<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel\u201d (Psalm 2:8,9).<\/p>\n
POWER CORRUPTS. And if this is true of individuals, it is even more true of groups. Consider governments, for example. Can it be denied that governments tend toward corruption, that they always move in the direction of greater self-will? \u201cThe kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, \u2018Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us\u2019\u201d (Psalm 2:2,3).<\/p>\n
But God cannot successfully be ignored. From His perspective, the presumption of human rulers that they can do as they please is so out of touch with reality that it is laughable. \u201cHe who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, \u2018As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill\u2019\u201d (vv.4-6).<\/p>\n
In God\u2019s Son, the Messiah (\u201cAnointed\u201d or \u201cCommissioned One\u201d), a kingdom has been set up that is above all the kingdoms of men. To Him, the nations have been granted as a gift: \u201cI will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession\u201d (v.8). And God leaves no doubt as to what the Messiah will do in dealing with the nations: \u201cYou shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel\u201d (v.9).<\/p>\n
Jesus, the \u201cChrist\u201d or Messiah, said after His resurrection, \u201cAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me\u201d (Matthew 28:18). But has He broken the kingdoms of men, dashing them in pieces? If so, the kingdoms seem not to have gotten the announcement. They pay no attention to the Messiah whatsoever.<\/p>\n
But the rule of the Messiah does not come about by physical revolution (or democratic voting). He breaks the nations not by dismantling them (for now, at least) but by reestablishing the truthful ideas and words<\/em> they have denied. \u201cFrom his mouth<\/em> comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations\u201d (Revelation 19:15). When the nations have come and gone, this truth will still be true.<\/p>\n \u201cGod did not abolish the fact of evil; he transformed it. He did not stop the Crucifixion; he rose from the dead\u201d (Dorothy L. Sayers).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n