"Wherefore then
do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?
when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and
they departed?" - 1 Samuel 6:6
The power and might of
God cannot be overstated. He rules in the kingdoms of men with equal
authority as he rules in the kingdom of heaven. He has limitless dominion
and power. To the righteous, there is
comfort and rest knowing that God is in your corner. To the wicked, there
is only defeat. What hope have we who would
strive against God? What reason to? There is full deliverance available to
whosoever will.
The Jews spent four
hundred years as slaves in the land of Egypt. Cruel bondage, and harsh
labor; serving under Pharaoh. Then one
day, God instructed Moses to go down to Egypt and lead them out. Moses obeyed,
but when he arrives Pharaoh protested (no surprise there). Moses then went back and told God that
Pharaoh was not going to let His people go.
Pharaoh stood in absolute defiance to God Almighty and God responded
with a miraculous show of force. Pharaoh was hard headed, but by the time
the showdown was done, he let the Jews go, in fact, the Egyptians were begging
them to leave. God’s deliverance was so
great that generations upon generations would hear and tell of the mighty
Exodus out of Egypt and the full deliverance into Canaan land. The
analogy is such to our spiritual lives.
When you live in sin, it becomes slavery. Hopefully, there comes a point where you cry
out to God because you just want to be free.
The scripture tells us that if we confess our sins he is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is a deliverance that God has prepared for you and a grace that he is
willing to offer you. The devil would have us continue in bondage, blind,
deaf, and laboring in our sin. Slaving
away with hard hearts, denying the wonderful works of God. Rejecting the full deliverance in
Christ. When you decide to follow him,
he will bring you out of bondage and it will not be a half-way deliverance.
Moses didn't know how he was going to even speak to Pharaoh, at first, and the
Jews didn't want Moses’s help, the entire mission seemed impossible; but God
majors in impossible. God swooped in, delivered them, and the power of
God was mighty in their lives. So mighty
in fact, that it became a rallying point to the Jews and a terrifying reminder
to their enemies. God can deliver you
from sin in such a fashion that it will resonate with the world around
you. In the past, you may have only been living in defeat and
enslavement; a consistent and reoccurring state of “I can’t help it.” However,
when Jesus shows up, with great power, the deliverance is so wonderful and
drastic that you change and those around you begin to say, “there is something
different.” It’s Jesus! The only
thing that made the Jews God’s chosen people was that He chose them. When Jesus went to the cross, he chose
you.
The Hebrew writer asks:
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation;” Why would you neglect so great a salvation? So great a deliverance? He can and will be a saving
force in your life, he will be the greatest force in your life. Jesus
Christ can bring full deliverance, and when he does: you will know it, the
devil will know it, and everyone around you will know it.
