Luke 1:74-75 (ESV)
[74] that we, being delivered from the
hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
[75] in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
This is a part of Zechariah’s
prophecy after his son John was born. John would grow to become John the
Baptist who would introduce Jesus to the world. In remembering his covenant
with Israel, God is acting to deliver his people. This is not just deliverance
from a foreign power. According to verse 77 this is forgiveness of their sins.
This is light in the darkness guiding them into the way of peace (vs 79).
Notice the purpose of deliverance
in these verses. “That we . . . might serve him without fear.” And that service
without fear is to be in holiness and righteousness all our days. Serving him
without fear in holiness and righteousness rests on being delivered. One cannot
just start being good in order to please God. One must first be delivered.
Perhaps one of the reasons that
there is so little fearlessness, holiness, and righteousness among the people
who claim to know God is because there is so little understanding of how much
we have been delivered. The gospel is more than a ticket to Heaven. It is
deliverance. The gospel is not about appeasing an angry God. It is about restoring
very broken people to right relationship with a gracious, merciful God who has every
right to banish us forever. It is about restoring people who ripped the
paintbrush out of the master artist’s hands and insisted on making chaos out of
his creation.
If we, the church, individually
and corporately understood the level of deliverance God has provided maybe
there would be less fear and more holiness and righteousness. We don’t live in
the past, nor do we live in the “what if’s” of life. But occasionally it is
healthy to remember of who we are and who we would be apart from Christ. Then
we are reminded of what it means to be truly delivered.
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