Sermon Cloud

Freedom. From Mel Gibson's interpretation of William Wallace's impassionate cry in "Braveheart" as he lay splayed on the pavement, to Patrick Henry's plea "give me liberty or give me death", to Victor Frankl's analysis, "(freedom is) ..."to choose one's own way" which under a less steady hand becomes the petulant cry of Stewart from MaddTV, "let me do iiiiiiiitttt!"  Freedom is a word that can have multiple meanings to multiple people with multiple agendas. Let's take a look at the meaning of the word "freedom" from the perspective of the one who said, "He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners..." (Isa. 61 and Luke 4).

Prayerfully, by looking at Isaiah's prophecy, and Christ's fulfillment, we can clarify this much misunderstood word in our minds, and by the power of the Holy Spirit working in each of us, the faith to grasp; we are able to live out this incredible freedom in our hearts.  So, how does God, and His Word, define freedom?

"It was for freedom that Christ has set us free" Galatians 5:1

The three aspects of freedom we are looking at today are Freedom expressed as a promise, freedom expressed as reality, and freedom expressed as action, which can be viewed as:

1.                  Restoration: Freedom promised

2.                  Resurrection: Freedom attained

3.                  In Christ: Freedom lived

1.     Restoration: Freedom promised!

Throughout the Scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament, there is a continuing promise given to God's people that they will be restored.  Restoration has to do with "bringing something back to its original place."  It is a word full of hope and renewal.  This is what Ezekiel has in mind when he is given a prophecy of renewal and restoration in Ezekiel 20:33-44.  Ezekiel was a prophet who prophesied during what is known as the Babylonian exile.  The Babylonian exile was when God's people were removed from their land and enslaved in Babylon under foreign kings.  (All biblical quotations are from the ESV).

33"As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you. 34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36 As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. 37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

 39"As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

 40"For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."

A few important points are made here in this passage.

a)      Restoration is all God.  The entire passage rings with God's personal "I".  I am your King.  I will bring you out.  I will enter judgment.  I will make you pass under the rod.  I will accept you.  I will manifest my holiness.  I am the Lord. For my name's sake.

b)      Restoration requires Justice: v33 "with wrath poured out I will be your king."  There will be consequences when laws are broken.  God's first law is you shall have no idols before me.  His people broke that law and there will be consequences for breaking that law revealed in his wrath v. 34, v. 38-39, v. 41

c)      Restoration requires Repentance.  v43: "And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed."  His People shall reflect upon their disobedience that brought them into bondage, and shall despise what they have done to place themselves in that bondage.

d)     Restoration is full of Grace: v44 "And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."  But God will not judge the people according to what they have done.  He will judge, make no mistake about that, but His judgment will not come at the expense of those responsible for placing themselves in bondage.

How does this particular passage relate to you and me today?  How do we see this passage as a statement of freedom for us when we are not the ones enslaved under Babylon?  To answer these questions we have to look at the situation viewed from God's perspective.  You see, God's People didn't recognize that their greatest need wasn't to be freed from Babylon; their greatest need was to be freed from sin and pardoned from God's justice!  God is Just and His People are law breakers, enslaved to other gods (2 Pet. 2:19).  They viewed their freedom from Babylon as more important than their freedom from sin. 

You and I are the same.  We may not be enslaved under a foreign flag, but apart from Christ, we are enslaved to our own idols and thus lawbreakers in need of freedom.   We need freedom from sin and a pardon from God's justice when we find our satisfaction in something other than Him.  That thing that we think will satisfy us and make us happy is our idol or where we find our worth; it is what will "save us".  What is that for you?  If you think having more money, or time, or approval will ultimately satisfy and "save", God says otherwise (Isa. 43:11, 45:21, 49:26).

Therefore, what is freedom?  How does God define freedom?  God defines freedom as no longer being under the condemnation of the law but under the Spirit of His Grace.  We are freed from sin and pardoned from His Justice and therefore able to live as we were created to live, in union with Him and in community with one another. (Romans 8:1-5).  We are not only freed from something we are freed to something!

