He Has Become My Salvation

He Has Become My Salvation Crossing the sea was a great manifestation of God’s power, the climactic moment of the Exodus. What God did in redeeming Israel from slavery in Egypt gives us a beautiful picture of what God can do for each of us. Listen to Exodus 15:1, 2: Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. All Israel had been enslaved by the Egyptians. Though Pharaoh had no moral right to do so, he used them for forced labor. They were worked without mercy. Their lives were bitter with hard labor. They needed to be delivered. In Exodus 3:7, 8 we read: The LORD said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land … God saw their misery and cared about it because He loved them. So, God acted. He personally entered their situation. He stretched out His hand to strike the Egyptians. He brought Israel out to a good and spacious land. This deliverance was not instantaneous. Pharaoh was fighting against freeing Israel. Though he had no rights before God, he did not willingly release them. God confronted him with nine plagues, and he continued to resist. Now the time for victory had come, the tenth plague would bring results. But this salvation would require the application of blood. Each family in Israel was to take a lamb and let it live with them for four days. They would get to know the lamb and identify with it. Its sacrifice would be very personal. They would also be sure that this lamb was without defect. Then the lamb must die for its family, and its blood must be applied to the doorframe of their home. God would judge Egypt that night, and the firstborn in each home would die. But God would look for the blood. Where the blood had been applied, no one would die. He promised, When I see the blood, I will pass over you. There was great sorrow in Egypt that night. All Egypt was in distress. Pharaoh and all his people now urged Israel to leave. They even gave Israel reparations for their illegal enslavement. But once Israel was free and on their way out of Egypt, Pharaoh decided he still wanted them as slaves. He sent his army to bring them back. God intervened again. He opened the sea before Israel. They had to cross between two walls of water. That took faith. But they all crossed safely. When Pharaoh’s army tried to follow, God brought the walls of water down on them. Israel was finally and totally free of their Egyptian slavery. All this is a type of what God does for us. A type is an historical event or person that foreshadows a greater event or person. The exodus of Israel really happened. Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt. But it foreshadowed an even greater salvation. God delivers people of all nations from slavery to sin. We have all been enslaved by sin and placed in bondage by our guilt. Like Pharaoh, Satan’s claim of ownership over us is invalid. God owns all, even those in rebellion against Him. But Satan deceives the guilty into serving him. Sin and Satan work their slaves without mercy. And since everyone has sinned, we all need to be delivered. As in the exodus, God sees our misery, loves us, and acts. The Father sent His Son to come down to be a man to rescue us. God has stretched out His arm to crush Satan. God brings us out of sin to live an abundant life. God now calls the people of His church to lead others to freedom. Like Pharaoh, Satan fights against our going free. Though he has no right to us, he does not want to release us. But Jesus has confronted him in the full power of God and has defeated him. But our salvation requires an application of blood. Jesus is the lamb who came to live with us so that we could know Him and identify with Him. In His days with us, He proved to be a lamb without defect. He had no sin. He could die in our place because He did not need to die for any sins of His own and yet was fully one of us. The Father had sent Him to die for our sins so that we might be forgiven and that we might live with Him forever. Yet His blood must be applied. It was necessary for each family in Israel to apply the blood to their own home. It is necessary for each person today to apply the blood of Jesus to their own soul. We do this by acknowledging our sin and need for Jesus, choosing to turn from our sin to follow Jesus, and trusting in Jesus, that He died for us and rose again in victory. God will bring judgment on mankind. But on each person, He first looks for the blood. He still says, When I see the blood, I will pass over you. If we have received salvation by faith in Jesus, we have been released from our slavery to sin. But like Pharaoh, Satan will try to bring us back. He will try to deceive. But remember that God has defeated him. As with Israel, God is able and willing to guide us safely home as we trust in Jesus. As we follow Jesus by faith, He will lead us in His strength and His unfailing love. Has God become your salvation? Is He now your strength and song? Are you following Jesus into the land of abundant life? If not, call on Him right now. Let us pray: Father, we thank you for sending Jesus to bring us out of our slavery to sin. Help anyone listening who has not applied His blood, call on you now, confessing their sin and turning from it to follow Jesus by faith. Help us all to live in victory in Jesus. Amen May God bless you richly through Jesus Christ our Lord.