Better All the Way

“A temple is to be built”

I hear some say,

“But the Muslim sacred dome

Is standing in its way.”

 

That dome must be moved

Can’t be there still,

The temple will be there

Believe me it will.

 

It will be the signal

Of Israel’s Messiah’s coming

For which devout Jews

Are currently looking.

 

Sacrifices must restart

So, the temple is a must,

Dispensationalists believe it

And do make a fuss.

 

Israel will be in charge

As nations go up to her,

This will follow the tribulation

To which the Bible refer.

 

Thus, a new temple

And animal sacrifice

Though this in the first place

Did not quite suffice.

 

There’s no temple need

Or for animal sacrifice,

Jesus’ once for all atonement

More than sufficed.

 

 

Why return, I ask,

To the beggarly elements

After the veil in the temple

Was permanently rent?

 

Showcasing for all

A much better way,

Jesus’ once for all sacrifice

Speaks to a better day.

 

A better High Priest

Than any before him,

The only High Priest ever

That can forgive sin.

 

Jesus is our temple

And our sacrifice,

He is also our High Priest

That gave his life.

 

This is borne out

In the book of Hebrews,

Go there I recommend

For a better view.

 

Better than the angels

And of better things,

We are so wonderfully blessed

We’ve a right to sing.

 

A better blessing

And a better hope,

Jesus is a better testament

Please take note.

 

 

A better covenant

Built on better promises,

The heavenly things themselves

With better sacrifices.

 

A better country

With a better resurrection

God providing a better thing

To bring us salvation.

 

Jesus is the mediator

Of this better covenant

That speaks of better things

For the elect remnant.

 

 

Better all the way:

From the Old to the New,

For the Jew and the Gentile:

For me and for you.

 

Better here and now

And still better to come,

Heirs to the kingdom of God

Through Jesus, His Son.

 

 

 

Christ the new temple,

Believers his lively stones,

Built up in Jesus the Christ

As the Spirit tones.

 

Go to Hebrews now

To study the word better

And see how Jesus shines

In this descriptive letter.

 

To God be the glory

And praise to the Son,

Honour to the Holy Spirit:

Three yet one.

 

Stewart Russell © July 12, 2024

 

My Eschatological Puzzle

 

 

 

Whether Idealist, Historicist,

Preterist or Futurist,

I am definitely positive

There is something they all miss.

 

With each of these four

There is an emphasis

And with their intended unique focus

Some information is dissed.

 

A focus on the past

As in the Preterist’s case

May very well overlook the future

In their eager haste.

 

Similarly, the Futurist,

Intent on their peculiar task

Could have inadvertently missed

The prophetic past.

 

Idealist and Historicist

Could be culpable too

Premising their summations

On a partial view.

 

 

Therein is my puzzle

Concerning any eschatology,

And thus, I refuse to be labelled

By any category.

 

I do believe, however,

Most prophecies are past

And I note that this is a position

Most have not grasped.

 

Prophecy fulfilled

Is a vindication of the Word

That God in his infinite knowledge

Has never deferred.

 

Not one has failed,

They all have come true

And the annals of history show

This to me and you.

 

 

Some have been distant

And some near at hand

But that some indication is given

Has always been God’s plan.

 

In Daniel he was told,

Shut up the words, seal the book,

Go now to Daniel 12 verse 4

And have a look.

 

The urgency was not then

But for a while after

And thus, the sealing of the vision

Until the time of the matter.

 

 

But not so in Revelation

In the vision given to John,

This was sent to seven churches,

Yes, to everyone.

 

It was a matter of urgency

Applicable to them

And that’s why with the Futurist

I have a problem.

 

I have a huge problem

With the Preterist as well,

Concerning the current believers,

What hope do they tell?

 

Hyper Preterist teach

Every prophecy is fulfilled,

There remains not a single one

Regarding God’s will.

 

No coming yet to come

And no physical resurrection,

What then, I am forced to ask,

Is my redemption?

 

Regarding life after death,

When does this life truly begin?

