The Arm of the Lord1️⃣: Redemption

Ever thought about how almost every part of our bodies (well at least the external ones 🙃) tend to have a significant spiritual role? The Bible quotes passages like, "He who has ears, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches." Elsewhere Jesus would say things like, "Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear."

Clearly He was using a spiritual approach because it wasn't that He was in that moment speaking to blind or deaf people. In the same manner, I believe there's a spiritual aspect even to the arm, and in our case the Arm of God Himself. (For the sake of medical students here 😂🙃, we're using layman's terms...so ideally both the arm and the forearm). So, if the ear's primary function is to hear, and that of the eye is to see, what of the arm?

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Isaiah 59.1NIV

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, 

nor his ear too dull to hear.

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If we were to take this passage literally, then the arm's primary function would be to save. We'll look into that in a moment. For now it's important to note that the arm stems from a root word 'zãrà' which means "to spread". Basically, unlike the hand, the arm can be "stretched out." Another of it's original root words means "bosom." All these will make much more sense in the subsequent blogs. For today, we get to learn about the most fundamental role, and that is Redemption.

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Exodus 6.6NIV

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 

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To redeem is to tear loose, rescue, purchase, or in other terms, give a ransom. In the Old Testament, the term "redemption" is used to denote deliverance. The Israelites were literally slaves in a foreign land for 430 years. Here, God shows up as the Redeemer of Israel in the sense that He is their Deliverer. In the New Testament, the term "redemption"  is more of "a ransom." Men are held under the curse of the law, or of sin itself. The Redeemer "purchases" their deliverance by offering Himself as "payment" for their redemption. 

I'm sure you must have realized that it's all one and the same thing. The O.T. here gives us the physical aspect while the N.T. gives us the spiritual aspect. The former is a shadow of the latter. The next verse we hadn't looked at in Isaiah 59 is what confirms that this is really all about salvation, or in other words, man's need of a Saviour. Honestly it's quite a long chapter but every bit of it is very important for this particular piece. It sure would be a wise thing to read it all before this next part since I can only put up a few of the outstanding verses.

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Isaiah 59:2-3 NIV

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.

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Realize that one's  physical state mirrors the spiritual. The Israelites were in physical bondage by virtue of being slaves to the Egyptians...but it really was much more than that. They had digressed from the true worship of Yahweh and instead bowed down and worshipped the gods of the Egyptians. That tells you that the real issue was their spiritual condition, and that was their bondage to sin. God didn't just want to deliver them only for them to be physically free. His main intention is clear in Scripture, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." Much as their redemption from slavery seemed physical in every way, it was birthed from a spiritual place. They had become slaves to sin before they were slaves to the Egyptians (Refer to Ezekiel 20:6-10).  

Verses 2-3 above (Isaiah 59) clearly show how deeply man had fallen, and how seemingly impossible it was to restore the fellowship that ought to be there between God and man. All this was because the law of sin since the fall of man has been at work in mankind, and threatened to put an end to God's original intent to fellowship with man. Further on in the chapter it's clear that man was desperate - really desperate as he sought Light, justice, deliverance, righteousness (right-standing with God) and Truth, yet found none of that. All that was up until God saw the desperation, and stepped in like only He can.

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Isaiah 59:15-16 NIV

Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.

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Notice that the prophet Isaiah makes reference to the Arm again in regard to salvation. The NKJV has that as "So His own arm achieved salvation for Him." That is basically what the whole chapter was about: sin, confession and redemption. God reconciled us through Christ to Himself, and that simply is the message of salvation. This is not to be overlooked. 

Now there's quite a thin line between salvation and deliverance. It is salvation that yields deliverance. Why I say this is because salvation is more spiritual than it is physical, while deliverance is very practical. In simpler terms, when God saves you, it means you have answered His call to you out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Check this:

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Colossians 1:12-14 NKJV

giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

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Scripture terms the devil as a "ruler of darkness." So when one is saved, they come under a new authority, that of Jesus Christ who is the Light, and are, therefore, loosed or delivered from the grip of the enemy. That tells you there's no in between. You're either saved completely and are walking in the light, or are not saved at all and are, therefore, in darkness, under the grip of the devil. (Note that even in practical deliverance where demons are cast out of people, especially Satanists, such people are required to renounce the lordship of Satan over their lives and confess Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. It's only then that deliverance is complete. Salvation is the most fundamental).

Another quick reference just to nullify every doubt would be Isaiah 53, best known as "The suffering servant". Like our previous text, the first verse clearly points out the significance of the whole chapter, and that is the saving power of God:- 

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Isaiah 53:1-12 NIV

Who has believed our message, 

and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

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You might have heard this over and over again, but I strongly believe that the message of salvation is one that we can never fully exhaust (even if you've been saved for decades now 🙃). I personally love reminding myself of the salvation story. Of all the great miracles we read about and are in so much awe, I believe Salvation is the greatest of them all. In fact it should be emphasized the most because without it the rest of them are null and void. Keep that in mind, will you? Here's to the greatest miracle ever...the Miracle of Love. ♥️😊

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Isaiah 59:20 NIV

The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,

declares the Lord.

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Now is as good a time as any other. This miracle is not far off. Scripture says, 

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Romans 10:8-10 NIV

But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

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Well, God cares about your physical condition too. It's why He heard the cry of the Israelites when they were oppressed by the Egyptians. He delivered them. Whatever form of bondage it could be, He is willing to set you free. So, to them that are in bondage, He says, and I will paraphrase the text:

"I am the Lord. I will bring you out. I will free you. I will redeem you with my outstretched arm."

In case everything else becomes a blur, hold this close:😊

God desires to set you free.

His will for you is Absolute Freedom.