Who Can Bring a Charge Against Yahweh?

Yahweh, Father God, Lord Almighty, King of Glory,

You are a Mighty King, the Lord of hosts, and the Hope of all nations. You reign from Your majestic throne in Your holy temple, exalted high above the heavens and the earth. Your divine nature and eternal power are clearly seen in Your creation, leaving men who deny, distort and suppress Your truth without excuse.

Who can bring a charge against You? You are holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with Your glory. You are just and righteous. In You, no darkness dwells. When You act, no one can withstand Your power. Your purposes cannot be thwarted. Your promises never fail. Your unfailing Word endures forever. You are glorious, immutable, incorruptible invincible, God only wise. You are Yahweh.

What is man that You are mindful of him? We are sinful creatures from birth, dead in our transgressions and blind to the light of Your glory and truth. One condemned corpse measures his decay by the rotting corpse next to him. Dead in sin, both lie in the grave, eternally condemned. One man whimpers, “I am innocent.” He knows otherwise.

The rich man and poor man hunger alike, but neither can satisfy the cravings of his darkened soul. One feeds the carnal cries of his flesh, growing ever more desperate as his appetite never stops howling for more. Who can silence the soul of sinful man?

The politician boasts, “I can save us!” The religious man shrugs, “I am good and my works prove it.” The mother clasps her baby to her breast, “I will save you!” The businessman reports, “My accounts are in order. I am safe.” The harlot coos to her lover, “Will you save me?” The proud man brags, “I can save myself.”

Father God, apart from Your divine intervention, all perish in their sin. Who can save the sinner from Your just wrath? Who can justify himself? How can the sinner feign innocence in the light of Your glory and holiness? How can one sinner redeem the life of another?

Praise be to Your glorious grace that You did not abandon those whom You created for Your glory to bear Your Holy Name! You are mighty to save! You promised redemption and restoration for Your people. Who could have ever imagined that You would send Your own eternal Son into the world in the form of sinful man to die in the place of sinners? How can selfish, sinful creatures comprehend such grace?

Jesus, the Messiah, prophesied of old, King of kings and Lord of lords, came in the flesh to seek and save sinners, such as I. Even before I fully comprehended the depths of my own depravity, He sought and saved me. How faithful You are to have awakened my soul to respond in faith to the Gospel of Your Beloved Son! What extravagant grace You freely give to all who hear and believe in Jesus, Your Son, our Savior and Lord.

Father, You are the Giver of every good and perfect gift. You have clothed me in Christ. Jesus has imputed to me His own perfect righteousness. You have justified me by Your grace through faith alone in Jesus. You have delivered me from judgment and spared me from Your wrath that is being poured upon the world. By the Spirit's power, You have raised me up in Christ.

Who am I to be clothed in the majestic robe of Your Son’s perfect righteousness? Who am I that Your Spirit dwells within me, guaranteeing an eternal inheritance that I do not deserve? Who am I to know the love that You have poured into my heart through the Holy Spirit? Who am I to know the blissful peace and joy of communion with You? Who am I that You hear my cries and comfort me with such tender love and compassion, assuring me of Your eternal grace and promise of glory.

Father, everything I have is only what I have received by Your glorious grace and the grace of Christ. Through Jesus, I simply give you thanks, Father. May You find delight in my heart’s wonder at the treasure of knowing You as I abide in Jesus and He in me. And may my delight in You lead to greater glimpses of Your glory by the Spirit's power. I love You. And I rejoice in the promise of Your eternal love and eternal life in Christ. And it is in the Name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

What Happens Next?

Over 700 years before the birth of Jesus, God revealed through the prophet Isaiah many details concerning the Person and work of the Messiah. Jesus is the Sharp Sword in Isaiah 49 and the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. Both of these chapters reveal God's future plan to send the Messiah to redeem and restore Israel, and that He  would also be a light for the nations so that God's salvation would reach to the end of the earth. When Jesus came the first time, He came to complete the work of salvation for sinners and establish the kingdom of God. On the cross, Jesus bore the sin of many. God crushed His own Son in the place of sinners. His soul was poured out to death and He was numbered with the transgressors. On the third day, Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus appeared alive to his apostles and to over 500 witnesses in His resurrected body before ascending to the right hand of God.

Ten days after Jesus' ascension, the Holy Spirit was poured into Christ's disciples, empowering them to testify of the mighty works of God and of the testimony of Christ on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Peter explained that the coming of the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-32). Peter preached the first sermon on the day of Pentecost, and he called sinners to repentance, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself" (Acts 2:37-41). About 3000 souls were baptized and added to the Church on the day of Pentecost.

During this present age of the Church, the Jews and Gentiles who receive Jesus are justified by God's grace through faith as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:21-26).

All who receive Christ are born again by the Holy Spirit, who sets God's seal upon the believer. The Holy Spirit indwells and sanctifies Christians, conforming us to Christ. The Holy Spirit gifts and empowers us to serve, and He is the heavenly gift and good deposit entrusted to us. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin and judgment, and He is the believer's guarantee of eternal salvation. At the end of this age, Jesus will appear in the air to gather all glorified believers to Himself (1 Thess 4:17).

Jewish and Gentile unbelievers, who rejected Christ and are alive at that time, will have to endure the judgments of the Great Tribulation, which is the final seven year period of horrific judgment outlined in Revelation 4-18. Many will be deceived by the miracles performed by the False Prophet, from whom demonic spirits will go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:13-14). The Antichrist will be incarnated by Satan, then he will exalt himself as God in the new Jerusalem temple. At the end of the Tribulation, foreign nations will gather against Israel to destroy her. At that time, Jesus will return to earth as the Conquering King to destroy God's enemies and deliver the preserved of Israel. This is the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:16).

(Photo by BiblePlaces.com)

 (Photo by BiblePlaces.com)

 Photos of Megiddo, also known as Armageddon


All who have believed in Jesus and hold fast to His testimony to the end will be saved. After Jesus conquers and destroys God's enemies at the battle of Armageddon, Satan will be bound for a thousand years. During the millennium, Jesus will gather and restore Israel in her land, and Jesus will reign on earth over all nations in perfect wisdom, peace and righteousness as King of kings and Lord of lords. At the end of the millennium, Satan is released for a short time (Rev 20:1), then thrown into the lake of fire with the beast and false prophet to be eternally tormented (Rev 20:10). Unbelievers from every age will be resurrected, judged and condemned at the Great White Throne judgment.

Finally, God will create a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth will have passed away. God will dwell with His people, and He will be with them as their God. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Rev 21:4).

What are we waiting for in this present age? What major eschatological event happens next?

The appearing of Jesus in the air when, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead believers in Christ will be resurrected from the grave, glorified, and gathered to Christ. Then all those who are alive will also be gathered with them in the clouds. And then we will always be with Jesus. (1 Thess 4:13-17)

When will Jesus come?

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" Matt 24:36-44).