Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Jesus Christ Liberates

Biblical Passage: Exo 3:1-15
God said to Moses, “I am who I am……” 
Devotion
Britannica defines the word liberation as the act of freeing someone from someone’s control. The book of Exodus describes the whole story of how God has marvelously liberated his people from slavery to a promised land that he had envisioned for them. Exodus chapter 2 and 3 talks about how God is intervening and liberating their leader – Moses, that He has picked for His people’s liberation. All through the life of Moses, we can see that how God has liberated him from the time of his birth by delivering him from the death imposed by Pharoh, protecting him during his escape from Egypt by giving him a family and intervening at the right time and revealing the purpose of his life. There are times when we all question about our life’s God given purpose when we go through the daily grind. In Exodus Ch:3-15 we can see how God is intervening and liberating Moses from the daily mundane of his life by giving him a snippet of his real purpose – the responsibility of liberating the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt to a promised land of abundance. In the same way, the ministry of Jesus and the Gospel message focused on the liberation of mankind from the bondage of sin – Salvation (“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed”- Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1). Liberation or freedom is an excellent description of the biblical idea of salvation. In the Bible, the word “salvation” means the action or result of deliverance from danger.  In the Old Testament it tends to refer to the escape of God’s people from their enemies, and in particular the escape of the nation of Israel from the bondage of Egypt and Babylon.  In the New Testament it refers to deliverance from the power of evil — through the cross Christ has freed us from the tyrants of sin and death. During our life in this world, our sinful nature causes us to stumble and fall. The result of sin is guilt, shame, alienation, depression, emptiness, loneliness, pain, and death.  It is our daily walk with the Jesus that liberates us from the bondage of sin and helps us to course correct and continue our journey towards our promised land - eternal life with God. (“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 ELT)
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we know that you are a God who knows us and the purpose of our life. Help us to understand that God given purpose and lead a life to fulfill that purpose. Please help us to see how you intervene and liberate us when we stumble in our walk with you and give us a mind to respond positively to that intervention and correct our path and continue our journey with you daily.  Amen.
Thought for the Day
We are liberated people through the finished work of Christ !

Nisha Mathew
Carmel MarThoma Church
Boston

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