The malevolent coverup of the resurrection began, even while the women went to tell the disciples the good news. The guards came into the city and told the chief priest and rulers everything that had happened. Think of it -- the rulers and priests' own employees told them the truth about the resurrection, even though as soldiers, their words put them in potential jeopardy. This is how we know that the chief priests and all the people that were there knew Christ had risen from the grave. They knew because the guards told them. But they hated Christ, and had murdered Messiah, and they weren't about to allow His claims to be vindicated by His own resurrection. So they paid the soldiers to lie, and say that the disciples stole Christ's body. The soldiers lied for them out of greed, and the rulers were determined to suppress Christ's work at all costs. They had already murdered Him, so what was a little bribery to spread lies to deny His resurrection? This is in concert with what the scriptures teach, that the natural man, that is, the man without the Holy Spirit, cannot receive the things that be of God, because they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. Having and believing the facts aren't enough without the Spirit's supernatural work in your mind and heart. Without the Spirit, you cannot receive it. You cannot rest in it. You cannot trust in it. So it was with the rulers. They hated Messiah. They murdered Messiah. And they were going to continue their anti-Messiah agenda all the way to the end, no matter what they actually knew to be true.

We love to celebrate the birth of our dear Lord Jesus this time of the year, for it is a marvelous and glorious thing! The birth of the Second Person of the triune God, specifically to save us from our sins, by dying in our place on the cross, is a unique person, with a unique purpose, and full of love and compassion for His poor people! The wonder of it all, is that so many of Christ's particular virtues, and special acts, were clearly laid out beforehand by the prophets of old. In the garden, right after the fall of man into sin and ruin, God Himself promised, that the incarnate seed of the woman would one day crush the serpent's head, while being wounded on His heel. This promise of the incarnation was noted by the writer of Hebrews: forasmuch then as the children of God are partakers of flesh and blood, Christ also took part of the same, that He might deliver them all! The psalmist David foretold the death of Christ, His faith and peace in His death, and God's promise that He would not see corruption. Afterward, Christ in His humanity would rejoice before God forever! We are all born with little or no knowledge of God's purpose in bringing us to life, and we travel through life, not knowing what will come to pass. Not so with Jesus! He knew. He always knew! He intended it to be so, that He should die to save His people from their sins. There is therefore, for Christ, a great deal of expressed knowledge beforehand of the purpose and arc of the life of Christ. God ordains all our lives and outcomes, but Christ's foreordained outcome and work were fully known to Him, and partly recorded beforehand for our knowledge and comfort by the prophets.

Paul begins the book of Romans by expounding on the wrath of God against unbelievers, who have enough revelation in nature to compel them to worship their Creator, and to love Him, and yet they do not. They do not glorify God; they are not thankful. They descend into foolishness, gross wickedness, and the love of rebellion against God. But most of the remainder of Romans is about how God saves His loved ones from His just wrath! He does so, not by lowering the standards of justice, but by the dying of His Son as our sacrifice, and pursuing His beloved ones by the Holy Spirit. This was foretold in various prophecies, for example, by Micah: God will pardon our iniquity, and pass by our transgressions. God delights in mercy for His people. He will have compassion upon us, He will subdue our iniquities! God will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Indeed, our Lord Jesus, during His ministry, showed both common and extraordinary compassion on lost people around Him. Jesus kindly raised the poor widow's only son up in the very midst of his funeral procession! But more glorious is the compassion Jesus showed for lost sinners! The most amazing part is, that our Savior went to the cross, and suffered agony and shame for us, bearing our sins in His Own body on the tree, suffering the wrath of God in our place. And yet, He never laid a burden on His people as He died! He never leveled any recriminations against us, though it was for our crimes that He suffered so. He is always so kind to us, even when we are unkind to Him. He is so gentle with His people. He will never crush us, praise God!

We are not to put our trust in princes, or in man generally, since all their plans disappear as soon as they die. Only God's plans survive, and continue to accomplish His purposes! No nation we can build or fight for can accomplish anything lasting for us. Our only hope is found in our Lord Jesus, and what He accomplished for us at the cross. He has saved His people, and one day will raise us up to everlasting life in glory! Early this very morning, the Assad government in Syria collapsed before the world's eyes! Now, Isis and Al Qaeda are in control, put into place by Turkey, Israel, and the United States. It seems that the countries in the middle east that protected Christians have all been overthrown by Israel and the United States, forcing believers to flee for their lives or be murdered by their new leaders. America has hated Syria and Assad because his government was friendly with Iran and Russia, and so we have constantly bombed its people, stolen their property and oil, and imposed killing sanctions that destroyed its economy and citizenry. Many people trusted that Assad would protect them. But now all at once, he has been driven out, and those people now await their liquidation by our terrorist allies who took over. That is why we are not to put our trust in princes! The Lord wants His people to trust only in His power, and in His Son's might and glory! Some teach that Israel is promised to return to the land. That well might be true. But the New Testament directs our attention to Christ's return to that land, of His reign, His rule, His judgment, His peace. That is what believers are to long for!