Freedom always has an object (freed to what?) and that object determines our worth.  How joyful it is to be freed to Christ, the object of our worth. 

There is one problem and it is all-encompassing.  You and I can do nothing about our enslavement (Rom. 3:10-18, 5:6).  We are shackled to our idols, hand and foot, as they lead us and we do their bidding.  But God is a God who frees!  It's all God. 

Good News for those who are enslaved!  God is a Redeemer!

2.     Resurrection: Freedom attained!

How is this freedom attained?  As was demonstrated above, it's all God, so how did God do this? 

God came down in the form of man, fully man, fully God, rolled up His sleeves and did the work. (Isaiah 59)  He lived the life we should have lived; (Rom. 5) therefore, there is no need for repentance on His part. (1 John 3:5) He died the death we should have died for violating Him; (Rom. 5:6) therefore, God's justice is satisfied. (Gal. 3:8-14) He was buried in the ground, (Rom. 6:4) demonstrating our burial with Him, dying to the old, (2 Cor. 5:17) and He rescued us from the domain of darkness into his Kindom of light, putting on the new. (Col. 1:13-14) Finally, He was raised from the dead to demonstrate that we are freely justified and sanctified. (Rom. 4:24-25).

Let me ask a question, those of you who call themselves Christians, "Why are you a Christian?"

Let me say this as lovingly and compassionately as I can.  If you didn't answer the previous question with "It's true", or some resemblance of it, then you aren't answering the question as Peter, Paul and the disciples answered it. (Acts 2:31, 4:2, 4:33, Acts 24:21, Rom 1:4, 1 Cor. 15, 1 Pet. 1:3, Gal. 1:1, Eph. 1:20, Col. 2:12, 1 Thess. 1:10)

a)      Because Christ rose we know the promises are true and have power. (John 2:18-19, Luke 11:29-30) Paul never answered the question as to the truth of Christianity with his own felt needs or the felt needs of others.  What I mean by that is Paul never said something to the effect of, "You should follow Christ because he will provide, because he will bring peace, because he will answer all your questions and give you rest or freedom."  These statements are all true of course but that isn't what makes Christianity true.  Those statements are all results of Christ and His Word being true; and the proof of that truth is He rose!  This is why Paul starts almost every letter with a demonstration of his resurrection.  (Acts 2:31, 4:2, 4:33, 24:21, Rom. 1:4, 1 Cor. 15, 1 Pet. 1:3, Gal. 1:1, Eph. 1:20, Col. 2:12, 1 Thess. 1:10)

b)       The resurrection divides.  Because Christ was "declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead" he is the authority over all of heaven and all of earth" (Matt. 28:18).   Remember the slogan "question authority"?  This saying is a statement of our dislike for authority.  Paul says it this way, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, the other an aroma from life to life." (2 Cor. 2:15-16) 

c)      The resurrection unites.  Because of Christ and the power of his resurrection we are united to Him and knit with one another in an indissoluble bond (Col. 3:14-15).  Earlier we said you are not just freed from something, we are freed to something as well.  The freedom that the resurrection testifies to is the freedom found in being "In Christ" and in community with one another.  We are first found to be united with Christ and because of this mystery we are united with one another.  (Rom. 12:4-5) Therefore, Freedom, according to God is being free to live the life you were created to live. 

The resurrection is the source of our freedom.

3.     In Christ: Freedom Lived!

What is the basis of our freedom? The thing at the core level where if it's not true, the structure disintegrates?

The phrase "in Christ" or "in Him" is the basis for our freedom.  This is the center of "gospel centered" living.  When we talk about living a gospel centered life, we mean a life whose revolutions are constantly maintained and checked by the understanding that we are "In Christ".  We are united to Christ in his life, death, burial and resurrection.  Listen to what Paul says in Rom. 6:1-11

1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1 Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

a)      We have been baptized into Jesus' death

b)      We have been buried with him.

c)      We are united with him in his resurrection

d)     We live with Him. 

e)      There is no condemnation. 

