7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their [a]sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Exodus 3:7-8
Last week, we talked about the importance of “learning” certain behaviors once you accept Christ. It is so important to do this to live a victorious life in Jesus. So many of us live a defeated life when, in reality, Our life should be full of joy. And the reason is we have failed to understand the true meaning of salvation. For the next few weeks, I will be focusing on things we should learn as we go through sanctification.
To illustrate this, let’s understand the Exodus. As most of you are probably aware, the account of Israel in Egypt and freedom from bondage speaks of our slavery to sin and freedom from it, when you accept Christ. What was the purpose of God bringing out Israelites from Egypt? The objective was not to bring them out from Egypt but to bring them IN to promise land. It is so essential for us to learn that. God did not just simply want them out of Egypt and leave them in the wilderness to struggle without a home, food water, and basic necessities. NO, he wanted them to enter the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. When you accept Christ, God wants you to experience the full joy of walking with Him. Too many of us are satisfied to be out of Egypt and stay in the wilderness instead of moving on to the promised land. In other words, we are satisfied with being free and never go beyond the wilderness. And, you must make that walk to reach the Promised land. In the Gospels, we read about Jesus’s baptism, and right after that, He is sent to what place: Wilderness. Yes, it was a literal place probably on the outskirts of Judea, but it is also a metaphor. You see, where Israel ( son Of God-Exodus 4:23 ) failed, Jesus conquered. He was taken into the wilderness and tempted, and He overcame the three temptations where Israel had failed. Before you start your spiritual journey, you have to go through the wilderness. Yes, it is a tough terrain with lots of challenges and obstacles. There are battles to fight and giants to defeat. There will be “walls” that will need to conquer. The Wall of rejection, Wall of doubt, the Wall of Worry, Wall of fear, but like Joshua, you can overcome these “walls” by faith, not by your strength. We may not face giants like Israelites, but we have inner giants that we must overcome pride, jealousy, envy, gossip, self-centeredness, our understanding, our love of the world & sin. We are only able to deal with these giants on the strength of Jesus. Where Israel ( son of God) failed, Jesus overcame, and it is in His power, we can go through “our Wilderness” and enter into the promised land. The defeat of the Egyptians army, the parting of the Red sea, the Passover, all would be in vain without the rest in Cannan. So it is for us, Jesus dying on the cross, shedding His blood, His resurrection, all is done not only to give us freedom from the bondage of sins but also bring us into full rest. Too many Christians are just happy to be out of slavery and spend the rest of their lives wandering in the wilderness. Jesus, our Savior, has promised us to lead us through the wilderness and into the land flowing with milk and honey. You can trust him. He will break down the walls, defeat the giants, and give you possessions He has promised. Trust and Obey is all you need to learn to have a victorious Christian life. Amen
only savior jesus 