The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Psalm 22: Our Victory in Jesus

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Did you know that Jesus’ victory on the cross can also be your victory?

I was in Jerusalem Easter of 2008 on a video shoot with my old friend Evangelist Don McGee. Don is the founder and director of Crown & Sickle Ministries based in Amite, Louisiana. Don travels all over the Unites States preaching about the soon return of Jesus Christ and speaking at Bible prophecy conferences.

Don and I then got together on my television show “Christ in Prophecy” to discuss how Psalm 22 is one of the most prophetic chapters concerning the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (watch!). We discussed how particularly remarkable it is that the descriptive prophecy concerning Jesus’ death was written more than one thousand years before Jesus was born, and more than 700 years before the Romans perfected crucifixion as a method of execution.

Don McGee

The Blessings of the Cross

Dr. Reagan: The last six verses of Psalm 22 give us a glorious summary of the consequences of the Lord’s passion on the cross.

The first one is the most important. It is salvation for all who put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Here’s how verse 26 reads, it says, “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the Lord!” The apostle Peter sums up the meaning of this verse in 1 Peter 2:24. He writes there these words, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

Don McGee: The second blessing of the Cross that is mentioned in Psalm 22 has to do with the obedience of Jesus. It says that His submission to the humiliation of the Cross will result in His glorification before all the nations of the earth when He returns to reign over the world. Here’s how the psalmist expresses it, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.”

Dr. Reagan: When the Lord’s glorious reign begins, all the Redeemed will be prospered, while those who are condemned by their unbelief will bow before Him and confess Him as King of kings and Lord of lords before being consigned to Hell. Verse 29 says, “All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, all those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive.” Isaiah puts it this way, “Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” This is affirmed in the New Testament in Romans 14 and Philippians 2.

Don McGee: Think of it, a day will come when Hitler and Stalin will bow and confess the lordship of Jesus, as will Madeline Murray O’Hare, Charles Darwin, and ever other nefarious person who has ever lived. But, it will have no impact upon their eternal destiny. Only those that make the confession in this life will receive the blessing of having their hearts live forever.

Dr. Reagan: The final consequence of the Cross that is mentioned in Psalm 22 is that during the millennial reign of Jesus, the Redeemed (who will be in glorified bodies) will teach those who are born during that time of the righteousness of Jesus and of the all-sufficiency of His sacrifice on the Cross.

It Is Finished

Dr. Reagan: The psalm concludes with two verses. Verse 30 reads, “Posterity will serve Him; it will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They will come and will declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has performed it.” Notice again the last phrase of Psalm 22, “He has performed it.” In the Hebrew, it literally says, “It is finished.” This fact has prompted some scholars to theorize that as Jesus hung on the Cross, He quite likely quoted all of Psalm 22, beginning with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And, ending with the words, “It is finished.” The witnesses then simply wrote down the opening and closing words, which were recorded in the Gospels.

Who is Jesus to you?

Dr. Reagan: As we conclude our consideration of Psalm 22, one thing is certain — the fulfillment of all the prophecies of Psalm 22 in the life of Jesus confirms Him to have been the promised Messiah. This fact raises a crucial question — the most important question of your life: “Who is Jesus to you?”

Don McGee: When Jesus was tried by the Roman authorities, the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate asked the assembled mob, “What shall I do with this Jesus who is called the Messiah?” My friends, that is the most important question in the whole universe. So, let me put Pilate’s question to you. “What will you do with Jesus?” Will you accept Him as Lord and Savior, as did the thief on the cross? If so, then you will have received the same promise as did the thief. Jesus said to him: “You shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Dr. Reagan: Or, will you simply wash your hands of Jesus, as did Pilate? If so, then your destiny will be one of eternal separation from God in Hell. Your eternal destiny — Heaven or Hell — depends upon your answer to one question, “Who do you say that Jesus is?”

Don McGee: The Bible says that every person on planet earth is under either the wrath of God or the grace of God, because those are the two ways in which God deals with sin. Are you under wrath or grace? You can move from wrath to grace by putting your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Do it today. Don’t delay!

When you do so, seek out a Bible believing church where you can manifest your new faith in public confession of Jesus in water baptism. You need to get involved in the fellowship of a local church where you can begin to grow in the image of Jesus through systematic Bible study and prayer.

For more on the message of Psalm 22, please see my article entitled “The Passion in Prophecy”.

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Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan is the Founder and Evangelist Emeritus of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher and he led over 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan was the host of the radio then television program Christ in Prophecy for nearly 40 years.

7 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • The cross is great, wonderful, marvelous, but the cross without the resurrection is nothing.

    Sure, the resurrection showed God's power, but God has been showing His power since the creation of the world. And note, that Jesus wasn't the first person to be resurrected, so it wasn't a unique event. OT prophets resurrected people, Jesus resurrected Lazarus and others. Did God not show His power in those instances of resurrection?

    So, what is the point of the resurrection? What does it mean to YOU personally? What does it mean to you in your day-to-day life?

  • Hello Laura
    There is a difference between the resurrection of Jesus and those who were 'raised from the dead'. These all eventually died and still await resurrection.

    The resurrection of Jesus was permanant as He is the first born from the dead. That means we who are born again through His death and resurrection shall rise in the FIRST resurrection into eternal life. Praise the Lord! 🙂
    EI

  • Hello All
    For the past few weeks I have been posting as ‘Wary’ on a new blog in England trying to expose the error in the U.K. church. The blog owner is John Chingford and he is beavering away at some excellent articles. Have you heard of ‘Common Purpose’? I hadn’t, but John has been looking into this and has just done an article, its all rather sinister and creepy imo, and concerns the E.U. If you get a chance, please look in on ‘The Last Day’s Watchman’; John Ch needs input and encouragement in our dark land

    http://www.watchmanforjesus.blogspot.com/

    God bless you all.
    EI.

  • Well said, EI, on the differences in the resurrections and THE Resurrection.

    Laura, what does the Resurrection mean to me? It means death and Sheol have been defeated FOREVER for those who proclaim Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord. They are meaningless. They have no sting anymore.

  • rg
    Absolutely Brill! did you post? 🙂

    EI aka Wary – cus I am – exceedingly!

    Son of Thunder
    Amen!

  • EI: Yes, of course Jesus' resurrection was different, but my point is that His resurrection wasn't the first, and other resurrections (no matter how they ended) showed God's power long before Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

    Great answer, Thunder, but what does Jesus' resurrection have to do with your life TODAY, here on planet earth, this side of death?

    We all talk about how Jesus was crucified with two thieves. However, the Bible uses much more ink to talk about OUR crucifixion and resurrection with Jesus (see Gal. 2:20, Rom. 6:4, Col. 2:12 just to cite a few).

    So, some related questions are, "Why have you and I been co-crucified and resurrected with Jesus? What part of us was killed off and created anew–our body, soul, or spirit? What did this crucifixion and resurrection accomplish for us?"

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