Jeremiah 18-19

2 Timothy 3

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” —Romans 3:10-12

The opening verse of this devotion paints a pretty bleak picture of humanity. But one only has to look around the world and read news headlines, or maybe even look in the mirror and see—if we are honest—that these things describe ourselves as well. Paul continues in the description, “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practise deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:13-18). All of these are symptoms of a creation raging against its Creator.

Yet, while creation conspires against its Creator, Psalm 2:4 tells us, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” We may wonder, “How dare God laugh or scoff?” But from Scripture, we know His laughter and scoffing is holy, righteous and warranted. There is much happening under the surface of that verse, especially how God does not get up to defend Himself. He remains seated and His anger, terror and wrath come in the form of a spoken word: “I have installed My King on Zion, My holy mountain” (Psalm 2:6). It is like God saying, “I have established My rule and My reign. My King sits on the throne.”

The psalmist was actually looking forward to a time where mankind’s rebellion and sin would be finally thwarted—he was looking forward to the time of Jesus, when the Creator entered into the creation. In the declaration of this King, the psalmist writes, “I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father” (Psalm 2:7). Some of us may be familiar with those lines from the New Testament, when Jesus came up out of the water after He was baptized, and a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

Jesus is the fulfillment of what the psalmist was looking towards. God entered into His creation in the Person of Jesus Christ to

mend the broken, to heal the hurting, to rescue humanity from its sins and to show the way back to the Father. Jesus was the final revelation from God; the scoff of God at the puny rage of rebellious creation was the final, complete and full revelation of Himself through His Son.

Dear God, thank You for Your Son, who is Your final, complete and full revelation of Yourself. Praise You!