D is for Deliverer

In the New World Dictionary, the #1 explanation of what ‘deliver’ or deliverer means: "to set free or save from evil, danger, or restraint; liberate (delivered from bondage.)." In Romans 11:26 Paul wrote "And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob". Matthew 6:13 in the Lord’s Prayer states: "…but Deliver us from evil…" A favorite of mine is Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust."

From these verses we see that it was in God’s plan to be our Deliverer. To help understand the word even better, we need to take a short look at the past. The whole history of the Jewish people is really a dramatic one. They have had a history of suffering, slavery, and pain. In Egypt they were in slavery, so in the desert, and even after they conquered Palestine. The very small period of independence was during the time of David and Solomon. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided into two parts, Judea in the south and Israel to the North. In about 600 BC Jerusalem was destroyed and the people carried into captivity. Israel and Judea were wiped out as a political power and did not rise again until 1947. All the time those two kingdoms were looking for a Deliverer.

All of the history of humanity has been a struggle, and humanity as a whole has been looking for an ideal, for a Deliverer. No man is going to meet the needs of humanity, save one, and He is the one the prophets spoke about who would crush the seed of the serpent. These prophets were to prepare the way to the only Deliverer, and that is Jesus Christ. Jesus was sent to earth to give Himself for the sins of all mankind, to rescue us from the power of the present evil age—a world ruled by Satan and filled with cruelty, temptation, tragedy and deception. Jesus came to be the Deliverer.

Jesus is our Deliverer if we will put our trust in Him, accept that He paid the price and let Him into our hearts. This doesn’t immediately remove us from this world of sin, but we are no longer enslaved to it; we are delivered from the power of sin with Jesus life in us. Then when we die, we know that we will be delivered from Satan’s clutches and be with the Lord Jesus, our Deliverer, in heaven for eternity.

My Deliverer
You rescued me
From all that held me captive
My Deliverer
You set me free
Now I’m alive and can live
So every moment I will give you praise
My Deliverer!
--Mandisa