"They can take our lives, but they'll never take away our Freedom!" William Wallace declared in one of my forever favorite movies, Braveheart.
The concept of freedom has been one that has been argued and debated for millennia. How is it determined? Who can have it? To what degree? Should it be relegated? And so on and so forth.
While this post is not going to explore in depth my own research scripturally and resourcefully, it is going to look at Galatians 5:1 in the context of freedom as an initial event and freedom as a experienced, increasing reality in Christ.
Galatians 5:1:
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Why did Christ set us free from the law? For freedom.
Freedom to do anything we want? No. Again- there's that "doing" word. Perhaps, it was freedom to BE what we were created to be....
What of freedom?
To pursue the answer to this question, I want to go back to the Garden of Eden. In the beginning, God formed human beings in His image for relationship. His desire was to co-labor, co-create, co-design IN intimacy with His creation. When sin entered and separation ensued, we were cut off from the ability to be as God had created us to be. The law later came into existence to govern us until the fulfillment of God's promise through Jesus to free us from that governance and make us NEW creations with His spirit giving us the ability to once again freely co-labor, co-design, co-create etc.
Freedom exists so that we have access to Him. Freedom exists so that we can experience the fullness of Christ. Freedom exists so that we can know His will and ways. Freedom exists so that we can have a personal relationship with God. Freedom exists because it was apart of God's original design.
The understanding of freedom, as our world portrays it now, is not unlike what was proposed by Satan to Eve. Freedom to operate in self-indulgence apart from God's design and will. Freedom to do what feels good. Freedom to do what I think is best. Freedom without infrastructure. However, this isn't freedom at all, that is chaos. Freedom isn't undefinable and it isn't something without context--it is, in my opinion, the opportunity to choose Jesus and choose to live life following Him and experiencing His fullness. It is the choice to receive grace and find identity in Him rather than remain under the law and perform for Him.
Think about this....When we speak of past wars and conflicts, there is a tension between operating forces and organizations to obtain control over or freedom from. Freedom, in this example then, is the won opportunity to operate independently from the opposing force or organization. Freedom comes out from under something.
Paul makes a similar point in his famous statement, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
We have seen Paul repeat and reframe this theme throughout his letter. The notion that what Jesus did and made available is eternal, and yet, we still have free will which gives anyone the opportunity to choose to believe and move away from the invitation and relationship into the fullness of Christ. These people received Paul, received the Gospel and received Jesus- we can agree they're probably all saved, right? But Paul's point, again, is not in that initial revelation and response..it is the continued pursuit of the Lord and His fullness that our attention and intentions must be aware of. They are told, "stand firm" and "don't submit again to the yoke of slavery."
We need to hear that too! Getting saved is not an event that gives you the permission to go live life however you see fit because you're safe from ending up in hell. We aren't saved from hell....We are saved into relationship with God. Separation is what Jesus restored. If you don't choose Him- you're not getting sent anywhere, you're choosing eternal separation which ends up being a place....yes, hell is real, but it's on YOU where you end up....may I suggest that heaven is a place as well and, yet, we are given the ability as new creations to EXPERIENCE heaven HERE AND NOW. A place and a reality, both and.....I digress a bit, so let me clear it up...
We are to stand firm in the Gospel....why? Maybe because if I were your enemy and I wasn't able to get you from siding against me---I would do everything in my power to get you to choose to be under me even if you believed you were against me.
If you've been saved, is it possible satan would then convince you that being saved was just an event rather than the fact you are actually a completely new creation able to move in the same power and Spirit as Jesus, himself, right now? Is it possible that the enemy couldn't care less we have church services Sundays when we don't see the sick being healed, the dead being raised, the oppressed being delivered and Heaven on Earth actually happening? Is that possible?
What if Paul's statement is a reminder to the rest of us forever unto Christ's return to be wary of any attempt to persuade us back into the yoke of slavery, so that we would become the victorious bride, the Jerusalem above rather than the one below?
They are very powerful, perhaps heavy concepts to chew on. Are we submitted to a yoke of slavery? Are we working 24/7 to ensure that we are righteous enough, wise enough, loving enough, compassionate enough, clean enough for God? Or have we taken the yoke of Jesus? Do we continue to be yoked to Jesus?
Often, I have conversations with people that are interested in my relationship (most will still call it my religion or faith) with Jesus. They can't grasp the reality of doing life with God as a person. The concepts of love and freedom are undefined and chaotic for them because they have no infrastructure or understanding of why they exist, therefore, they allow each person to define and experience these concepts within their own framework rather than the designed structure. Let me tell you, attempting to experience freedom without God is like attempting to put together the Wall of China as delivered by IKEA.....When you truly come to know the Lord, or allow yourself to be fully known by Him (Galatians 4:9), you realize that the event of receiving the Lord is unto an eternal process...not just a momentary taste of freedom, but an invitation into the increasing experience and understanding of what it really is.
The flesh desires the freedom to do as it pleases (go look at the Hebrew word Chofesh). That's why we needed to be governed from ourselves. Christ set us free by giving us His Spirit. The spirit desires the freedom to know God (go look at the Hebrew word Cherut). Knowing God IS Freedom because it is HIS dominion that has come at no cost to us-
FREE DOM.
That, my friends, is why I choose and continue to choose Jesus daily.
Lyns
Comentarios