The Cry of Freedom.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18)
Every year when the Fourth of July rolls around it reminds us how fortunate we are to live in a free country. It is of course also a reminder that the freedoms we now enjoy have been extremely costly. Freedom is never attained cheaply. In fact it just might be the most costly commodity this world has ever known.
Freedom. No other word known to man stirs the heart as much as this word. Freedom. No other word will motivate people to action more than the cry to fight for freedom. If there is any one ideal in the mind of man that is worthy of any and every sacrifice it is the dream of freedom. There is nothing for which we are more ready to fight than the concept that man must live free. Martin Luther King Jr., sang and preached about it during the civil rights movement. “free at last, free at last, thank God All Mighty we are free at last.” It was the dream of freedom – freedom to worship God as they felt the Bible instructed them to worship - that motivated the first band of Pilgrims to journey to Plymouth. It was the cry of freedom that caused this country to break our union with England during the revolutionary war. It was the right to freedom that drew us into war again nearly a century later as we entered into the civil war. In one way or another, it is the reason behind every conflict of which the U.S. has been a part.
Freedom. It there anything more precious to us? It’s what was lost in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve choose independence over their loving Creator. Substituting self-rule for the rule of God never delivers freedom. To their dismay Adam and Eve discovered self-rule led them into a kind of bondage they had never known while walking with God. Far from experiencing freedom, they were immediately enslaved to sin and death. In declaring their independence from the Lord, the very thing they thought they would gain is what they forfeited. From the moment they made their dreadful choice, their hearts longed to reclaim what they had previously possessed. They longed for freedom.
In the verse above, freedom is at the heart of the mission statement of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is his battle cry. In reality every spiritual battle that takes place in the heart and mind of man is centered on this one word. Jesus says, “The Spirit of God has sent me to proclaim freedom. Freedom to all those who are held in bondage to sin and death. Freedom to all those who cannot see the love of God. Freedom for the prisoner. Freedom for the blind. Freedom for the oppressed.” Jesus says, “I declare war on anything that stands in the way real freedom.” It is also the battle cry and the only mission of the church. It is our call to arms. The battle of the Church is a battle for freedom. Freedom for the addicted. Freedom for the lost. Freedom for the proud, the arrogant, the sinful. Freedom for the heartbroken, the grieving, the forsaken and the abused. Freedom for the lonely, the confused, and the hopeless. We take our stand and fight the good fight against “spiritual forces in the heavenly realms.” We work, we sacrifice, we give, and we labor because nothing is as dear to us as freedom.
This year as you celebrate the fourth of July, thank God for the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of this great nation. But thank Him even more for the freedom one finds only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Remember what we have been taught in the Gospel of John; “If the Son set you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Dear Lord, we lift our loved ones, our neighbors, our families and our friends before you and cry out – for freedom.
Live the Victorious Life,
PT
Every year when the Fourth of July rolls around it reminds us how fortunate we are to live in a free country. It is of course also a reminder that the freedoms we now enjoy have been extremely costly. Freedom is never attained cheaply. In fact it just might be the most costly commodity this world has ever known.
Freedom. No other word known to man stirs the heart as much as this word. Freedom. No other word will motivate people to action more than the cry to fight for freedom. If there is any one ideal in the mind of man that is worthy of any and every sacrifice it is the dream of freedom. There is nothing for which we are more ready to fight than the concept that man must live free. Martin Luther King Jr., sang and preached about it during the civil rights movement. “free at last, free at last, thank God All Mighty we are free at last.” It was the dream of freedom – freedom to worship God as they felt the Bible instructed them to worship - that motivated the first band of Pilgrims to journey to Plymouth. It was the cry of freedom that caused this country to break our union with England during the revolutionary war. It was the right to freedom that drew us into war again nearly a century later as we entered into the civil war. In one way or another, it is the reason behind every conflict of which the U.S. has been a part.
Freedom. It there anything more precious to us? It’s what was lost in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve choose independence over their loving Creator. Substituting self-rule for the rule of God never delivers freedom. To their dismay Adam and Eve discovered self-rule led them into a kind of bondage they had never known while walking with God. Far from experiencing freedom, they were immediately enslaved to sin and death. In declaring their independence from the Lord, the very thing they thought they would gain is what they forfeited. From the moment they made their dreadful choice, their hearts longed to reclaim what they had previously possessed. They longed for freedom.
In the verse above, freedom is at the heart of the mission statement of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is his battle cry. In reality every spiritual battle that takes place in the heart and mind of man is centered on this one word. Jesus says, “The Spirit of God has sent me to proclaim freedom. Freedom to all those who are held in bondage to sin and death. Freedom to all those who cannot see the love of God. Freedom for the prisoner. Freedom for the blind. Freedom for the oppressed.” Jesus says, “I declare war on anything that stands in the way real freedom.” It is also the battle cry and the only mission of the church. It is our call to arms. The battle of the Church is a battle for freedom. Freedom for the addicted. Freedom for the lost. Freedom for the proud, the arrogant, the sinful. Freedom for the heartbroken, the grieving, the forsaken and the abused. Freedom for the lonely, the confused, and the hopeless. We take our stand and fight the good fight against “spiritual forces in the heavenly realms.” We work, we sacrifice, we give, and we labor because nothing is as dear to us as freedom.
This year as you celebrate the fourth of July, thank God for the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of this great nation. But thank Him even more for the freedom one finds only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Remember what we have been taught in the Gospel of John; “If the Son set you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Dear Lord, we lift our loved ones, our neighbors, our families and our friends before you and cry out – for freedom.
Live the Victorious Life,
PT
posted by Larry | 2:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home