God’s Saving Grace
Going on in Psalm 136, the Psalmist starts to talk about God's great salvation. He wants to give praise in verse 10:
“To him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.
with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.
to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.
to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.”
(Psalm 136:10–16 NIV)
The Exodus and the Cross
For the Jews, God's rescuing them from Egypt and bringing them through the desert into the Promised Land was the greatest act of redemption that God could ever perform. And yet, for we who know Jesus to be the Messiah, we know that the exodus was just a picture of the greater work of salvation that Jesus would perform on the cross.
For us, we look at the Old Testament and praise God for the way that He brought the Jews out of captivity. But ultimately we look to the cross where we see God in the flesh dying for us, taking our place and sacrificing himself so that once and for all we may be freed and redeemed and saved. Perhaps we would rewrite the psalm to say “to him, who hung on the cross and died for the salvation of mankind. His love endures forever.“
A Personal Salvation
Do you know the love of Jesus personally? Do you know that what He did on the cross was for you? Yes. You. Whatever your name is. He did that for you. Out of love for you.
Look at the cross today and give thanks to God for his love, which endures forever. And place your faith in this Jesus. Accept what He did on the cross as your salvation personally. Then live for this man who is God and honour him in all that you do!
Yes, His love endures forever, and we see a picture of that in the Exodus Gods freeing the Jews from captivity. But oh how much greater the once for all sacrifice Christ made on the cross for us! Glory in the cross today and every day.
