The Beauty of God’s Deliverance
Isaiah 61:1-11; Luke 4:16-22
Jim Davis

A speaker once asked an audience, “What if your life – exactly as it is today – is God’s perfect environment for shaping you into the person he wants you to be?” This is certainly is not the philosophy of our world, and it is not a conclusion that many of us would accept. Most of us would like to swap lives with someone else, and maybe then, this would be an accurate statement. Yet, this truth is taught throughout biblical salvation history. God’s perfect plan for shaping you is realized when you place God in control of your life.

Placing God in control of my life goes beyond rearranging the stuff in my life. When I was growing up we lived in houses with big rooms. We had what we called spring cleaning each year. It was sort of a celebration that winter was over. We would clean house wash windows and rearrange the furniture as we moved it from one side of the room to the other. It made the place feel different and cleaned the house out, but it really didn’t change much. 

Placing God at the center of our lives goes beyond rearranging the furniture. It has to do with allowing God to determine our priorities. God’s priority is to restore his original purpose to our lives. 

The passage I am about to read reveals the condition of Israel because she had refused to accept God’s purposes. Amazingly, their lives are in shambles because of God’s judgment for their wrong doing. 

Isaiah 61:1- 7
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me 
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted ,
to proclaim freedom for the captives 
and release from darkness for the prisoners,   
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s 
favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, 
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion — 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor. 

The context of this passage is that Israel is brokenhearted, enslaved and grieving over the consequences of her sins. Israel is suffering because of God’s judgment and discipline. God is disciplining Israel for her sins, but in his mercy he sends Isaiah on a mission of mercy with a message of good news to restore them to his purposes for their lives. 

Isaiah reveals the very heart of the message of God for every generation. He reveals the message of God as good news to the poor and downtrodden, to the brokenhearted and mournful. It is a message of freedom to those imprisoned by these difficulties. He reveals God’s desire to turn lives on the ash heaps of ruin and personal failure into lives filled with beauty. He wants to replace the mourning with laughter. He wants to turn their cries of despair into a song of praise. He wants to display his splendor in their lives. 

We must believe that God can give us what Isaiah speaks of in these verses. Isaiah speaks of “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord.” The word “sovereign” means one that exercises supreme, permanent authority. Isaiah wanted the Israelites to know the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord was upon him as he proclaimed God’s plan for them in their oppression. Isaiah’s message was from the Sovereign Lord whose purposes could not be thwarted. 

There is never a time when the world needs a clearer picture of God’s sovereignty—that he is in control--than when we are hurting and oppressed. The psalmist looks to God in difficult times. 

Psalms 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. 
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way 
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 
3 though its waters roar and foam 
and the mountains quake with their surging. NIV

Job in his troubles said, "I know that you [God] can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). Paul in fear of his life told the Corinthians, ". . . God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear . . . he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). It is comforting to know in troublesome times that God has a plan and has supreme authority, which means his plans cannot be thwarted. 

So I ask you today, “What if your life – exactly as it is today – is God’s perfect environment for shaping you into the person he wants you to be?”

Salvation A Message of Healing

Luke records that Jesus began his ministry quoting these exact verses we read from Isaiah. 

Luke 4:16-22
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, 
because he has anointed me 
to preach good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners 
and recovery of sight for the blind, 
to release the oppressed, 
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."    

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked. NIV

Jesus indicated these verses were being fulfilled before their very eyes. However, his message goes to the end of the ages. Jesus Christ fulfills these verses for every generation—he brings good news to every life. It’s a message of freedom. It is a sight for sore eyes. It is designed to release us from the world’s oppression. He came to relieve you from the oppression you feel when you think the only way out is to swap lives with someone else. 

God’s message of freedom restores our sight—changes our thinking so we can remain free in Christ. If you went to the jail houses and prisons throughout the country setting everyone free, how many of those freed prisoners would be back in jail by night fall—by the end of the week. Statistics tell us the vast majority would be back in prison in no time at all. Why? Their sight was not restored in their release. They would revert to the old way of living. 

Isaiah’s message was good news because God broke into their world with a word of rebuke to offer a word of correction, an invitation of mercy to salvage their lives. Sadly, they had been held captive by those who only offered religious rituals to practice with no concern for correcting the direction of their sinful lives.

We may think freedom from sin through forgiveness is the only important aspect of salvation. We preach forgiveness and the lost receive forgiveness. They are set free of their sins, but we turn them loose in the world with no idea how to live above the oppression of Satan. They end up living no better than they were before they were forgiven. 

We cannot be set free without directing our steps in God’s ways. Nothing less than divine thinking—divine revelation can set us free. This is why the gospel is good news to those who wish to see life from God’s vantage point. God’s righteousness brings healing to a world hurting from Satan’s oppression

The oppression of Satan drives us to despair. Despair is the tool of Satan to keep us oppressed. His onslaughts make us feel like hopeless cases. In our despair and depression we begin thinking God is too remote to be found. We may think that our lives are in such a mess that not even God can pardon or heal our hearts. 

God wishes to turn these initial feelings of godly remorse into repentance so you can be healed. Satan wants to use them to keep you oppressed. God wants to restore and refresh broken hearts—he wants to make your life fruitful again. Satan wants you to listen to his lies.

