OUR FATHER WHO WORKED SALVATION FOR THE WHOLE WORLD

Psalm 98 verses 1 - 3 says this;

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

This passage prophetically exhorts us to worship the Lord with fresh new songs  and with adoration because of the Lord, through His manifold wisdom, worked a great plan of salvation. 

And this plan of salvation, which encapsulated the children of Israel and people of all the nations, was accomplished through the Lord Jesus who underwent the sentence of death on a cross for the sins of the world.

He then rose again on the third day and he ascended into heavenly places far above rule, authority and dominion and every name that is invoked. 

And thus, the plan of salvation was made universal and applicable to all nations and God made His salvation known to all nations and revealed His righteousness because Jesus, who was the exact image of the Father, was absolutely perfect in His life on earth even unto the point of death.

Let us sing praises to Him who saved us.

Sing to God a song of praise

For our salvation His Son He gave

Shout for joy to God our King

Burst into jubilant songs for Him

Let the whole world and sea resound

For God's righteous justice will ever abound

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE WAYS ARE WAYS OF JUSTICE

Psalm 99 verse 4 in the NIV says this;

The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right.

This verse references the King of Zion who is exalted over all nations and who is enthroned  between the two cherubim at the focal point of all existence.

The text describes Him as mighty or exceedingly strong and because He Loves justice, in his strength He has set justice to be the standard by which His kingdom operates.

The Living Bible version says it this way;

This mighty King is determined to give justice. Fairness is the touchstone of everything he does. He gives justice throughout Israel. 

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT DAY APPROACHES

The book of Daniel chapter 12 verses 11 and 12 says this;

“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

This passage sets out a schedule that can be counted out on a calendar to mark  the amount of time that those who await the Lord's hope.

There will be a day when the daily sacrifice is banned and from that day till the abomination that causes desolation is set up in the temple, 1,290 says will go by.

After that, another 45 days will pass during which God's people will have to endure a time of great distress before the day of the Lord arrives.

Have mercy on us O Lord.

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OUR FATHER WHO JUDGEMENT AGAINST THOSE WHO STRIKE HIS PEOPLE IS FEARSOME 

The book of Obadiah chapter 1 verses 5 - 6 says this;

“If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night—oh, what a disaster awaits you!—would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes? 

But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!

This passage uses two metaphors to accentuate how thorough the destruction of Esau shall be when judgement is brought against them.

When thieves target a person's home, they don't take everything. Instead they pick and chose what they deem valuable and though it is a bona fide disastor for the person, at least the robbers leave what they don't want. They would take your laptop but they would at least leave your couch behing.

Similarly, when thieving harvesters visit a person's vineyard to loot a harvest of grapes, even though it is a great loss, at least they leave behind a few grapes that they did not bother to reach for. 

In contrast, the calamity that will be visited on the nation of Esau (who in this case, stands in for the kingdoms that will array themselves against the kingdom of God to wreak havoc on the people of God and unjustly refuse to support them on their day of adversity), will be absolute and permanent. Verse 10 says it like this;

Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.

Verse 18 suggests that it will be prayers of God's people that will accompliah this;

Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame;

Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.”

The Lord has spoken.

Revere the Lord whose power can erase nations and kingdoms.

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OUR FATHER WHO GREAT DAY WILL BE PRECEDED BY AN ATTACK ON HIS PEOPLE BY THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS

The book of Joel chapter 1 verses 8 - 9 says this;

Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth. 

Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord

In this passage, the people of God, from the bride of Christ to the priests of Israel, are instructed to mourn because of the onslaught of an invading army of darkness that is systematically tearing away the protective covering of the vines and the fig trees where the vines represent the church and the fig tree represents the nation of Israel.

A great disruption happens to bring shortages of the distribution of the word of God throughout the world leaving millions without a way to learn about God and a scarcity of encounters with the Holy Spirit and the joy of the people of God withers away. As verse 10 says;

The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed,  the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails.

At this time, when these things are occurring,  the day of the Lord approaches as verse 15 says;

Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

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OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDED A PERFECT SACRIFICE

Psalm 111 verse 3 says this;

Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever.

In extolling the Lord our God, this verse specifies the refulgent and awesome deeds that he does. 

We are all witness to the inconcievable design of the natural order and the placement of we humans in it. We are witness to the splendor and incomparable wonder of our planet and all who dwell in it.

We are then confronted with the plan of salvation that was designed to redeem us out of the darkness into which we had fallen.

In this plan, God Himself undertook the role of a suffering servant who, though innocent, was condemned to death so that he would experience death for us that we might have life.

This majestic undertaking demonstrated the absolute perfection of God who, tested by the agony of death on a cross, did not relent at any point in His fierce determination to complete the task of providing salvation for the whole world through His obedience to the mandate He had.

As the rest of the verse says, "His righteousness endure forever"

Truely, the righteousness that the Lord Jesus showcased during His life, throughout His ministry and then in obedient submission to death on a cross, is an enduring eternal righteousness.

If this righteousness remained intact under the duress of a drawn-out excruciating execution, it will endure forever.

Praise our wonderful God.

Amen.

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