The Apostle Paul declared in his letter to the church at Colossae that those who belonged to Christ knew the joy of their sin debt having been paid in full.
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).
“You are like Moses, leading us out of slavery!” Jamila exclaimed. As a bonded brick-kiln worker in Pakistan, she and her family suffered because of the exorbitant amount they owed the kiln owner. Brick-kiln workers were lowly paid and families lived at survival level. If someone fell sick, or a family crisis occurred, they had to take a loan from their employer, the brick-kiln owner.
Interest on the loan was then deducted from their weekly wages and this could go on for years, even generations. The families were forced to try to subsist on reduced wages and, as long as the debt remained, they were bonded to the brick kiln, unable to leave and get another job. This is slavery.
But when Jamila and her family received a gift from a Christian international aid agency to pay off the debt, they felt tremendous relief. Jamila, a believer in Jesus, pointed to the example of God’s release of Moses and the Israelites from slavery. The debt repayment programme for Pakistani brick-kiln workers is therefore a wonderful picture of what every believer has received in Christ - freedom from the slavery of sin.
The Israelites had been oppressed by the Egyptians for hundreds of years, labouring under harsh conditions. As the Israelites continued to cry out against the oppression, God reiterated His promise to be their God (Exodus 6:7). No longer would they be slaves, because He would redeem them with “an outstretched arm”.
Under God’s direction, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Today God still delivers us through the outstretched arms of His Son, Jesus, on the cross. When we receive Jesus as our Saviour, His blood washes our sins away and we are no longer slaves to sin. We now live unto righteousness in Christ. We have been set free to be children of the Most High God. Thank God for sending His Son to take our place at Calvary.
God bless you.
Larry