Category: Christian living

Jesus Christ as a human needs God’s help

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Translation: NASB 95

Verses 1-4:

Jesus Christ as the servant of the Father needed His strength and to be relieved in times of distress. Christ Jesus is fully human without sin and fully God without any limitation. He needed strength to walk the path to the cross because He alone can atone for sin. Sin is a deep rebellion in the soul of Adam’s family that reveals itself in thoughts, actions, and speech. There is great pressure on the human Jesus Christ. His sweats of blood before His crucifixion show His great distress because of the weight of sin to atone for and God’s justice to appease. God the Father will be there for this special servant. The Father is there to help Jesus Christ through the crucifixion and to raise the human body back from physical death. Sin makes all humans rebels outside of God’s family. Jesus Christ will accomplish the act of atoning for the sins of many that will bring many into God’s family. Praise should be given to Christ for accomplishing salvation. There should be rejoicing for the Holy Spirit who applies salvation to many humans.

All humans should turn away from their sin to embrace and rest on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is called repentance. Many humans will love what is worthless and seek the deception of sin. What a poor and painful everlasting state there will be for many humans after physical death or at Christ’s return. Christians will explain the mercies only found in Jesus Christ to have many humans in sin dismiss it. God knows how to make any human right before Him. To rest on Christ for salvation is the only way.

All humans should tremble and fear to meet God’s justice in this life and after this life. Christ looked towards His father with great respect. Look at when Christ was at the Jewish Temple. He engaged the teachers of the law in the laws that spoke about Him. Christ the human meditated on the law and grew in knowledge. Christ is the saviour that sets many in Adam’s family free from sin. Jesus the sinless human shows how all humans should live resting and trusting in God because Christians are servants of God. Christians should meditate on all the Bible to understand their salvation and see what God expects.

Verses 5-8:

There is no need to bring any pure lambs or other sacrifices to God to pay the legal debt of sin. Why? Jesus Christ is the final lamb of God who takes away sin from many in Adam’s family. Different nations, tribes, and groups have Christ coming to take the sin of many. Trust in the final lamb of God for salvation. God will lift up the heads of many in Adam’s family to show them good. Salvation leads to God being good and kind in a special way to His people found in Christ Jesus. Christ deserves all the praise and glory for God’s kindness.

Jesus Christ does not leave His people alone to exclude benefits from them. It is pleasing to have good food and drink for the stomach. Salvation surpasses good things from the earth. There is freedom from sin and its legal consequence of everlasting hell. God now listens to the prayers of humans found in Christ Jesus. God does not hear the prayers of humans still in sin. There is God speaking through the written text of the Bible. Christ learned from parts of the Bible. Christians are to follow Christ’s example to learn the Bible well. The Bible will bring great riches and nourishment to the human soul. Sin has no power over Christians because of God’s strength and guidance away from sin. Christians can no longer return to sin and become a rebel again that deserves God’s justice. There should be great worship and respect for Christ in all Christians because of the benefits He gives.

All Christians should find rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is peace with God because sin is dealt with. Nothing can remove Christians from God’s hand of salvation. Why? Christ is able to keep His people safe and secure in salvation. There is no human or force that is able to break Christ’s hold on His people. Christ now rests from His work on earth in heaven. Christians should find their rest in Christ in daily life and know there is rest in the next life. This Psalm shows Christ coming as the human servant to die on the cross. Christ needed God’s help and strength. Christians are the same needing God to be merciful, give strength, and give rest. Amen!

Psalms 3: Christ gives Faith to Sinful Humans

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Translation: NASB 95

Verses 1-4:

Christians will be attacked for the faith that Christ gives. These are God’s people from Genesis to Revelation because God has one people throughout history. Salvation from sin comes from Christ who saves many throughout history. Christ’s faith comes through salvation alone. Notice it is Christ’s faith in humans washed of sin through Jesus Christ alone. The faith means the teachings of God written in the Bible through the Holy Spirit for Christians to receive. Christians should follow what God teaches through the examinable and definable Bible. Why? To love Christ means to follow what He commands. This will lead to hatred from the sinful world because of Christ’s faith. The sinful world will want to persecute Christians in various ways. Persecution is from following the commands of God that sin hates. It is best summarized in the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20. Christians are at fault when they act foolishly or break laws that do not violate God’s moral standard revealed throughout the Bible. Persecution comes as God’s light shines through faithful Christians who follow what God commands.

Persecution brings much discouragement. Many non-believing humans will mock God as they persecute Christians. Christians can become discouraged as persecutor’s words distract them from listening and remembering God’s teachings found in the Bible. These words are meant to undermine Christians to reject God’s ways for an easier life. An easier life would be to end persecution. Is there hope in God? Yes. All Christians should have hope because God is a shield. God protects His special people even if it means Christians die physically. Through death all Christians are secured through Jesus Christ alone from sin and all its consequences. God goes even further with the shield of faith. The commands and encouragements through God’s teaching shields Christians. Christ through the Bible protects His people with a mighty shield that cannot fail. This does not mean persecution will end. It means Christians will endure these difficult times at least. Christians should look to God knowing there is protection to endure as God answers prayers. Prayers to God should be present in the minds and mouths of Christians when there is persecution. God will answer the prayers of His children. Christians will not be abandoned or forgotten by God because of Jesus Christ’s salvation.

Verses 5-8:

Christians should lay down to sleep with confidence that God is there. Why? God sustains His people. There are many ways and methods by which God sustains His people. There are spiritual activities like prayer where God listens to His people and then through the Bible God speaks to His people. God will strike down and end persecutors from persecuting or take their lives at the right time. Sinful humans only deserve God’s justice like ending persecutors lives. God does this without any darkness within Himself. Christians should not be afraid because God is always with them through Jesus Christ’s salvation alone. There is nothing that can remove Christians from God’s hand. There is nothing to fear from persecution when it comes because God’s salvation keeps His people safe. This is due to Christ’s power to secure His people.

Christians pray and seek that God will save you from persecution or provide strength to endure persecution. Pray that God will comfort and help you during these troubling times. There is a time and place to pray that God will be merciful towards persecutors. Then there are other times to pray that God will deal harshly with persecutors. Ask God for wisdom in what way to pray for persecutors. All non-believers will face God’s judgment in this life or in death. Persecutors have already been judged as guilty in God’s holy court because of sin present in the human soul. This assumes there will be no resting and trusting in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ protects many humans from His own justice. May all Christians remember salvation comes from God. This is indeed a blessing from God who comes to sinful humans who cannot save themselves from sin. This Psalm shows Christ’s power to defeat enemies of His people. Amen!