… and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” (Romans 11:26)

Another common description of Jesus Christ is that of “deliverer.” We should note that Stephen, one of the first seven “proto-deacons” of the early church, in his sweeping pre-martyr sermon, speaks of Joseph among the 12 sons of Jacob as a “deliverer” (Acts 7:25) and of Moses as a “deliverer” (Acts 7:35). In each case, he points out, the people resisted the deliverer. Then as his message reaches its zenith, he acerbically proclaims:

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.” (Acts 7:51–53).

Though the word “deliverer” is not used here of Christ, the implication is clear. Like previous deliverers for Israel, Christ was resisted, even rejected. He came to rescue His people not only from their political woes, but also from their guilt of sin. Yet as the apostle John writes: “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).

Today, Jesus continues His ministry of deliverance—first in saving people from their sin, and then in saving people from sin. Salvation, in the sense of deliverance, is an ongoing thing, not a once-for-all event. To be sure, salvation has a beginning: the moment when a person is forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and made alive spiritually, having been delivered from the eternal consequences of sin. But Christians continue to need a deliverer. Think, for example, of the deliverance God provides from temptation (1 Cor 10:13) or from pride (2 Cor 12:7).

We must learn from the failure of God’s people in the OT so we do not resist God’s deliverance for us in the face of those things that would enslave us today. We do well to heed the warning of Hebrews:

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they [OT Israel] also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. (Heb 4:1–2)

Lord, help me believe in Your deliverance in the daily struggles of life. I want to give up my struggle to solve my own problems, and trust You more.