Jesus, The Deliverer by Larry Sparks

Day 15 of the “What Child is This?” Advent Devotional

And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ,the Son of God!” (Luke 4:41)

Christianity was never meant to be pure information—it’s really designed to be a show and tell experience. We’ve gotten the “tell” part down pretty good in our information age, but somewhere along the line, the ‘show’ has been lost.

In Luke 4, Jesus announces what He has come to do—and then He does it! This is what the Anointing enables you and I to do. Not only do we understand the Word of God, but the empowerment of the Holy Spirit equips us to actually demonstrate our doctrine.

Not long after Jesus makes His great announcement in Luke 4:18-19, we see Him go into action. He goes down into Capernaum and teaches the people. They are all awed by what he is saying, as His words are delivered with authority. Remember, Jesus said “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (Jn. 6:63). He did not just speak words comprised of letters, sounds and syllables. What proceeded out of this Man’s mouth released raw supernatural power.

When He spoke, the atmosphere was charged with the power and possibilities of a very real and very near Kingdom. His teaching released the Presence of God, and it was this release of Presence that started to cause an uproar.

As he teaches, a demon manifests. In the synagogue, we see that “there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” (Lk. 4:33-34).

The demon in this guy recognizes what the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord has come to do—“To set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Lk. 4:18). Jesus is intolerant of demonic torment, and we should be of the same approach. Sovereignty does not permit this oppression to continue; sovereignty sets the man free, and we witness this through the model of Jesus.

Believer, you are here to model Jesus’ mission. He came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn. 3:8), not tolerate, permit, or allow them for some glorious, God-honoring purpose. Yes, there are sovereign mysteries that give God glory that are above and beyond human comprehension. Absolutely. However, it is clear to see through the ministry of Jesus Christ that sickness, disease, torment, demonic oppression, sin and other such issues give glory to God when they are overthrown, delivered and healed.

We watch the will of God in action in Luke 4:35, as Jesus responds to the demon: “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.”

Again, Christianity is not just information, it’s action. The late revivalist Leonard Ravenhill aptly noted, “That world outside there is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity, it’s waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity.” Why? It’s in the demonstration that people are healed, delivered, restored and set free!

Advent Prayer

Father, help me to press in for greater demonstration of Your power through my life. I don’t want to just gather more information about You; I want to work out Your will and see Your character revealed to the world!