Lesson for the Lord’s Day
Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. Galatians 1:4
An old friend of mine loved to talk about the days in 1945 when the Canadian soldiers made their great deliverance sweep through his home country of Netherlands. Suffering under the cruel repression of the Nazi occupiers during the Second World War, the Dutch people welcomed the arrival of the Canadians with wild jubilation. They could not do enough to show their gratitude, showering the Canadians with gifts, meals, and parties. Not only were the Canadians hailed as heroic liberators at that time, but the Dutch people have maintained their expressions of deep appreciation. Canadians who visit Netherlands are always greeted warmly and with stories of how the Canadians liberated their land. Those stories make us feel good about the role of liberator, even though those great events happened some 80 years ago. But there is an even greater Liberator Who we hail today!
The Nazi’s subjugation of the Netherlands and much of the rest of Europe was relatively short-lived. But a more cruel despot with greater power than Hitler has been holding this earth’s billions in his clutches for thousands of years. The devil’s slavery began in Eden, and continues to this day. But his domination is not complete. Down through the centuries, some have found freedom in the message of the Gospel, the proclamation of liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18). God’s great plan of salvation provides for us to be delivered from the penalty of our sins (at conversion), the power of our sins (every day), and eventually from the very presence of sins (in Heaven).
Our text reminds us that it is from this present evil world that we are liberated. The present evil world that we see around us is much different from the present evil world that Paul and the Galatian Christians were so familiar with. But it is our present, and it is just as evil. As far as God is concerned, we have been delivered. But we are living so close to this world that it wraps its tentacles around us, and robs us of the reality of our freedom. This present evil world cannot drag us down to hell with the lost. But if we allow it, it can drag our souls down into its misery, discouragements, failures, and hatreds, so that we lose the joy of our salvation. Jesus gave Himself for us, to deliver us from that.
We appreciate our great liberation only as much as we appreciate our great Liberator. – Jim MacIntosh