Healing of the Nations

 

 

Healing of the nations

What really is it?

Let’s grab the Word of God

And pay a visit.

 

Forget all you have heard

Let the Word speak,

The knowledge you will glean

Will be quite a treat.

 

Revelation 22:2

 

In the midst of the street of it,

And on either side of the river,

Was there the tree of life,

Which bare twelve manner of fruits,

And yielded her fruit every month:

And the leaves of the tree

Were for the healing

Of the nations.

 

The healing of the nations

Via the tree of life

Obviously pertains to a time

When there is some strife.

 

You would recall

Adam and Eve’s plight

When they ate of the forbidden tree

And forfeited their right.

 

Their right to Eden

And all that pertained,

Placing the entire human race

Under sin's stain.

 

 

Cast out of Eden

And from the tree of life

But given the promise of salvation

And atoning sacrifice.

 

A ruggedly hewn cross

Became the tree of life

And the healing of the nations

No matter the strife.

 

Crucified thereon

Was the source of life,

Dying for all of earth’s peoples

Was Jesus the Christ.

 

It was divinely decreed

One must give up his life,

‘Twas for the sins of all peoples

Jesus paid the price.

 

Thus, healing the nations

As they turn to him

Recognizing he's the only remedy

For all earth’s sin.

 

Preaching of the cross

Is foolishness to some

But to every born-again believer

Salvation is come.

 

 

The cross is become

An instrument of life

Because on that cross of Calvary

Was Jesus sacrificed.

 

For the son of man

Had to be lifted up

And, as he said to his disciples,

Drink that bitter cup.

 

"Are ye able to drink?"

He once did ask

But not one of his disciples

Was up to this task.

 

There was no other

To pay the price of our sin,

Only Jesus could unlock the gate

And let us in.

 

The door of the sheep

And tree of life is he,

Only the middle man on the cross

Gives life eternally.

 

Matthew 28:19-20

 

Go ye therefore,

And teach all nations,

Baptizing them in the name of the Father,

And of the Son,

And of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things

Whatsoever I have commanded you:

And, lo, I am with you alway,

Even unto the end of the world.

So let it be. 

Stewart Russell © February 27, 2025

 

If not Jesus, Who?

 

 

If Jesus cannot save his sheep

Tell me, who can?

Doesn’t it sound a little ludicrous

Considering salvation’s plan?

 

The preacher certainly can’t

Nor the dedicated pastor,

The evangelist can preach forever

But he is not the Saviour.

 

The prophet can prophesy

And the counsellor can assure,

The apostle may stir the people

But can’t open heaven’s door.

 

It is true Jesus waits to enter

And the sinner must open the door,

But it is the Father that draws:

No less and no more.

 

It is the Saviour, Christ Jesus,

That effects our salvation

And in concert with God and the Spirit

Completes our redemption.

 

None can come to the Father

Except through the Son

And them that come to the Son,

The Father draws every one.

 

 

 

So, if Jesus cannot save,

Tell me in all seriousness, who can

When it is Jesus that died

To effect redemption’s plan?

 

Nothing is impossible with God;

That is, nothing that He wills,

And anything that He has done

He is able to do still.

 

None that comes to Christ

He will ever cast out

And His word is eternally reliable

And this is without a doubt.

 

None that Jesus saves

Can in no wise be lost,

He paid sin’s price on Mount Calvary

On that middle cross.

 

There were other crosses too

One to the left and to the right

And one of the thieves hanging there

Received his spiritual sight.

 

 

Imagine him calling on Jesus

Minutes before Jesus died

And there receiving eternal life

From Jesus, the crucified.

 

If not Jesus, who can?

There is none other who can,

Only Jesus can unlock the gate

To let in a penitent man.

 

Such a one shall not perish

But has everlasting life

And the Father gives this assurance

On account of Jesus Christ.

 

  

Stewart Russell © February 12, 2022

 

An Invaluable Gift

 

 

Anything that is invaluable

Is impossible to buy,

Just think of any God-given gift

And you will see why.

 

The air that we breathe

Is an invaluable gift,

It is free to both rich and poor

If you catch my drift.

 

We plough and we plant

But for crops to grow

The rains must come in season

And the sun must glow.

 

No water like rainwater

To quench a plant’s thirst

And if the precious sun never shone

It would even be worse.

 

In fact, there’d be no life

I mean, no life at all,

But such is unlikely to happen

Because of Almighty God.

 

Air and water, sun and rain

Are all invaluable

And through these invaluable gifts

Life is sustainable.

 

Life, another invaluable,

That the richest cannot buy

And this point is sufficiently made

When their time come to die.

 

Anything that can be bought

Could never be invaluable,

As long as any value is attached

That thing is buyable.

 

Air, water, sun and rain

And life are invaluable gifts

But if you notice the poem’s title,

‘Gift’ you should not miss.

 

Every good and perfect gift

Comes from our God above

But there is one above all others

Compliments: God’s love.

 

It is the gift of life

And I don’t mean natural life

Instead, I mean the kind of life

That outlives all strife.

 

 

I speak of eternal life

The promise of the Father,

That is promised to the born-again

Here and in the hereafter.

 

Whosoever will may come

And claim this precious gift,

It is not a fairy tale I assure you,

Neither legend nor myth.

 

It’s not cheap by any means

Though it is free to us,

But it cost the blood of someone;

That someone is Jesus.