And, will there never ever be

Complete riddance of sin? 

 

I am still puzzled

But not unduly disturbed

For there is still much that I glean

From God’s Holy Word.

 

In the 1^st chapter of John

And in the third also,

A wonderful truth has been given

And this truth I know.

 

I am a child of God

Having received Him by faith,

Naught of any good I have done,

Only by God’s grace.

 

But as many as receive Him

Not one of them will perish,

For all will have everlasting life

And this I truly relish.

 

 

 

So though puzzled I may be

Concerning its working out,

That God will bring it all to pass

I have absolutely no doubt.

 

Stewart Russell © March 6, 2025

 

A Feeding Trough

 

 

Just a feeding trough,

Nothing glamourous

And in my immediate environ

The smell is obnoxious.

 

I attract animals

Only by what’s in me

And if you said their feed,

I’d say exactly.

 

You could well imagine

My great surprise

When I was the one chosen

To hold a child.

 

A special child

I soon came to find out,

As the Saviour of the world

I had no doubt.

 

 

I felt humbled,

As I was only a manger

And they selected lowly me

To bear the Saviour.

 

 

Crudely fashioned

Just like that cruel cross

That he would be crucified on

To pay sin’s cost.

 

Sin’s wages, his death,

Man’s redemption

Through Jesus’ death, burial

And resurrection.

 

 

And I, his birth,

The cross, his death,

Both of us playing a part

In God’s rest.

 

A rest for all

That trust in God

For their eternal salvation

After Adam’s fall.

 

 

I was transformed

Just like the cross

And elevated to much more

Than a feeding trough.

 

Most had their day

And so did I

On that first Christmas Day

When God drew nigh.

 

Stewart Russell © December 11, 2024

 

What Does Good Friday Mean?

 

 

What does Good Friday mean

To a Jew, a Gentile, a Christian?

Well, it may mean different things

Each having his own explanation.

 

To a Jew it mightn’t mean a lot

That Jew not believing in Christ Jesus,

To a Gentile, not being a Jew in any case,

He might consider it just a fuss.

 

To a Christian, as in born again,

It should really hit the spot

Seeing he has been redeemed from the curse

And the kingdom is his lot.

 

To none of the above, I dare say,

It might mean absolutely nothing

Other than another day off from work

To make merry and have a fling.

 

That is of course, until #1,2 and 4

Come into contact with Jesus Christ

Having believed by faith the message

Of the Saviour’s atoning sacrifice.

 

 

 

What does Good Friday mean,

Not to any of the above, but to you?

Is it just another day in the calendar year

You can relax with nothing to do?

 

Or is it that day when we go to church

To mourn the loss of a loved one,

That loved one being Jesus the Christ

Having more than 2000 years gone?

 

Do you dress in black or white

Certainly not green or yellow or red,

For after all, such brightly coloured attire

Is disrespecting of the dead?

 

Good Friday is a day to rejoice

And to give God thanks and praise,

For the fact that Jesus rose from the dead

And is no longer in the grave.

 

 

The setting sun rolled into dawn

From seeming defeat to total victory

And for everyone that believes in Jesus,

There is life eternally.

 

Good Friday, as it is justly called,

Is a good day for the born again,

Whether he be a Jew, a Gentile or a Christian

He is now redeemed in Jesus’ name.

 

 

Does it mean nothing to you

That Jesus died, was buried and rose again

So that you and I might be saved

In his wonderful name?

 

Stewart Russell © March 28, 2024

 

His Story

 

 

Do note the title!

It is two words and not one,

It is a prophetic history

Not totally gone.

 

It is a history written

And its end already declared

By God who established it

In Christ who did appear.

 

People look for flaws

And for contradictions too,

And seek to confuse many

Like me and like you.

 

But His story is flawless;

No errors you will find,

Any contradictions that exist

Exist in our mind.

 

His story is about a plan

And, also a man,

One needs to recognize this

To better understand.

 

 

From Genesis to Revelation

Redemption is its theme,

Jesus is central to His story

In every unfolding scene.

