judgment seat of God’s Son. They don’t wish to repent of their sinful ways, place their faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross and then amend their thinking and lifestyle in accord with God’s Word, the Bible.

Jesus explained it when, just after the words of John 3:16, He said: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:19-20).

And the raging against God and His Word is more than just a battle of opinions among people. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). We need to remember that Satan Himself is behind the raging against the LORD and His Anointed. With his lies and deception, Satan is at work trying to make good look evil and evil look good — that is why the killing of the unborn is described as women’s reproductive rights, euthanasia as showing kindness and mercy to the elderly and terminally ill, homosexuality as an individual being true to his or her nature, etc. It’s all a lie — an appealing lie — of Satan.

This raging against God and His Word is not a new thing even though the battle has become more open and vocal in recent years. The raging was evident in the teaching of evolution in the public schools and the attempts in public education to discredit the Bible. It has been evident in church body after church body with the questioning of the historical accuracy of the Scriptures and with challenges to numerous teachings of the Bible. It was evident in the Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decisions. And, it is evident today in all the wranglings to keep conservative judges from being seated in courts and to prevent states from enacting and enforcing moral laws.

Christians will not and cannot win this battle over the raging by simply electing conservative leaders, because the real battle is not for outward dominion but for the hearts and minds of the people. It is not a battle to be fought with guns and bombs, or even by political maneuvering to get more votes and more earthly power. It is a spiritual battle to be fought with spiritual weapons. Christians will not win or gain ground through compromise or acquiescence. It’s not time to surrender the sword of the Spirit or to put our armor down (Eph. 6:10ff.). Appealing to the raging masses through any compromise of the truth will only give the enemies of truth the entrance and foothold they need to silence the witness to the truth altogether behind good words like “love” and “acceptance.”

Christians must stand firm and teach and proclaim God’s truth — all of it — nothing more and nothing less! And Christians need to be praying that God would use His truth to change hearts and minds from those who rage against the LORD and His Christ to those who submit to the LORD and His Christ and who hear and believe the truth, repenting of their sins and sinful ways and looking to Christ for pardon, forgiveness and for the needed help and strength to amend their lives.

And we do, by the way, know the final outcome. Read on in Psalm 2 for the answer. Those who are raging now would do well to heed the words of the final verses.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:14-17

The account of the brass serpent which Moses lifted up on a pole is recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. The people of Israel had become discouraged along the way in the wilderness. They spoke against both God and Moses, questioning why they had been brought into such a desolate land where there was neither food nor water. They had grown tired of the manna God provided them each day. Because of their lack of faith and complaining words, the LORD God sent fiery serpents among the people to bite them, and many of the people died.

Then the people acknowledged their sin and asked Moses to pray to the LORD that He would remove the serpents from them. Instead of removing all the serpents, God commanded Moses to make a fiery serpent and lift it up on a pole so that anyone bitten by one of the poisonous serpents could look up at the serpent on the pole and live. As God commanded, Moses made a serpent of brass, lifted it up and mounted it on a pole. And anyone who was bitten by one of the fiery serpents, if he in faith looked at the brass serpent, lived.

In the same way as the children of Israel, we, because of our sinful and unbelieving hearts, fail to trust in the LORD God and walk in His ways. We grumble and complain about His commandments and about the troubles and difficulties which He permits to arise in our lives. Like Adam and Eve, who failed to trust in the word of the LORD and ate of the tree of which God had commanded them not to eat, we fail to trust in the word of the LORD and so often think we know better than God what is good for us.

When God says, “Thou shall not,” we question His goodness and wisdom and do those things He says not to do. When He tells us what He would have us do, again we think we know better and do what pleases us instead.

As God did not immediately remove the fiery serpents from among His people, so He has not removed from us the consequences of our sin and disobedience. Like Adam and Eve, we must suffer sorrow and hardship in this life and finally die. But though our lives here in this world may be filled with pain and sorrow, God has provided a way for us to live and not suffer eternal death and damnation.

