Land Of The Free
America celebrates the founding of our country on July 4th because our Constitution codified into Law these basic human rights under God: life, liberty and “the pursuit of happiness” – as each American defines that personally. But just what is “life and liberty” from God’s Big Picture perspective?
Jesus Christ – Our Liberator
We know from the Bible that Jesus came “so that they (humans) would have life, and have it abundantly,” John 10:10b. He knew that all mankind was spiritually “dead in Adam” and, therefore, on our way to hell because we were incompatible with Him and heaven, thanks to Adam. God did not create Adam and Eve to be under Satan’s slavery to sin and death but to walk in freedom and harmony with God as part of His forever family. So, after about four-thousand years, Jesus was sent by God to offer liberty to all captives who yearn for true freedom – freely given by God’s grace through faith in what Jesus would do for all mankind on Calvary.
About thirty years after His miraculous birth, Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began His ministry on earth.
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” Luke 4:14-21.
This passage that Jesus selected was from Isaiah, Chapter 61. He specifically went there so that He could declare to His relatives and neighbors what God sent Him to do. They all knew that this was one of the descriptions of what the coming Messiah would accomplish for them when He came. They assumed it meant He would bring God’s favor to them in the form of freedom from their Roman oppressors and from their individual problems such as poverty, blindness and even imprisonment. And they also knew the many other benefits that Isaiah 61 describes such as:
And you shall be called priests of the Lord,
you shall be named ministers of our God;
you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations,
and in their riches you shall glory.
But tragically, these promises fell on hostile ears and Jesus’ own townsfolk became so offended that they tried to throw Him off a cliff. So He went elsewhere and ministered to more receptive people who benefitted by believing in His words and deeds. But eventually, His popularity turned sour when the Jewish leaders incited the crowd to call for His unjust crucifixion. But we know now that it was all part of God’s larger plan to offer everything in Isaiah 61 – and more – to all mankind through Jesus’ Finished Work and His offer of the Divine Exchange with us on Calvary and beyond.
So let’s see how the many benefits, that Jesus proclaimed to His faithless townsfolk, have been given to us through our Freedom in Christ Jesus.
| BONDAGE IN ADAM | FREEDOM IN CHRIST |
| He (God) has sent Jesus to bring good news to the oppressed | We were all under Satan’s bondage in Adam, now Free in Christ. |
| To bind up the brokenhearted | He has given us a new heart and spirit. |
| To proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; | We were captive to the Law of sin and death and now free in the Holy Spirit. |
| To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | We are saved by Grace (favor) through Faith And God’s just anger on Jesus and Satan done. |
| To comfort all who mourn; | God now supplies all that we need for life and godliness. |
| You shall be called priests of the Lord and you shall be named ministers of our God | You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession to declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light, 1 Peter 2:9. |
| You shall enjoy the wealth of the nations | God raised us up with Jesus and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, |
| And in their riches you shall glory. | so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6-7 |
Even More Freedoms Under Our New Covenant in Christ
Galatians 5:1 declares that “It was for FREEDOM that Christ has set us (every reborn saint) FREE” – from God’s point of view. So below is an expanded list of BAD things that we are now FREE from, thanks to the Finished Work of Jesus!
1. All Christians are no longer in Adam because we are reborn in Christ Jesus and, therefore, are legally FREE from the bondage and slavery under Satan. We have a new and good Father!
2. Jesus met all of God’s just demands for us – including requirement to be “perfect” to be compatible with heaven. He did that as part of His Finished Work of the Divine Exchange with every saint.
3. We are now FREE from the threat of going to Hell because we are right now seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, our new Savior and Lord.
4. We are FREE from God’s just anger for our sins because He poured His wrath out on Jesus on Calvary for all the sins of the whole world. Now we enjoy Father- God’s everlasting love, favor and peace that passes all natural understanding.
5. We are eternally FREE from all shame, accusation, guilt, “conviction” and condemnation from Father-God. Why? Because what is now true for Jesus, is also now true for every believer – from God’s viewpoint – because Jesus paid all our just debts in full as our Representative before God and we are now in Him.
6. We are FREE from the duties and demands of “law keeping” because we have a Covenant kept for us and have a new, Higher Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:2. Therefore, by faith in Jesus obedient faith of what He has accomplished for us, we are God’s children, fully accepted, approved, loved and liberated in Christ Jesus.
7. We can now be FREE from the worry of what will happen to us when we die physically since we are already seated in heavenly places spiritually in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6. So our future is eternally secure in Jesus.
8.We are FREE from the conviction of the Holy Spirit because we are now saved and spiritually holy, perfect and righteous in Christ. We are no longer bound by the sin-nature in Adam.
9. Basically, true Christianity give us His freedom from all the restrictions and demands that religious folks try to heap on Christians once they are saved. Jesus put it succinctly to us through Paul in Galatians 3:3. “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the works of the flesh?”
So again, Galatians 5:1 declares that “It was for FREEDOM that Christ has set us (every reborn saint) FREE” – from God’s point of view. These revelations might still pose a “battle in your mind” but reading the Posts and listening to the Grace-based songs in this Blog will help “fix your mind” by focusing it on Jesus and His everlasting benefits that now belong to you, dear saint! The more you know and rest in Father-God’s magnanimous love for you, the more freedom in and through Jesus you will enjoy.
Your Turn
Are there any other freedoms or “free froms” that you can think of? Send me your suggestions in the contact section for others to enjoy.
life, that is, Jesus himself.