 

It starts out with the creation:

The origin of the universe,

All was declared good

But then sin emerged.

 

In a corner of creation

There was the garden of Eden

Where the first married couple

Committed the forbidden.

 

Adam and Eve were real:

Not a mere legend or myth

As some would want to say,

If you catch my drift.

 

If Adam and Eve is a myth

Then so was the crucifixion,

There was no coming of the Christ

And definitely no resurrection.

 

No ascension,

Hence, no coming back again,

If the beginning is a myth

Then none has a claim.

 

The cleric who believes this,

What does he teach?

For, if there is no Saviour

Of whom does he preach?

 

Thank God, my friend,

This is so far from the truth,

His story is history

Substantiated by His proof.

 

For the woman’s seed

Did bruise the serpent’s head,

The crucifixion proved

Just what in Genesis is said.

 

Thousands of years after

This event was prophesied,

The woman’s seed, Jesus,

Was crucified.

 

 

His story was unfolding,

It was all coming true,

Jesus came and he died

For me and for you.

 

So, if Genesis is a myth,

The Church’s preaching is in vain

So, what is this cleric doing

Preaching in Jesus’ name?

 

It’s a contradiction of sorts

Or a confused state of mind,

No wonder such clerics get it wrong

Each and every time.

  

His story is still unfolding;

The end is already written,

There is the reality of salvation

For all of the forgiven.

 

For the creator of the beginning

Is the establisher of the end,

Man make talk his foolishness

But God is God, my friend.

 

 

Whose report will you believe?

His story or man’s?

Will you believe the Devil’s lie?

Or trust redemption’s plan?

 

All of the Holy Bible, I repeat,

Is centred on a man

And that man, I reiterate,

Is central to salvation’s plan.

 

There is no Saviour

Other than the Saviour, Jesus Christ,

And the salvation he offers

Is the only one that will suffice.

 

Tell my friend, that cleric,

He must revisit the Word

For the one that he now teaches

Is absolutely absurd!

 

Stewart Russell © February 13, 2022

 

What's Your Verdict?

  

 

The gold says King of kings,

The frankincense: High Priest second to none,

The myrrh, the death he would die

First advent of God’s Son.

 

Mary, his pregnant mother,

Was told by God’s messenger, Gabriel,

Joseph, in a vision while he slept,

Was informed by another angel.

 

They had to go to Bethlehem

As a Roman census required,

There they settle for accommodation

That was less than they desired.

 

An innkeeper made room in a stable

The animals gave up their trough,

Emmanuel, meaning God is with us,

Had come from heaven aloft.

 

The animals, they stood in awe

Their Creator had come to earth,

And, if only they could speak,

They would tell of Jesus’ birth.

 

 

The angels announced his arrival

The shepherds received their word,

The wise men had travelled from afar

Hence, Herod had also heard.

 

Simeon held Jesus in his arms

Anna’s waiting was vindicated,

The wise men returned another way

While jealous Herod waited.

 

A massacre of Hebrew males

Of just two years and under,

Herod’s attempt to kill the Messiah

And give vent to his livid anger.

 

Your Honour, I have presented,

A case for the birth of Christ,

The foregoing bears clear evidence

And should quite easily suffice.

 

But should you need more proof

Consult his written Word

Which he by the Holy Spirit authored

And by which many have heard.

 

 

I await your verdict, Your Honour,

What I have presented is truth,

I have confidence in your judgment

Given these reliable proofs.

 

And the verdict is, dear people,

Jesus did come to earth

And that is why for thousands of years

We celebrate his birth.

 

He had to be born to have lived

He had to live to have died,

He had to be entombed to have risen

And in his resurrection, I abide.

 

In as much as he died, I died,

In as much as he arose, I am raised,

And because of his Spirit that lives in me,

I cannot help but give him praise.

 

 

And the verdict is, I repeat,

Christ did come to save such as I

And in the light of such evidence

Only a fool would dare deny.

 

Stewart Russell © December 11, 2021