Category: Devotions

It was sad that Israel rejected their Messiah, Jesus – the Suffering Servant foretold by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53:1 (KJV) 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? The people of Israel thought that Jesus the King will free them from being a vessel state of Rome and Israel will once again be strong again as a nation. When He rode on a donkey into Jerusalem on the Sunday before His crucifixion on Friday – His disciples shouted, “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). The disciples understood this Jesus is the King prophesied by Nathan the prophet in the Old Testament who will sit upon David’s throne to rule forever! How can a man rule forever? Jesus Christ, dear friends, is not a mere man, He is the Son of God, the exact representation of God.

Let the gospel be preached to all men with no distinction of race. And all who will hearken to the gospel’s call shall be saved. Christianity is man’s only hope. As the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd observed well, “I say that because this gospel is the only hope in the world today. Everything else has been tried and found wanting. Everything else has failed. You will not find hope with the philosophers or with the statesmen, and you will not find it in the so-called religion of the world. Here is hope, and here alone.”

There were no modern transport or communication system during Paul’s days like the ease of transportation and communication we have today. He went mostly on foot to preach the gospel, having to cover large distances amidst physical toil and weariness to preach the gospel to the Gentile world.

The Apostle Paul was moved by the Spirit of God to carry the gospel to the Gentile world. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to bring the message of the gospel from Israel to Asia Minor and to Europe.

Acts 9:15-16 (KJV) 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

This is a blessed day for the people of God as they remember Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. Death is conquered. Hell vanquished. Sin is a defeated foe. Salvation grace came upon all who are willing to call upon the name of Jesus. In the evening, I receive the confirmation of God’s grace in the heart of an elderly gentleman above the age of 90. His family members including spouse and children have accepted that the father is now a Christian. They were willing to honour his choice to be a Christian and baptism has been requested for their father. What rejoicing!

One of the two criminals that hung on the cross with Jesus Christ at the execution ground of the Jews outside Jerusalem called Calvary, confessed with his mouth and believed with his heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour of the world. He was gloriously saved in the last moments of his physical life.

Jesus Christ is Lord to all mankind. There is no distinction between the Jew and the Gentile. God’s plan was to bringing the riches of His blessing to all mankind through the nation of Israel. More specifically, through Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah. The blessing of God’s salvation will go forth from the Jews to all the nations of the world.

Thank God for the gospel. Salvation would become impossible if we have to keep the law to be saved. The sinful nature in man renders it impossible for him to keep the law as summarized in the Ten Commandments. But salvation comes by faith in the truth that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Faith in the heart and confession of the mouth is God’s way of saving a soul destined for judgment in hell fire.

God provided His Laws by which Israel is to live. The people of Israel are not to imbibe the ways of Egypt nor the ways of the inhabitants of Canaan. Israel has a God-ordained mission to be a witness of God to the nations of the world. Her work was to bring forth her foremost Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. All the Laws given by God to Israel pointed them to faith in the salvific work of Jesus Christ. Israel stumbled when she rejected her Messiah, Jesus. Both His death and resurrection is prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures. Worship and the sacrificial system in both the Tabernacle when they came out of Egypt and in the Temple in Jerusalem pointed to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins.

Can a man with a sinful nature be reconciled to a holy God? The answer is, no! What then is the way out? God provided the solution through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. This is the development of biblical history and thought. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, by a miraculous virgin conception, the sinless Son of God, to live a perfect life, keeping all the law on our behalf in His lifetime to win righteousness on our behalf. He is crucified on the cross to bear our sins, shed His blood to wash away our sins and died as our Substitute for the penalty of sin. Three days later, He rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death.