Finding Freedom
Campus Pastor
The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I enjoy and truly embrace the counter-intuitive nature of the gospel.
There are paradoxes in our faith that, because of our humanity, we simply must wait for greater understanding.
Rather than holding to the thought that seeing is believing we understand that believing is seeing. And, the greatest display of Christ's power is seen in His greatest act of humility.
Mysteries like these can serve as either a source of contention or excitement in our faith. Therein lies our opportunity for growth.
One paradox I’ve been thinking about is the understanding that true freedom in this life is only found by being a slave to Christ. When the people of America stop to reflect on the freedom we have received, we should also consider the significance of the freedom we have in Jesus.
According to our faith, freedom costs us nothing and everything.
Our freedom costs us nothing. There is nothing we could give to ever pay for our own freedom. Grace is unearned and undeserved. Jesus is the only one with the ability to satisfy the debt for humanity.
Freedom bears significance in this life as well as the one we will enjoy in Heaven with Christ. We are able to experience freedom from the consequence of sin. The debt of sin is the very thing that Jesus came to fulfill because it is the very thing that keeps us from enjoying a relationship with God the Father for all eternity.
We are also able to experience freedom now, in this life. By living in total submission to Christ, we will enjoy the freedom that comes from trusting and following Him. The hope we have is that He knows all things, even what is best for us. So when we walk in His ways, we avoid the paths of destruction.
Forgiveness and Grace are free gifts from God available to each of us. But, to grasp these gifts, we must understand that freedom in Christ is gained only when we lose everything.
Our freedom costs us everything. This is most clearly seen in scripture in Matthew 16:25. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (NIV 1984).
True gain is found in Jesus. And, we can't gain Christ until we let go of everything else.
To understand freedom in Christ, we are required to transform our earthly perspective to that of a kingdom perspective - one that understands gain to be found in and fulfilled by only one, Jesus.
The best way I’ve seen it explained outside of scripture is by Jim Elliot, a missionary who was martyred in the 20th century. He said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
This summer may we enjoy, celebrate, and mark with friends and fireworks the freedom we have through making ourselves slaves to Jesus and the freedom we have to do so openly.
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