Living by FaithExemplo

The God of Salvation

Herman Melville’s Moby Dick tells the story of the egomaniacal Captain Ahab’s obsessive quest to kill a giant albino whale, which leads to his eventual death. The story is a theological symbol of man’s unholy, hate induced pursuit to destroy the transcendent, omnipotent God. Like Ahab, the wicked in this world make it their life’s ambition to ‘kill God’. The wicked, in their pursuit to destroy God, wage war against God’s anointed and all that is noble in this world. However, the nations rage and plot in vain (Psalm 2:1) for God in His righteous fury destroys them. 

The defining mark of redemptive history is God’s judgement upon His enemies, and God’s salvation towards His elect people. Moses, after being saved from Egypt sings, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (Exodus 15:2). God granted Israel salvation because Israel was God’s anointed – a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). David, when saved from his enemies wrote, “Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand” (Psalm 20:6). God granted David salvation, for David was God’s anointed King (I Samuel 16:13). God sovereignly saved His anointed. 

However, Jesus who is the true Israel (Matthew 2:15) and the true anointed King (John 12:15), did not find salvation when His enemies attacked Him. Heaven was silent when Christ was crucified. The anointed one was accursed. Satan plotted Jesus’ destruction; however, God used Satan’s own devices to bring forth salvation for His people. Christ’s death and resurrection liberates us from Satan’s tyranny. God has created a new anointed body now, the Church, which is a royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9). Christ is the Church’s salvation and her enemies will not triumph.