“Praise the Lord, the God of
Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty
Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through
his holy prophets long ago.” Luke 1:68-70 NLT
In the
Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist’s father Zechariah prophesied about the Savior
that was coming to set the people of Israel free. God had been silent for some time and the
Jews were getting anxious. The Roman rule that oppressed them was weighing them
down. They sought their Messiah and were
looking for Him to come deliver them from the hands of their oppressors. It
should be noted that the way we think
things should go is rarely the way God permits it to take place. It was the same with the Jewish people. They were looking for a warrior King; God
sent a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.
The Jews were looking for a triumphant entrance with sword drawn; God
had Him born in an animal stall in a barn.
It seemed as though the Lord did things just the opposite of the way the
Jews imagined it would take place. The
prophet Isaiah reveals a bit of God’s way in Isaiah 55:8 when the Lord says thru
the prophet …
"My
thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways
are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
God made a promise to His people
long ago, as chronicled in the Old Testament.
He said He would redeem His people from their sins. To redeem is “to recover
ownership of by paying a specified sum”.1 God’s people were not redeemed without a cost. The Mosaic Law required a blood sacrifice to
atone or pay for one’s sin(s). The death of Jesus Christ satisfied the
requirement of the Law and ushered in
a period of undeserved favor from God toward His children, referred to as the
period or dispensation* of God’s grace.
God knew
what He was doing then and He knows what He’s doing now. Our times are in His hands (Psalm
31:15). He is redeeming those who seek
redemption every day and one day will redeem the remnant of His chosen people,
Israel. Blessed is the name of the Lord
for His wonderful plan of redemption for sinful man. Until next time, walk with the King and be a
blessing!
1 American
Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
*“a divinely appointed age or period of time.”
Resources: The
Reformation Study Bible; Published by Ligonier Ministries (Author),
General Editor: R. C. Sproul (Author).
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