LIBERATED AND SET FREE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.” They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock and water gushed out.

Isaiah 48:20-21

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Freed from bondage.

It’s one of the main themes of the Old Testament and a fact of life from the history of pre-Jesus Israel as God showed over and over that He was indeed their refuge and very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). In our scripture verses for today from Isaiah 48, the Lord reminds us how He redeemed and delivered His people from times of oppressions and hardship. Let’s look again at His words here:

This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.” They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock and water gushed out.  Isaiah 48:20-21

Judgment was coming on the people of Israel. They had violated God one too many times and so He was going to take them away from everything He had blessed them with. Their homeland would be laid to waste by the Babylonians and they would be hauled away into exile in a foreign land, their freedom gone and exchanged for oppression.

Yet, in the midst of these consequences, we see that the same Lord of judgment is a Lord of mercy and liberation. The Israelite exile was not going to last forever and God’s people would be allowed to flee from their captivity and return home to rebuild their homes, their cities, and most importantly, their faith (I recommend reading the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah for the account).

Of course, this was nothing new for God and He wanted His people to know it. For when their ancestors were being held by Pharaoh who refused God’s petition for their release, God showed that He was a great Redeemer of His holy ones of Israel and set miraculous events in motion that led to the people of Israel finding freedom. And with no place to live, the Lord took care of that too, leading His people on an exodus to a land He reserved for them, the promised land of Canaan that would become the land of Israel. Again, the Lord liberated and set His people free in their time of need, providing for them in astonishing ways during their journey.

Fast forward now to the New Testament days. God saw that there was a need for redemption and deliverance that exceeded any of the ones that had preceded for His people were held captive and oppressed by sin and death awaited them unless they were given a way to be saved.

And so out of love, He sent His one and only Son Jesus who bore the sins of mankind as He was crucified on Calvary’s cross. Instead of the death penalty falling on every man and woman on earth, God chose for His Son to die in their place, a living sacrifice to usher in atonement from transgression. Through Christ, everyone was given the opportunity to be liberated and set free from the captivity, bondage, and oppression of sinfulness. All they had to do (and all we still have to do today and forever more) is to profess our belief and trust in Jesus as Savior, committing our all to Him just as He gave His all for us.

Friends, when this happens, when we surrender our will and way for the Savior Jesus who tells is He is the way and the only path to God the Father (John 14:6) then we are set free from the death verdict of sin and justified (made just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned) before our Master and Maker. In other words, we become victorious people, victorious over death and the grave just as Jesus was and set loose to live and love and learn in righteousness under His divine tutelage.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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