The Life Principle

 

 

What is this thing called life

Which no man can ever create?

Though that doesn’t stop him from trying-

He is more desperate here of late.

 

His robotic feats are amazing,

We hear of artificial intelligence

But his efforts at creating human life

Are meeting Divine resistance.

 

God is the creator of all nature

In the beginning that’s what He did,

What man innovates is artificial

And to create life is from him hid.

 

God is the Creator of life

But this is without man’s zone

Even though he is at the stage

Where he is creating animal clones.

 

There is a moral responsibility

That God has taken on Himself,

Intrinsic to all human beings

There is the matter of moral health.

 

The life principle in man

Is really the breath of the Living God

And at the point of a man’s demise,

That life principle is recalled.

 

From God to man, from man to God

Never from man to man,

This life principle I must repeat

Is a part of the Father’s divine plan.

 

 

While a man can terminate a life

He is unable to give it back,

That is the prerogative of Almighty God

And that is a scientific fact.

 

There is a tendency to believe

That God and science are at odds

And in blinding the eyes of men

The devil has done a good job.

 

God is omni-science

There is no science outside of God,

The devil knows this too

But after all, it’s not his call.

 

God is the source of all life

Both natural and spiritual

And because our life is hidden in Christ,

That life is also eternal.

 

 

So, man cannot give life

It does not matter how hard he tries,

God is the limiter that determines

The altitude to which man flies.

 

For after all, God is the only God

And man will never be,

The creature can never be the Creator

And this, the creature needs to see.

 

The life principle we need to know

Is the principle for our life,

There is no life outside of Creator God

Without Him there is only strife.

Robots cannot attain to salvation

However apparently intelligent!

No amount of artificial intelligence

Can make a robot repentant.

 

God is the one that gives life

Life physical is a loan from God

But His spiritual life is eternal

And this is the possession of the called.

 

The one who grasps this opportunity

Shall never, never die,

This assurance was given by Jesus

And on it we can rely.

 

You would recall the occasion

He’d given back life to Lazarus,

The only resurrection and the life

Is the Creator, the Lord Jesus!

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

Thirty-Seven Miracles of Jesus

1. The first was at a wedding

Where he turned water into wine

And all present agreed

The wine was absolutely fine.

2. Then at Cana of Galilee

He healed a noble man’s son,

3. Next, he cast out an evil spirit

Also at Capernaum.

4. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick

And Jesus was the cure,

In no time she was up

And going about her chores.

5. On one particular evening

He healed a lot of people

6. Then on the Lake Gennesaret

He did the first fishing miracle.

7. Next, he cleansed a leper

8. And after, a centurion’s servant

9. Then the suspended paralytic

Hanging from ropes like a pendant.

10. Next, Jesus healed a man

That had a withered hand

And though it was on the Sabbath

“Doing good” was Jesus’ plan.

11. Next, he raised a widow’s son

12. And calmed a stormy sea

13. Then deliver demons into pigs

And the citizens responded angrily.

14. Then there was the woman

With the issue of blood,

15. Next, the raising of Jairus’ daughter

Done only as Jesus could.

16. Jesus healed two blind men

17. Then a man who could not speak,

18. Next, an invalid at Bethesda

19. And from little, 5000 plus did eat.

  

20. This man was possessed by a devil

He was both blind and dumb,

Jesus wonderfully healed him

But was said to be in league with Satan.

21. Next, he walked on water

22. Then healed many that were sick,

As each one touched his garment

He was healed; it was no trick.

23. He healed a Gentile girl

By a demon, she was possessed,

In response to Jesus’ challenge

Her mother’s faith passed the test.

24. He healed a deaf and dumb man

25. Then next it was the 4000 plus,

With seven loaves and a few fishes

He fed them without a fuss.

26. He healed a blind man at Bethsaida

Whom he touched a second time,

27. Quite unlike the next blind man

Where clay and spittle were fine.

28. A man brought his son to Jesus

Whom the disciples could not cure

But was Jesus able to heal him?

The answer to that is “sure”.

29. Then there was the temple tax

That was delivered by a fish,

Peter went down to collect it

And the tax collectors got their wish.

30. Then there was this woman

That was sick for eighteen years,

Jesus loosed her from her infirmity

Which she no longer had to bear.

31. Jesus healed a man with dropsy

32. And cleansed ten lepers too

33. Next, he raised Lazarus from the dead

34. And gave Bartimaeus a perfect view.

35. Just a word and a fig tree withered

36. Next, he restored a severed ear,

37. Then came the second fishing miracle:

Thirty-seven miracles that’s clear.

Perhaps, you can find another

That I may have overlooked...

Like the calming of the storm,

So I could check it in the Book.

The truth of the matter is:

There were many more miracles

For on more than one occasion

Jesus healed many people.

And, add to these His resurrection,

And his ascension too

As his disciples stood upward gazing,

Having such a remarkable view.

Then, of course, there is mine,

I have a miracle all my own,

If from sin Jesus has set you free

Such a miracle is not mine alone.

The salvation of a soul:

That is the greatest miracle today,

I implore you, my friend, believe in him

And let him have his way.

Stewart Russell © September 2018

Modified: August 2019

Time to Wake Up

Here’s a word for Universalists

Everyone will not be saved,

Don’t think that you will run free

Regardless of how you behave.

“No hell, I put that to you,”

Said the rich man to the poor.

