God hates oppression. The Bible tells us that God’s people, Israel, always experienced oppression from various oppressors; and He always showed Himself mighty to save and delivered them from time to time.
Hope for the oppressed
God remains the same today – He still hates oppression. He hates how some people enslave others, how some wicked people unjustly treat others, how some people place too much burden on another’s shoulders. He really hates oppression. Psalm 146:5-9 tells us,
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.”
The Deliverer of all who are oppressed
Sin oppressed mankind. Sin corrupted man and caused man to commit all sorts of oppressive behaviors, including those mentioned above. God wants all of mankind freed from sin’s oppression, and in order to make that happen He sent His one and only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, to destroy sin. Jesus Himself said in Luke 4:18-19,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Forgiven, freed, and found in Christ
If we believe in Christ, the Bible tells us that we are freed from sin’s oppression. We are freed from the guilt that we used to carry, the condemnation that awaited the unforgiven. Because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice we are given the opportunity to be totally forgiven of our sin and freed from it.
People may still try to oppress us with their words and actions, but the truth is that no matter what people do, we are already free in Christ. Colossians 1:13-14 tells us,
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
In closing
Friends, we can be assured that no matter what we go through, no matter the oppression we may undergo from the devil, the people around us, or the guilt inside of us, the truth remains the same: God loves us and has sent Christ to redeem us; we can now live free in Him, no matter what we go through.
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)
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