2008-12-05 - The Cavalry of Calvary

Luke 1:69-75 (NKJV) And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, ⁷⁰ As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, ⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, ⁷² To perform the mercy  promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, ⁷³ The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: ⁷⁴ To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, ⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

Zacharias spoke of the Savior for whom his son, John, would pave the way. In doing so, he used a few illustrations. The one from these verses is that of a powerful person who wins the battle for us. It is the cavalry of Calvary.

Peter wrote, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18). Paul told the Romans, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

In the American Civil War, Grant beat Lee and took his surrender on April 9, 1865. The Civil War was over and the Union had the victory but battles between the North and South continued. The Confederacy actually won the last battle on May 13, 1865. The war was won but the battles continued and the war's losers won some of those battles. Spiritually speaking we live between April 9 and May 13.

Jesus was born so that he could die and his death brought us victory. He gave us victory not over one foe but over many. We have many enemies working against us: our own sinful flesh, the world around us, and demonic spiritual forces. He conquered them all for us. When Adam sinned, he lost the first battle against one of these foes. Because of him, we have that same sinful battle-losing nature. But praise God, though we have all lost battles, Jesus has won the war and secured the victory for us all.

He won that battle so we could stop worrying about it and get to doing what we were created for - that we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. To the victor go the spoils - our service. How will you serve him today?

IHFHBOH
Adam

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http://www.cfdevotionals.org

All scripture references from KJV unless otherwise noted