SALVATION'S REMEDY FOR FEAR AND BONDAGE

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb 2:14-15). "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15).

Devotion 5 of 18

DELIVERANCE HAS BEEN PROVIDED

The plight of the bondage of men is seen in the necessity of their deliverance. Sin had so entwined around the souls of men that they were utterly helpless to correct their condition. Rescue had to come from outside of themselves. It was impossible for men to organize a recovery program. Nothing they could do could release them from captivity to sin and death. No amount of intellectual discipline or superiority could resolve their dilemma.

In order for this deliverance to be effected, a battle must be waged in the arena dominated by death and moral bondage. The release of souls enslaved to sin and death could not be accomplished by a Word from heaven. Nor, indeed, could it be achieved be means of a heavenly battle between the holy angels and Satan's hosts. The reason for this inability was not due to any weakness on the part of God, or omnipotence on the part of Satan. Rather, the deliverance of men must not only leave them free, it must also allow God to remain righteous. The rescue must itself be just and righteous. It must not require God to wink at sin, as though it did not exist, or to clear the guilty, as though sin could be dismissed without a due penalty for it being paid. In salvation, praise the Lord, God is extolled as being both "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom 3:25).

Thus "God sent his only begotten Son into the world" (1 John 4:9), into the very place where men were being held in bondage by the wicked one. Jesus came into the "strong man's house," to "carry away his property," or liberate those he had bound. First, He will "bind the strong man" destroying his power over the enslaved, in order that He might set them free (Mark 12:29). Deliverance will not occur until this takes place.

The realm in which this binding took place was the lowest point of our Lord's existence among men–His death. As it is written, "For though He was crucified THROUGH WEAKNESS, yet He liveth by the power of God" (2 Cor 13:4). In His death, the Lord Jesus was delivered by God over to the power of the enemy–"delivered up for our offenses" (Rom 4:25). That awful night when our Lord was betrayed began a brief period given to the "power of darkness." As Jesus said to those who arrested Him, "When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Lk 22:53). This is the very "power of darkness" from which He has delivered us (Col 1:13).

In His death, the Lord Jesus was proved to be the Liberator of humanity. His victory was wrought out in the pit itself, as it was. As our text says, "Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14, NASB). Thus, the devil was impotent to do his will any longer in those availing themselves of the reconciliation. Their foe had been decimated, and thus could hold them no longer. Anyone, anywhere, who wants to come to Jesus, as He urges them to do (Matt 11:28), will be able to do so. Satan cannot stop them! They have been liberated to come to the Savior!

In His death, Jesus "lay down" His life–it was not "taken" from Him (John 10:17-18). If He had not laid it down "of His own accord," Jesus could not have died. Death is the wages of sin (Rom 6:23), and Jesus had no sin of His own. Death had no claim upon Jesus! Thus, only as the sins of the world were placed upon Him, and He voluntarily laid down His life, could Jesus die. When He did this, He took the sting out of death, and tore the doors off all moral prisons, like Samson removed the gates of Gaza (Judges 16:3).

Our text continues, "and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (NIV). The bondage from which we have been liberated was not a brief one, with a distinct beginning. It dominated the entirety of our lives–"all their lives were held in slavery." And what was the means through which this consistent and unending slavery was maintained? It was "the fear of death." It becomes clear, therefore, that when Jesus Himself "tasted death for every man" (Heb 2:9), that He plucked up the "fear of death" by its roots. No longer would such fear dominate men who "receive the atonement" (Rom 5:11). They will be motivated by the love of Christ, not the fear of death! As it is written, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor 5:14-15).

Deliverance has been provided! It is offered to all who will receive it. This grand message must be proclaimed to believers–in fact, that is the very people to whom it is consistently announced (Heb 2:14-15; Rom 6:18; Rom 8:2; Gal 5:1). The spiritual deficiencies that exist in the contemporary church do not need to continue! Jesus has liberated us from such things. That liberation, however, must be appropriated by faith and aggressively maintained. As it is written, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Gal 5:1, NKJV).

PRAYER POINT: Father, I praise Your name for the good news of such a marvelous deliverance. In Jesus' name, awaken me to the magnitude and availability of this freedom.

– Tomorrow: THE FEAR OF DEATH --