 

Salvation is not cheap

Though it is readily available,

There is no earthly cost attached

Since to us it’s invaluable.

 

 

It is infinitely invaluable

Purchased with Jesus’ blood

And what he did for all mankind

Nobody else could.

 

No other was good enough

To pay the price of sin

But Jesus, having achieved this task,

Now draws us all to him.

 

An invaluable gift

Of full and free salvation,

Why deny yourself of such a gift-

Such wonderful redemption?

 

John 3:16

 

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.

 

Stewart Russell © June 19, 2024

I know A Man

 

I know a man who died

Having made out his will

And today he is forever alive

And he executes it still.

 

A will becomes active

At the benefactor’s death

And he knows absolutely nothing

Since he is at rest.

 

He knows not

If his request is honoured

Since he has been interred

And is six feet under.

 

He makes up the will

But cannot execute it,

Somebody that he has chosen

Directs its edict.

 

This is the norm

As it relates to any will,

It happened in the distant past

And is occurring still.

 

Well, with one exception

And this is a fact,

A man was actually put to death

And he came back.

 

He had made out a will

And put it in his father’s hand

And he returned from the dead

As was his father’s plan.

 

 

He is the testator

And also, the executor,

The author of eternal salvation

And my Saviour.

 

I know a man who died

Having made out his will

And today he is forever alive

And he executes it still.

 

The whosoever will

He has included in his will

And invites all to come to him-

Come now as he bids.

 

Everyone that does

Instantly becomes an heir,

An heir of eternal salvation-

The Bible makes it clear.

 

All because one man

Wrote and executed his will,

Jesus is that testator in whom

His will is fulfilled.

 

 

I was dead, he says

But am alive forevermore

And if one seeks eternal life

I alone am the door.

 

If any man enters by him

He shall be saved,

This is the promise to all

Who eternal life crave.

 

I know a man who died

Having made out his will

And today he is forever alive

And he executes it still.

 

Yes, Jesus bequeathed it

He died to enforce it 

He ever lives to ensure it:

Salvation's edict!

We are his beneficiaries

He is our benefactor

Signed with his shed blood,

Jesus, our Saviour.

 

Stewart Russell © March 7, 2024

 

The Tree of Life

 

 

Two trees in Eden

 From which to choose:

One to maintain the good life

The other, to lose.

 

Free access to one

The other was forbidden,

The former was no big deal

But the latter beckoned.

 

Two trees: one of life

The other death,

Adam and Eve chose the latter

And gave up their rest.

 

A choice for life

And a choice for death,

Who in his right mind

Would not choose the best?

 

 

The tree of the knowledge

Of good and evil

Became a better prospect

For the first two people.

 

Their best was the worst

That could happen back then

And out of their choice

Came our problem.

 

The tree of life

Was a literal tree

Just like the trees around us

That we all can see.

 

Its fruit was edible

And it offered eternal life

But our fore parents in their error

Opted for strife.

 

Fast forward to today

When we have the offer again:

No longer a literal tree

It’s the Lamb that was slain.

 

The Creator is he

That created the first tree

And again, he offers life

To you and to me.

 

Jesus is the tree of life

And he beckons us to himself

And all who accepts him

Avoids the second death.

His branches are extended

With his offering of fruit,

Fruit of the Spirit

To nourish his offshoot.

 

Love, joy and peace

Longsuffering and gentleness,

Goodness and faith

Not to mention his rest.

 

Eternal rest he grants us

In this world and the next

With his word to guide us

As we read its texts.

 

 

Jesus is the tree of life

That bids us come to him,

Eternal life is on offer

With deliverance from sin.

 

Come to him today

No longer delay,

Satan wants you for his prey

But Jesus is the way.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2, 2020

 

In Search for Life?

 

I went in search for life

It was my primary goal,

If only I could find the source

I would never grow old.

 

I suspected there was a cost

And that cost was in wealth,

Once I had the money

I could enhance my health.

 

In neither the twain I found it

In neither health nor wealth,

After I had achieved the latter

I spent it all on health.

 

 

I tried all kinds of remedies

To bring back the health I’d lost

But that was frustratingly futile

Despite the astronomical cost.

 

Maybe it was the environment

So that I also changed

Moving to a healthier location

That I had my lawyer arrange.

 

I tried a dose of religion

And experimented with philosophy,

For a while they seemed to work

But life still eluded me.

 

In the medical parlance

If only I could find the switch,

I’d turned off that life-limiting cell

And my dilemma would be fixed.

 

 

But search and search I did

Yet no such cell was found

And still it vexed me sore

That soon I’d not be around.

 

Medical science is preoccupied

With finding the life source

For if only this could happen

That would be an undying force.

 

Then I turned to God’s Word

That before, I had disregarded

And on the pages of Holy Writ

I was soon to be rewarded.

 

I found the source of life

Or better still, he found me,

And anyone who believes on him

Will live eternally.

 

In St John, the eleventh chapter

Jesus makes this clear

He raised the deceased Lazarus

For Jesus, death held no fear.

 

 

 

For he is the Lord of life

And for him death holds no terror,

A search for life in any other

Must be seen as a grave error.

 

So, if you are searching for life

Look no further, I implore,

Draw from the eternal source

Who has unlimited in store.

 

Jesus is that eternal source

And he offers life to you,

Become a branch on the life-giving vine…

Do it before this day is through.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2019