Isaiah 43:16-21 ESV
Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings forth
chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they
cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a
wick:
“Remember not the
former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a
new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive
it?
I will make a way in
the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild beasts will
honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in
the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my
chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
that they might
declare my praise.”
Delivered from
Captivity
The Israelites of Old Testament times had a period of about
400 years in which they were slaves in Egypt. So, God called Moses to go to
Pharaoh, and to command him to let his people go. Pharaoh did not cooperate, though,
even though God sent several plagues to convince him to let them go… that is
until God sent the plague of the death of every firstborn in the land. Then,
Pharaoh did let the children of Israel go.
But, then Pharaoh had second thoughts, and so he pursued
them with his army in order to overtake them and to bring them back, but God
rescued them out of the hands of their enemies. He took his people through the sea
on dry land, and then when Pharaoh’s armies pursued them into the water, the
Lord had the water come down over Pharaoh’s armies and drown them while his
people escaped to safety on the other side of the sea.
But, back to the plague of the death of the firstborn… God
had his people take a lamb for each household and to kill the lambs, and then
to take some of the blood from each of the lambs and to put it on the two
doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they ate the lambs. And, that
same night God passed through Egypt and he struck dead the firstborn in all the
land except for the houses where he saw the blood. And, in this way, God saved
his people, and he delivered them from their captivity in Egypt.
Slavery and Salvation
The Israelites and their slavery in Egypt, and their
salvation (rescue) from that slavery, was a prefiguring of what Jesus Christ,
our perfect Lamb of God, did for us in delivering us from our slavery (bondage)
to sin.
For, we were born into this world with sin natures, separate
from God, and unable in our own flesh to be acceptable to God or to be
righteous before him. So, God the Son (Jesus) left his throne in heaven, came
to earth, took on our humanity, and humbled himself to obedience to death on a
cross.
He who knew no sin, in his death, became sin for us that we
might become the righteousness of God. Thus, in his death he put our sin to
death, and in his resurrection he conquered sin, death, hell and Satan on our
behalf.
But, God didn’t just do this for his people. He didn’t just
say to them that he was going to kill all the firstborn of the land except for
them and that he would then take them to safety and deliver them out of their
slavery. He had a part that he had them do, too. And, what he had them do gives
us a good picture of what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ.
For, they had to obey God and do what he told them to do,
and they had to apply the blood to their doorposts, i.e. to their entry way
into their homes. And, when God saw the blood applied to the entrance of their
houses, he passed over them in judgment, and the firstborn in those homes were
spared.
And, this is how faith works, too. We must apply to our
lives (to our heart’s doors) what Jesus Christ did for us in shedding his blood
on a cross so that we can be delivered from our slavery to sin. And, to apply
it means to put it to use (practice) in our lives. And, this means that we,
thus, by the Spirit, die with Christ to sin so that we might live to Christ and
to his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Former and New
Through his death and his resurrection, he made the way for
us, not only to be delivered from our addiction to sin, like he delivered the
Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, but he asks us, too, to forget the former
things, i.e. to put behind us our lives of sin, and to see the new life that he
has for us to be lived to him and to his righteousness (See: Lu. 9:23-25).
He wants us to see that his salvation from sin, i.e. his
deliverance for us from our slavery (addiction) to sin is so we will no longer cling
to our past lives, but so we will now cling to our Lord in humble surrender and
obedience to him.
He wants us to see that he is not just forgiving us our sins
so we can go to heaven one day, but he is giving us new lives here on this
earth to be lived to his honor, praise and glory.
So, we don’t add Jesus on to our old lives, in other words.
He is not an “add-on.” He is a change agent, and he died to transform our
hearts, minds and lives away from slavery to sin to living to him by the Spirit
in holiness. It is out with the old life, and in with the new. Don’t we
perceive it?
Water in the
Wilderness
Through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, and in what he did
for us on that cross, not only are we delivered from our slavery to sin, but we
are rescued from the power and control sin and Satan once had over our lives. For,
Jesus put our enemies to death on that cross, just like he drowned Israel’s
enemies in the sea.
Through his death on a cross, he made that way for us, that
way of escape from giving in to temptation to sin, so that we can live holy
lives, pleasing to God. He made that way for us out from underneath that yoke
of slavery so we could walk in freedom from the chains which once bound us. And,
this is the GOOD NEWS!
He has now quenched our thirsts with his life-giving water, our
eternal life with God, and life free from the weight of sin, and he has given
us new lives to be lived for his glory and praise. And, he has given us the
Holy Spirit to teach, counsel, lead, guide, empower, equip and strengthen us to
walk in holiness and to no longer live to gratify the sinful cravings of the
flesh.
And, there is no better life than this, I guarantee you!
There is nothing on this earth like it, to be free from our chains and to have
the peace of God in our hearts and to be living for our Lord and to be walking
in harmony and in fellowship with him.
For, Jesus didn’t die just so we would be forgiven our sins.
He died that we might be for his praise and glory. It is his will that we not only
declare his praise with our lips, but that our lives, and how we live them,
also declare his praise. For, we know that apart from God we cannot be saved.
And, we know that apart from his power at work within us, we have no ability to
live in victory over sin and Satan and to walk righteously before our God.
Thus, all the glory goes to God for what good is
accomplished in and through our lives. For, we acknowledge that he is our sole
source of salvation from sin, and it is him alone who has the power to give us
eternal life with him, and that only through him can any of us walk in
holiness.
Full
Release
An
Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
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