March 18, 2010

I've obviously never given birth to a child, but I was there in the labor and delivery room for the hours and hours of labor that led up to the delivery of my two daughters. Those of you ladies who have given birth to children would probably agree with me that when the time finally comes and you give birth, you are delivering, but you are also being delivered. You're delivering into this world your son or daughter, but you're also being delivered, you're being saved, you're being set free, you're being liberated from the pains of labor.

Throughout the pages of Scriptures we find example after example of how our God likes to, in a number of different ways, provide deliverance. One example would be all of the different cities and nations that the LORD delivered into the hands of the Israelites as they were taking possession of the Promised Land. Our Old Testament lesson for this upcoming Sunday comes once again from the book of Isaiah, where we find Isaiah goes back into Old Testament history even further than the time of the Promised Land to the time when the Children of Israel were delivered from the yoke of the Egyptians - back to that mass exodus miracle that was staged at the Red Sea.

Isaiah 43:16-21 16 This is what the LORD says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, 17 who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: 18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

It's not that Isaiah didn't want his audience to remember how God had delivered the Israelites from slavery and from the Egyptians. In fact God commanded them to remember it by celebrating the Passover every year. But the point in these verses of Isaiah is that this deliverance from the Egyptians was just a foreshadowing. The Great Deliverance, the real deal when it comes to deliverance was yet to come - this deliverance was finally realized on the Cross of Calvary, and it was recognized on that first Easter morning. Remember from the Gospel of Luke where we are told that when the women got to the tomb on that first Easter Morning that they couldn't find Jesus' body. And they were greeted by 2 angels who told them to remember what Jesus had told them when He was with them in Galilee: Luke 24:7 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Because Jesus was delivered into the hands of those who would crucify Him, and because He was raised again, we are delivered from from sin, death and the devil.

Now let's go back all the way in Old Testament history. Let's go back to when our first parents, Adam and Eve, were first in trouble. They didn't 'seek God' - they didn't 'make a decision for Christ' - they didn't 'come to Jesus' - in fact they did they exact opposite - they retreated in silence and attempted to hide. When God 'found' them, He could have killed them right then and there. Romans 6:23 tells us that "...the wages of sin is death..." But God had mercy, He did tell Eve that she would experience the pain and agony of labor and delivery, but He also showed His grace and gave them the promise of a Savior. From that point on the whole focus of the entire world changed and that focus was now pointed ahead to the Cross. This gets back to the point of our lesson for this Sunday - Isaiah was telling the people to keep their eyes focused in the right direction, to keep their eyes looking ahead to the promised Savior.

God kept His promise to Adam and Eve -the promise to those who heard and read the words from Isaiah - the promise that He would send a Savior. God provided "water in the desert and streams in the wasteland." We can be confident that because of another promise, Jesus will someday come into this world one more time and get our bodies and souls together to go back with Him to Heaven. And just as at the end of the pain and labor of childbirth, you end up being filled with joy as you get to hold your little one in your arms for the first time; so when we are finally delivered from the sadness and pain of this earth and our eternity in paradise begins, we will also be overjoyed. Our God always keeps His promises. In this way too you could say that our God, always 'delivers.'

Dear God,

Thank you for allowing your one and only Son to be delivered into the hands of those that crucified Him on that tree. His delivery delivered us from sin and the eternity in hell that our sin's deserve. Please send Jesus again soon to make His final delivery, when He will deliver our bodies and souls to the doorstep of Heaven. Come Lord Jesus! Amen!