“Christ died for one and all,

All will enter heaven’s door.”

It doesn’t matter how you live

You will still be saved,

Jesus died upon the cross

So everyone’s fare is paid.

Time to tell you of a case

In which that is clearly not so,

So let’s set the stage for that event

And to the Bible we will go.

Oh! That place was hot

But there was no doubt

That through a parched throat

He still tried to shout.

He had been rich, filthy rich

But all of his money was here,

It was of no help where he was

All he possessed there was fear.

Agony too was his lot

At his wasted opportunities

And he regretted in his anguish

That he frowned on one’s poverty.

Within his view while on earth

Was a man that was very poor

But him he treated with contempt

And blatantly ignored.

Like the poor man, he also died

But went to a different location

It appeared that they both were Jews

What an interesting consideration!

The roles were now reversed

Quite different from on earth,

The man that was rich was now poor

But the poor man had much worth.

A little water the rich man cried,

“Just a little tip for my tongue.

Send Lazarus, Abraham, please

To right my terrible wrong.

And while you are it,”

He begged, “Get a message to my brothers.

Don’t let them come down here,

This is very hot weather.”

On earth, Lazarus was the beggar

But in hell the rich man begged,

Which prompts the question I must ask,

To what is your eternity pegged?

Is it the riches of this earth?

Is it fame and status?

None of these can help beyond this life,

One’s only help is Jesus.

The rich man’s wealth ended at death

And so too Lazarus’ poverty,

Whatever the status in this life

Death will end it for both you and me.

Neither poverty nor wealth matters

Or whether one be a Jew,

If death finds you without Christ

There is nothing anyone can do.

Now is the time to wake up

My friend, while you still have life,

Do not ignore the love of God

And the fact of His Son’s sacrifice.

This poem is another opportunity

To help someone avoid hell’s fate,

The rich man’s account my friend

Is but a small preview of hell’s state.

Stewart Russell © February 2019

That First Good Friday

It was six o’clock in the morning

On that first Good Friday

Jesus stood before Pilate

After from Gethsemane he was led away.

“Art thou the king of the Jews?”

Pilate then had asked,

Where upon Jesus replied, “Thou sayest,”

Compounding Pilate’s task.

When Pilate had discovered

That Jesus was of Galilean descent

He decided he would pass the buck

And to Herod he had him sent.

When Herod saw Jesus

He was exceedingly glad

And treated to this opportunity

Like none he had ever had.

He had hoped to see a miracle

But he was given none

So he sent him back to Pilate

But not before he’d had his fun.

Herod and his soldiers mocked him

And set him at nought

Then arrayed him in a gorgeous robe

And back to Pilate he was brought.

That very same day

Herod and Pilate became good friends,

They had been enemies before

But that enmity came to an end.

Pilate reexamined Jesus

And again he found no fault

But the people pressed him sorely

And at their demands he came to a halt.

As was the Jewish custom

Some prisoner should be released,

Pilate presented them with the choice

And Jesus was rejected by the priests.

Barabbas was chosen to go free

While Jesus was sentenced to die,

He was therefore led away to Calvary

And there he was crucified.



Three hours had passed

And now he was on the cross,

For most of the spectators

To them he was no great loss.

They had called for his death

In the worst possible way

And for the religious bigwigs

This was a remarkable day.

The people that passed by

They shouted their abuse,

They taunted and they mocked him

And treated him like refuse.

But he pled for their forgiveness

From his Father above

Demonstrating from the cross

His unrequited love.

“He saved others,” they scoffed

“But he can’t save himself.”

Some must have remembered

When he raised Lazarus from death.

One of the criminals also crucified

Hurled his insults at him,

He certainly did not realize

That Jesus was dying due to his sin.

The other reprimanded him

Then called on God’s Son,

“Remember me,” he requested

When you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus in his response

Offered to him paradise

Promising he would be with him,

Him he did not despise.

Mary, the mother of Jesus

Was not to be left alone,

At the directive of Jesus

John took her to his home.

At the sixth hour, it was then 12 p.m.

Darkness covered the land,

All this was in keeping

With the unfolding redemptive plan.

“My God, My God

Why have You forsaken Me?”

These were the word from Jesus

No doubt while in his deepest agony.

Fulfilling the Scriptures he said I thirst

And sour wine was held to his lips

Whereupon he cried, “It is finished,”

Immediately after he had taken a sip.

“Father into you hands

I commit my spirit,”

Having said this he breathed his last

And from life took his exit.

It was the ninth or 3:00 p.m.

And the temple veil was rent in twain,

The tombs opened and many holy people

Were raised to life again.

“Truly he was the Son of God!”

The centurion and others confessed,

With the earthquake and all that occurred

They could do no less, is my guess.

Many women were there

From afar they beheld these events,

For us they hold great significance

Especially when the temple veil was rent.

Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man

And in a way quite brave,

Having requested Jesus’ body of Pilate

He buried him in his grave.

Some felt he was a secret disciple

Though a member of the Sanhedrin

But in order to identify with Christ

He threw caution to the wind.

Jesus the very Son of God

Was implanted in a virgin’s womb

Then on the event of his substitutionary death

Was interred in a borrowed tomb.

The events of that first Good Friday

Should be stamped upon each heart

That God, through the sacrifice of His Son

For us such love did impart.

Stewart Russell © March 2018