“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13
One thing our American history teaches us is that the liberties we enjoy in this country did not come free. We can look at Freedom as a precious commodity, and to obtain any commodity, an exchange is required. Our founding fathers made that exchange by pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to obtain freedom. They knew that without Freedom, their lives, along with everything else they held dear was only as secure as the whims of a tyrannical King!
Freedom provides the opportunities that subjects to a tyrant are never given.
Ever since the fall in the Garden when Adam sold out the entire unborn human race to the ultimate tyrant, man was enslaved by sin and subject to its master, the devil.
When Jesus came into the earth, He spoke of a Freedom that was never heard of before! He spoke of a loving Father that they were unfamiliar with. He said that the entire law was fulfilled in this love, and that love could never fail! He sat and ate with prostitutes and tax collectors and drunkards, as well as the religious hierarchy. He taught them about true liberation through the power of forgiveness.
His call was a call to the entire human race! It was the call to liberty! This liberty wasn’t a bunch of religious platitudes. It was what man thirsted for over the past 4,000 years! This was the call to Freedom from sin, sickness, demons and fear; not so we could get one up on our brother, or to have the secret sauce to spiritual superiority! No, this liberty provides the opportunity to fulfill itself as we serve our brothers and sisters as He did! He forfeited His rightful place in heaven to come into the earth. He emptied Himself of His own human will and any reputation His deity could have given Him and walked as a man. He underwent that eternal transformation in order to bring eternal transformation to all who would believe His Word. And by love, He served them by serving the will of the Father and became obedient even to the death of the Cross.
That was the exchange required for our Freedom! He did it for you because He thought you were worth it!
With Love,
Pastor Tom