God brings healing when we honor the purpose for which he created us. This is a message God’s people need today. God is calling us back to his righteousness to be healed. He wants us to exemplify a message of healing to a lost world. The world needs to see the fellowship of God’s people as a hospital for sinners. 

Malachi writes  “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2 NIV). 

Salvation A Message of Deliverance

The message of salvation is a message of deliverance. Jesus spent his time with those the religious people believed to be dirty, filthy, stinking, hell bent sinners. You couldn’t keep these sinners away from Jesus. They saw the implications of what Jesus was doing. They naturally gravitated to Jesus because they needed deliverance. 

Jesus descended from a holy, holy, holy heavenly throne to associate with someone as sinful as you and me. If we are afraid of people with seemingly insurmountable problems we are in the wrong business.

Isaiah’s is a message to people with seemingly insurmountable problems. Yet, Isaiah’s message portrays Israel’s deliverance.

Isaiah 61:4-7
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins 
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities 
that have been devastated for generations. 
5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. 
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast. 
7 Instead of their shame 
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs. NIV

Isaiah message speaks of what God gives:

Heals the brokenhearted
Gives freedom to the captives
Release from the oppression of darkness
God’s vengeance on enemies
Their enemies will serve them
Comfort to those who mourn
Provide for those who grieve
Give them a crown of beauty for their ashes
Gladness for their mourning
Turn their cries of despair into songs of praise

Those to whom Isaiah was speaking needed to see that someone besides those who were oppressing them was in charge of their lives. The world needs to see the same message of deliverance today.

We approach people with the gospel asking them “Would you go to hell if you died tonight?” This is the wrong question. The better question is this: “Are you honoring the purpose for which God created you in the way you are living right now?” This is the only means of deliverance.

The best way to for a Christian to ask someone who is lost this question is in how you live your life rather than confrontation. We need to challenge the world through our lifestyles. It is Jesus’ life that draws us to him—his life was his message—his life lived through us must be our message. It is the only message that will reveal the healing hand of God to a hurting world.

When we think about mission work we think of those laying their lives on the line in some foreign countr. Maybe it is Afghanistan, Rwanda, China or some other remote corner of the world. We may think we have done our duty by simply sending money to missionaries. When we think of reaching our community we think of a gospel meeting, more church assemblies, more Bible classes, surely there is more the preacher can do to evangelize our community. 

God has a much simpler way. He wants to touch the world with his healing hand as he heals you. Monetarily it is a very cost effective, and it will also be effective in healing your hurts. Healing the world one life at a time is simple, but the world must see those seeking to bring deliverance as those who have been delivered.

The world needs to see Christian bosses who are honest and who really care about the welfare of their employees. They need to see them more concerned about them than the bottom line.

They need to see the Christian woman who struggles through a messy divorce and retains her sanity and dignity, and puts the welfare of her children over the bad feelings she had for a former mate. It is assuring to the world to see her move ahead with her life to pursue God.

Maybe it is the man who hangs in a difficult marriage when everything tells him it is hopeless. That he should give up and get out.

It is the person at the drive-through window who greets every person with a light-hearted voice and a smile even when he or she has been standing at the window for hours.

It is the driver who is respectful to that person in the window—who may struggle with her English or make a mistake counting the change.

It is the person who notices someone in the workplace who is sad or distressed or sick, and does something helpful.

There is no need to quit our jobs and move to a mission field in a remote part of the world to plant a church.

Salvation is so much more than heaven after we die! It is the power of God’s new creation at work in every walk of life. “Walk by the Spirit,” Paul tells his audiences. It is a message of healing and deliverance to a world oppressed by the onslaught of Satan.

The world needs to know that God wants to deliver it from oppression. Deliverance is more than fire protection against hell. Those lives salvaged throughout the Bible experienced the healing hand of God delivering them. Joseph experienced God’s healing and deliverance after thirteen years of misery. 

Genesis 41:50-52
51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." NIV

After years of abuse Joseph calls his slavery in Egypt “ the fruitful land of my suffering.” God’s blessings made him forget all his oppression. The message of the gospel is that this world of oppression can become the fruitful land of our affliction. God always makes up for everything you had coming to you in this life. We are not talking about health, wealth and prosperity. He did it for Joseph; he will do it for you.

More importantly than Joseph being made fruitful in his land of affliction was that Egypt realized the hand of God was upon Joseph’s life.

Genesis 41:16
16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." NIV

Genesis 41:38-40
38 So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man [Joseph], one in whom is the spirit of God ?" 

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." NIV

It may seem as though God is asleep in the difficult years, but it is during those years that God wishes to build your integrity and character through your perseverance. When this is completed you will be rewarded. Your life may be laid bare, but a season of healing comes when you discover and experience God’s purpose for your life. Joel proclaims such a day for Israel shortly after Isaiah’s prophecy. It was after God sent the locust to destroy their crops to bring them to repentance. God created a perfect environment for their lives so that he could accomplish his purpose in their lives. 

Joel 2:24-25
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.”

Conclusion:

Salvation is about God’s desire to restore to you what Satan has taken through his oppression of our world. He desires to deliver you through the message of Jesus Christ. It is a message of mercy and grace and it is definitely good news.

Isaiah simply revealed God’s dream for Israel, his real purpose for Israel. God has always had this same vision for every life. Satan has robbed us of it and salvation is about God restoring us to our original condition.