Monday, December 5, 2005
Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners."
THE SAVIOR'S WORK
Every four years the citizens of this country have the opportunity to elect a new leader for our country. We look at the candidates qualifications and compare those with what needs to be accomplished and make our vote. But still it often happens that someone unqualified gets elected instead. Thanks be to God that our Savior was not elected or chosen by us, but was chosen by God from the foundation of the world.
What was it that our Savior had been chosen to do? He was chosen to bring comfort -- "to bring good news to the afflicted." All people have been afflicted since the time of Adam and Eve and the fall into sin. We are afflicted with sin which is the inability to fulfill God's Law as He wants us to. Our sin condemns us to an eternity in hell with the Devil. But Jesus brought us the "good news" of our sins forgiven through His perfect life and His death in our place.
But our Savior was chosen to do more than just proclaim. More importantly, He was the one who obtained this liberty and comfort for all people. While He was here on earth He was proclaiming this message of liberty but He was also keeping the Commandments of God perfectly in our place. He was looking forward to the cross, when He would also die in our place; for the sins we had committed. Through His perfect life and innocent death He gained the victory over death and the Devil for us. It was the freedom over death and the Devil which He won for us that He came to proclaim. Jesus work was not only to tell us about this freedom from sin, but also to deliver us from the bondage of sin!