What does this look like in our lives?  What if we really grasped the fact that we are united to Christ?  What if we really believed that because of the power of the resurrection, we are united to Christ; where we are found holy, righteous, and blameless before God. We would live a life of freedom!  Fear becomes a contradiction to this freedom (1 John 4:17-18).  Just as Paul is saying here in v. 1, living a life of sin is a contradiction, it is impossible in Christ to live in sin, so too is fear.  We may feel a life of contradiction in sin or fear, but In Christ we are positionally free from contradiction and free from sin and free from fear!  Did you hear that?  Regardless of how we feel, or what circumstances we find ourselves in, In Christ, we have no fear, and we cannot live a life of contradiction in the Father's eyes!  Therefore, the promise of our freedom has been proclaimed, the source of our freedom is the resurrection, and the basis of our freedom is In Christ. 

Freedom is therefore defined by God as living life according to the way we were created to live; free from fear, in fellowship, (and therefore in line with the gospel) and in union with Christ.

If you are In Christ (and all believers are) you are restored to your original state to live in freedom with God, the way we were created to be.  As we will see, it is actually even more glorious and impossibly, amazingly, majestic; we are actually in an even better state than restoration to our original state!  Did you hear that?

1.      Being United in Christ is Personal:  As we said, we would live a life without fear.  How did Christ live?  Was he fearful?  The only time Christ was fearful was in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He knew that His relation with the Father, as a man, was going to be severed and He was going to bear the brunt of His Father's Justice.  Those who are In Christ will never experience that fear.  Christ became fearful so we wouldn't have to.  In fact, those who are in Christ should never experience fear.  (1 John 4:17-18).  If we have nothing to fear then we are truly free.  We can live a life how we were meant to live, in union and fellowship with Him.  If we desire to live with Him we will desire to look like Him.  This is a paradox, if we have nothing to fear, and we are living in perfect freedom, how would that keep someone from just living a life of disobedience?  Because of the power of the Holy Spirit living in and with you.  The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and his righteousness and judgment and that conviction compels us to desire to live a life of obedience.  (John 16:8) 

Earlier we said that it's all God.  It is still all God!  God completes by union in Christ and compels by the power of the Holy Spirit!  (Phil. 2:12-13)  If any of this was up to us, we would have no power.  Can a prisoner escape an inescapable cell?  No, the cell is inescapable by definition.  So is being a prisoner to sin, we can't even desire to do right apart from Christ (Rom. 3).  What if we desire to do the right thing, but we constantly stumble and live as if we were not united to Christ?  Well, we are in luck because there was another who found himself to be in that position and he was the Apostle Paul.  Look at Romans 7:14 - 25 and find deep solace and comfort in what Paul is saying here,

 "24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Paul struggled with this desire to do the right thing and his actions doing the opposite.  What did Paul do?  He turned to Christ, who is both the Author and Perfector of our Faith (Heb 12:2).  Paul knows that he is In Christ and it is impossible to live a life of contradiction because Paul is positionally In Christ!   When we stumble and scuff our knees, desiring not to stumble, we want you to know that, in Christ, we are perfect and without blemish because Christ was perfect and without blemish and that is what the Father sees.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Cor 5:21

2) Being United in Christ is Social  -  We are united one to another socially.  (Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 12:11-14, Eph. 4:25) 

How does a community who has been united in Christ display their freedom in Christ?  By bearing one another's burdens, by esteeming one another greater than oneself, by serving one another, by loving one another and by pointing one another's eyes to Christ when we forget our freedom is found in Christ. 

When Paul said in Galatians 5 that it was for Freedom that Christ has set us free, what he is saying is we were not created to live a life of contradiction.  We were created to live a life that flourished and has harmony.  Jesus took away the contradiction and restored the harmony.

Do you see why we said earlier, we are even in a better position than just being restored to our original state or relation with God?  The very community of the Trinity of God has been opened up to us because we are In Christ (John 14:20). We have been given even more than Adam was given in the garden. 

Adam was given fellowship with God in the Garden, we have been given unity with God at the cross. It was for Freedom that Christ has set us Free.

Eph. 3:6, 14-19

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.