{"id":3554,"date":"2015-09-19T00:13:12","date_gmt":"2015-09-19T07:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3554"},"modified":"2015-09-19T08:15:13","modified_gmt":"2015-09-19T15:15:13","slug":"919-find-your-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/09\/19\/919-find-your-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"9\/19: Find Your Freedom (\u8bd7108:6-13 \u52a04:21-5:6 \u8d5b44:24-46:13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u00a0\u8bd7108:6-13 \u52a04:21-5:6 \u8d5b44:24-46:13<\/h2>\n

Find Your Freedom<\/h2>\n
\n

He had no one to help him become a lawyer or a politician. He was not interested in the army. He had no desire to be a doctor. Therefore, the only obvious career move in those days for a man of his background was to become a clergyman in the Church of England.<\/p>\n

He tried to make himself acceptable to God by keeping the whole law, inwardly and outwardly. He got up early. He prayed. He denied himself. He tried to earn forgiveness and peace by increased effort. But he \u2018groaned under a heavy yoke\u2019.<\/p>\n

On 24 May 1738, at 8.45 am he heard someone reading a book by the great reformer, Martin Luther. He later recalled, \u2018While he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed<\/em>. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given [to] me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.\u2019<\/p>\n

John Wesley became one of the greatest preachers ever, preaching over 40,000 sermons centred on freedom through faith in Jesus Christ. He had, as he put it, \u2018exchanged the faith of a servant for the faith of a son<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Jesus Christ is the supreme liberator, and becoming a Christian is the supreme act of liberation. \u2018Freedom\u2019 is the word that best sums up the Christian life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. Cry out for freedom<\/h2>\n

Psalm 108:6-13<\/a>David knew that God loved him, and he prayed that God would save and help him. \u2018Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered\u2019 (v.6). To be saved is to be set free<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you are facing some difficult challenge in your life, pray like David:<\/p>\n

\u2018Give us help for the hard task;
\nhuman help is worthless.
\nIn God we\u2019ll do our very best\u2019
\n(vv.12\u201313a, MSG).<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you that you love me, help me and set me free. Thank you so much for all the ways in which you have helped me in the past. Lord, today I pray for your help with…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2. Live a life of freedom<\/h2>\n

Galatians 4:21-5:6<\/a>In our culture, freedom is often understood as being able to do whatever you want, how you want, when you want. But when you live in that way, you don\u2019t necessarily feel truly free.<\/p>\n

According to Paul\u2019s teaching in today\u2019s passage, freedom comes through Jesus Christ. His message is that we are not \u2018born free\u2019 but that in order to be free, we must be \u2018born again\u2019. True freedom is found in a life of faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

Many ideas of freedom fail because they do not realise the true nature of our captivity. A belief in freedom as the birthright of a particular group of people has often given birth to malignant nationalism and racism. It has produced some of the gravest evils of recent times, including Nazism and Apartheid.<\/p>\n

The title of the film Cry Freedom<\/em> expresses something we all long for. Whether it\u2019s racial and political freedom (as in the case of this film), free speech, free assembly, free worship, a free conscience, or economic freedom and individual freedom, the whole world cries out for freedom.<\/p>\n

All of these forms of freedom are important, but you can have them all and still be in slavery. Alternatively, you can have none of them but still be free. The gospel contains within it the promise of other forms of freedom, but it begins with a freedom that is more profound than any other.<\/p>\n

\u2018Christ has set us free to live a free life\u2019 (5:1, MSG). Jesus sets us free to live a life of freedom, faith and love through the Spirit. Paul\u2019s opponents, \u2018the Judaisers\u2019, boasted about the fact that they were Abraham\u2019s children. Paul used an allegorical argument to confront them. (It is interesting to note in passing that Paul was quite happy to interpret the Old Testament figuratively, 4:24).<\/p>\n

