Rescue!

It’s been 2 weeks and 1 day since the 33 miners were raised from their underground prison in that collapsed mine in Chile. Were you glued to the TV, as so many were, watching the count being tallied as each miner reached the surface and breathed in fresh air for the first time in 69 days?

I was attending a worship rehearsal that particular Wednesday evening but kept my i-Touch close by refreshing the web browser between songs to get the updates of the ongoing rescue. I guess you could say I was somewhat “glued” to my i-Touch. How remarkable that all of them plus the rescuers were able to reach the surface safely. Just incredible!

As we began to rehearse the particular song in the Youtube clip above, ... You Alone Can Rescue (by Matt Redmon) ... I thought about the act of rescue. I thought specifically about that first rescuer standing on the surface, surveying the problem and accepting the challenge of what would be the only way to get those trapped miners out. I tried to imagine what might be running through his mind. I thought about the risk that he was about to take, the selflessness that he was about to display. How heroic!

But the more we sang that song ... and I especially love the chorus ... my thoughts turned to the greatest rescue of all time ... that is after all what the song is about ... here is what the chorus says ...

“You alone can rescue, You alone can save
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death
To You, alone, belongs the highest praise!”

Yep, I thought about that word rescue a lot that night as we rehearsed and about the One who has rescued me. Later I looked it up in the dictionary for the full, official definition. Now, I know that it’s probably a 3rd or 4th grade vocabulary word but it’s definition bears remembering in full detail.

Rescue:
–verb (used with object)
to free or deliver from confinement, violence, danger, or evil.

As I read this definition, my thoughts embraced it’s meaning in a fresh, new way. I really thought about the “what” of this definition that one is rescued from. I again pondered the risk that the first rescuer took ... humbling himself to be lowered, in that tiny capsule, to get to the ones in such desperate need of being rescued. He truly is a hero and deserves much honor for his bravery!

But even as heroic as he is, it is truly only a fraction of the heroism that Christ, our God, our Savior, our Lord, displayed for us. Think about it....(from Phil. 2:6-8)

.... Christ Jesus,
 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
God, the Almighty Creator, the Sovereign One, the Ruler of all, Father, Shepherd, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords stepped down into our dark, lonely, chaotic world ... to rescue us!
It made me sing that song that night in a whole new way!

It made me glance toward Heaven and feel so small against the backdrop of His magnificence ... and yet feel so right in place!

It made me feel such overwhelming gladness that I have a Savior!

What about you? Have you thought about the bonds, the prisons, the chains that have held you down? Are they still holding you down in spiritual bondage and defeat?

Oh my friend, don’t remain in your prison, your confinement, your danger, your dread ... let me remind you that through the blood of one perfect Sacrifice, for all time, our freedom ~ our rescue ~ has been bought! (1 Peter 3:18 - look it up; rejoice in it; receive it!)

Because, one day, at the name of Jesus we will all bow and every tongue that has ever uttered a sound will confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2: 10-11)

Now that will be a real Hero’s welcome! I hope you are ready!

Simply abiding!
Cindy K.