Isaiah 49:8-9a – The Strong Deliverer
First, we must note that here again we have a direct word from Jehovah. He is the God of Covenant, Who has taken a people to Himself from eternity. He is theirs, and they are His. In eternity past He determined to save His people.
As we saw in verse 4, the Servant sighed about His apparent failure, saying so in the ears of His Father. The Father now assures Him that He has heard Him. Just as promised, the Father helped and preserved Him – at the Upper Room, at Gethsemane, in betrayal, in abandonment, in trial, in torment, in crucifixion, in curse, and in death. He was helped and raised, and has ascended to bring about deliverance! The God of Covenant has made Jesus the Covenant for the people. He lived to fulfill the Covenant of Grace, He died to fulfill the Covenant of Grace, and was raised in reward for fulfilling the Covenant of Grace. In our place He did it all. He did it all for us, in our place, fulfilling all the terms of the Covenant of Works that Adam failed to do, so that the Covenant of Grace was secured and all its terms established. The benefits are for His people; for those of Israel and for those of the nations!
Those in sin are prisoners! They may think themselves free – free livers, free lovers, free thinkers they have called themselves. Yet they are enslaved to their passions, enslaved to their prejudices, enslaved to their pride. They may stay away from what they and others think of as coarse or low sin, but they continue on in their sin of choice. All they do is bring about a transfer from one cell to another in the prison of sin. Just as Jesus called Lazarus forth from the grave, so He now calls out the spiritually dead sinner from the prison of his sin. Do you sense your death? Has it finally come to you? Do you find yourself helpless and bound? Do you hear Him? Is He calling you? Come forth! Come forth into the Light! It’s not merely a deliverance from sin, from death, and from darkness, but a deliverance to forgiveness, to new life, and to Him Who is the light of men.
Questions
- What has Christ done for us?
- How is sin like a prison?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the salvation of family and friends.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.