God promised to Adam and Eve the Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head and save them (cf. Gen. 3:15). As Moses lifted up a brass serpent in the wilderness that all who looked to it could live, so God sent His only begotten Son into the world – the Seed of the woman, Jesus, Son of God and Son of man – and He was lifted up on the cross, crucified and condemned for the sins of the whole world, that we might look to Him in faith and live eternally.

Though we have all been bitten by the old evil serpent and have the poison of sin flowing through our hearts and veins, God in His great love for all mankind sent His only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn us for our sin, but to fulfill all righteousness and to bear our punishment and save us from eternal death and damnation.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and as those who looked toward it in faith lived, so also sinners today can look to Christ Jesus, who was lifted up and crucified for the sins of all and is risen again in victory; and those who look to Jesus in faith will not die eternally but live and have everlasting life!

Dear Jesus, I have sinned and turned aside from loving, trusting and honoring You with my life. Do not deal with me as I deserve on account of my sin but have mercy upon me. I look to You and Your cross for salvation. Forgive my sin, cleanse my heart and grant me life eternal with You in Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

51 “I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever; and the Bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Then Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily I say unto you, unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the Last Day. 55 For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. 58 This is that Bread which came down from Heaven, not as your fathers ate manna and are dead; he that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever.” 59 These things said He in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. John 6:51-59 (Read John 6:16-59)

How can one eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood? The Jews did not grasp Jesus’ meaning, nor do many in our day.

Jesus is not indicating that Christianity is some kind of cult in which the faithful literally eat human flesh and drink human blood. Even in the Lord’s Supper, participants do not chew Jesus’ flesh and drink and digest His blood. Rather, as they partake of the bread and wine, they partake of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all the world – of His body given into death for our sins and His blood shed for the remission of our sins.

But Jesus’ words in John 6:51-59 are not a specific reference to the Supper Jesus later commanded His followers to observe in remembrance of Him and His innocent sufferings and death on their behalf. The Lord’s Supper had not yet been instituted when Jesus spoke these words. And, if He were referring specifically to partaking of the Lord’s Supper, then those not able to partake of Christ’s Supper, regardless of the reason, could not be saved and have life in them because Jesus said, in verse 53: “Verily, verily I say unto you, unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.”

Rather, Jesus here refers to partaking of His body and blood by faith. The children of Israel ate of the manna from heaven and yet died. Those who partake of Jesus’ body and blood – of His sacrifice for the sins of the world – by faith in Him have eternal life and Jesus will raise them up on the Last Day!

Jesus says in no uncertain words, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:55 translated literally from the Greek).

The one who partakes of Jesus, the Bread of Life, by faith – trusting in Christ Jesus who gave His body into death for our sins and shed His blood upon the cross to make atonement for all our iniquities – has forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. It is as Jesus said in verses 56-57: “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.”

People look to Jesus for earthly bread. They come to Him in hopes that He will provide them with all their earthly wants and desires. But few recognize that Jesus came into this world to provide us with heavenly food – with food which nourishes our souls unto life eternal.

Jesus came into this world to fulfill the righteous demands of God’s law for us. And He came to be our sacrifice for sin – to offer up Himself on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He gave His body into death upon the cross in full payment for your sins and my sins. He shed His blood upon the cross as our sacrifice for sin and made full atonement for us and all the world before the very throne of God.

The question is this: Do you partake of Him? Do you trust in His holy life and His innocent sufferings and death for the forgiveness of all your sins? If you do not partake of Jesus, you can have no life in you; you are eternally lost and condemned. If you do, through faith, partake of His flesh and blood, you have the forgiveness Jesus won for you when He gave His body into death and shed His holy and precious blood to make atonement for your sins and redeem you.

When we, in this way, eat His flesh and drink His blood, Jesus dwells in us – not in the sense that He enters our mouth and passes through our digestive system, but in the sense that He comes into us and gives us life in fellowship with the Father.

