Jesus Delivers

(1 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV)  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Let us never forget one of the great promises of scripture:  Jesus “delivers” (4506).  In our English we tend to think of delivery as dropping something off at its intended destination.  UPS delivers.  Domino's delivers.  The actual meaning seems to be going in the opposite direction.  The definition starts off “to draw to oneself.”  What?  The idea is to rescue or to set free.  Look at this verse: 

(Romans 7:24 KJV)  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver (4506) me from the body of this death?

In the NASB this is translated “set free”.  Jesus sets us free by drawing us to Him.

From what are we delivered?  If you follow the word through the NT you find that we are delivered from the power of sin and temptation.  We are given a way out of the perversions that surround us.  We are lifted out of the gutter.  We are delivered by being close to Jesus.  Take some iron.  Attach it to a magnet.  Draw it through a pile of sand.  When I did it I always got a pile of iron fragments.  We are drawn out of the sand of life by the power of Jesus.  If you withdraw the magnet, the iron will fall off.  Stay close to Him for daily strength.