And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Ephesians 2:1-3
Such was our state before God moved in. We were led about by our flesh, the world, and Satan and his demons. We were daily abiding under the wrath of God. That was our nature. That’s the way we were through and through…but then God moved in! Does anyone else want to praise God with me because Christ has set us free?!!! Can I get a “hallelujah”?!!! God has given us a new nature! But though He has “delivered us from the power of darkness,” (Col 1:13) He has also left us with responsibility. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” (Rom 6:12)
It’s amazing to see the number of times that the children of Israel desired to return to Egypt. They were slaves while they were there. They were mistreated by cruel taskmasters. In their distress, they cried out to God, and He sent a deliverer named Moses. And yet, it was only a short time later, the dust of Egypt still on their heels, when they began to murmur and complain of their current state. God fed them with manna, bread from heaven, and yet they complained, “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic….” (Num 11:5)
But Moses was just a preview for the Main Attraction. Jesus Christ is that great Deliverer sent from God to free His people from those cruel taskmasters of sin and the devil. Moses was used to deliver the Israelites’ bodies from affliction, but our Lord performed a work upon the cross that would preserve not just the body but the “spirit, soul, and body.” (1 Th 5:23) Would we dare complain? Would we dare to desire that which we once had, or are we satisfied fully with our Bread from heaven, needing nothing more? (Jn 6:32,33)
Jesus told Paul that as he declared the Gospel, it would turn people “from the power of Satan to God.” (Ac 26:18) If then the Lord has delivered us from these spiritual powers of wickedness, we understand that we have no one to blame but ourselves if we grant them access to our hearts and minds through our tolerance and enjoyment of sin. “Don’t let sin reign in your mortal body!” Don’t forget the cruelty of your taskmasters in Egypt, O believer! Remember, “by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.” (2 Pet 2:19) “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (Jms 4:7)
Jamie