Paul Kretzmann, in his Popular Commentary, says this in regard to Jesus’ words: “They all thought of physical, sensual eating and partaking. Jesus, therefore, summarizes the lessons which He wishes to convey once more. He tells them that it is indeed essential for everyone that wishes to have eternal life that he eat His flesh and drink His blood. It is necessary for every believer to receive Jesus altogether by faith, in His full work of atonement, active and passive obedience, shedding of blood, and all. By doing so, the believer has the assurance of eternal life and will rise on the last day to see the consummation of all glories. In this way, the body of Christ is the true food and His blood the true drink. In this way, also, the wonderful union of Christ and the believers in Him is brought about. They receive Christ spiritually and are most intimately and inseparably united with Him. They dwell in the Savior and the Savior in them.”

It’s really as simple as John states in his first epistle (1 John 5:11-12): “And this is the record: that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life.”

If we partake of Jesus’ holy life and His bitter sufferings and death for all sin by placing our trust and confidence in Him, we have life. Jesus Himself comes to us, dwells in us by His Spirit, and gives us spiritual and eternal life in fellowship with the Father. If we do not partake of Jesus and His sacrifice – if we go it alone and on our own, so to speak – we remain dead in our sins and under the wrath and condemnation of God.

In John, chapter three, Jesus says it this way: “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. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth in Him is not condemned; but He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (v. 16-18).

Those who believe and trust in Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God made man, of flesh and blood, are saved and have life eternal because Christ gave His body and shed His blood for the remission of all sins. They partake of His body and blood and of the benefits Jesus won for them through faith.

On the other hand, those who do not trust in Christ’s body and blood given and shed for all mankind are condemned. Why? Because they reject the only way of salvation God has provided for them – in His Son!

Jesus said in John 6:51: “I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever; and the Bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Jesus gave His life for you. His body was nailed to the cross to suffer for your sins and mine. He shed His blood for you when He made atonement for the sins of the whole world. His flesh is food indeed and His blood is drink indeed to nourish our souls and to give to all who partake of Him through faith everlasting life!

God grant you to partake of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and to drink of His blood shed for the remission of your sins through faith in Him! Then, you will have true life – life eternal!

O merciful Father, grant us faith in Messiah Jesus, the Son. Grant that we eat His flesh and drink His blood through faith, trusting in His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the 21st Century King James Version (KJ21) Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.]

“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.” John 3:16

It is said that, when the Betty Crocker company first came out with cake mixes and all one had to do was add water, the mixes didn’t sell very well. Market research revealed that people wanted to be involved in producing the cake. So the company changed the recipe and required the customer to add an egg to the mix. Then the product sold like wildfire.

Satan’s most effective weapon is whispering into the sinner’s ear, “You need to do something for your salvation.” When the sinner hears that all is done – that Christ Jesus did it all by His holy life and innocent sufferings and death and God’s gift is complete – Satan says, “It’s too easy; you need to do your part.”

And sinners concur. They want to produce their cake of salvation from scratch, using the ingredients of their own works. Or, they desire at least to add an egg or two of their own efforts into the mix.

Salvation that requires no work whatsoever on their part just doesn’t appeal.

Of course, Satan forgets to mention that the cake of salvation the sinner tries to bake can only turn out to be a flop – one that will give stomachaches when sins trouble us and when death draws near, and one that will be burnt in the oven of God’s judgment on the Last Day!

When it comes to salvation, there is nothing sinners can add to what Christ has done!

“It is finished,” Jesus said, as He suffered and died upon the cross for the sins of the world (John 19:30). All was done! Atonement was made! Our redemption was accomplished! Salvation was purchased for all with Christ’s shed blood!

Because all is already done, the Bible tells us that whoever believes and trusts in the finished redemption of Christ Jesus has full pardon and forgiveness for all his sins and will not perish in God’s judgment, but has, as God’s Word says, “everlasting life.”

May God grant us faith to simply receive the finished salvation won for us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

[21st Century King James Version (KJ21), Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.]