Paul said to his opponents that there are two ways in which we can live \u2013 in bondage or in freedom. He explains that there are two covenants: \u2018You boast of being Abraham\u2019s children \u2013 but Abraham actually had two children \u2013 one in bondage and one in freedom.\u2019 True descent from Abraham is not physical, but spiritual. It is not enough to have Abraham as your father. The crucial question is, \u2018Who is your mother?\u2019<\/p>\n

He argued that by his opponents\u2019 insistence on the law, they were, in fact, children of Hagar. This analogy represents the old covenant, the present city of Jerusalem, Ishmael, the child of the flesh, and a life of bondage (v.25). This is the life John Wesley experienced before his conversion. It is a life of frustration and failure, confusion and defeat.<\/p>\n

To be a Christian, on the other hand, is to be a child not only of Abraham, but also of Sarah. Sarah represents the new covenant, the new Jerusalem (\u2018the Jerusalem that is above\u2019, v.26), Isaac (the child of promise, v.28) and the freedom that is in Christ. This is what Wesley experienced the day he trusted in Christ and Christ alone for salvation. His heart was \u2018strangely warmed\u2019. This is the way of peace, joy and freedom.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, this passage is the origin of Mother\u2019s Day \u2013 which has morphed from Mothering Sunday (a day when Christians celebrated the \u2018mother church\u2019). Jerusalem represents the church and \u2018she is our mother\u2019 (4:26).<\/p>\n

Paul pointed out that just as Ishmael ridiculed Isaac (see Genesis 21:9), the Galatians who are \u2018born by the power of the Spirit\u2019 (v.29) should not be surprised that they are being persecuted by these \u2018Judaisers\u2019.<\/p>\n

He concluded his argument in this section by saying, \u2018We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman\u2019 (v.31). He continued, \u2018It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery\u2019 (5:1\u20132). The picture is of an ox bowed down with a heavy harness.<\/p>\n

\u2018Circumcision\u2019 was the theological symbol standing for a religion of law (vv.2\u20133). Paul argued that to add circumcision is to lose Christ. To seek to be justified by works is to fall away from grace (v.4).<\/p>\n

The Christian life is a life of faith. We do not work for our salvation; we wait for it (v.5). Meanwhile, \u2018The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love\u2019 (v.6b).<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you for setting me free in order that I might live a life of freedom. Thank you for the freedom the Holy Spirit brings to my life. Help me to express my faith in love today.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3. Tell the good news of freedom<\/h2>\n

Isaiah 44:24-46:13<\/a>God\u2019s love extends to every person, of every nation, from the moment of conception onwards. Part of his original plan in choosing Israel was that they would bring his blessing to all people (Genesis 12:3).<\/p>\n

God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He is our maker. There is no other. The book of Isaiah repeats this over and over again for emphasis. Ten times this passage says, \u2018There is no other.\u2019<\/p>\n

God is our maker. He \u2018formed you in the womb\u2019 (Isaiah 44:24). God\u2019s love extends before birth to conception and the womb; this has profound implications for the debate about abortion and how we treat the unborn. Every human being from the moment of conception is created and sustained by God. \u2018I have upheld [you] since you were conceived\u2019<\/em> (46:3b).<\/p>\n

God\u2019s love extends beyond Israel to all the nations as well. Since he is the creator of all, God invites all the nations<\/em> to participate in salvation and freedom: \u2018So turn to me and be helped \u2013 saved! \u2013 everyone, whoever and wherever you are\u2019 (45:22a, MSG). This promises a freedom greater than any the world can offer.<\/p>\n

Here, we get a glimpse of the entire world bowing before Jesus. \u2018Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear\u2019 (v.23b). Paul referred to this verse as a reference to Jesus (Philippians 2:9 onwards).<\/p>\n

This was a foretaste too, of the fact that God will use people who are \u2018Gentiles\u2019, that is, non-Jewish. Cyrus was a Persian and yet he is described here as the Lord\u2019s anointed (Isaiah 45:1). Isaiah prophesies, \u2018I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free<\/em>\u2019 (v.13). This prophecy was fulfilled when the exile came to an end through the hand of Cyrus.<\/p>\n

This was God\u2019s plan. He said, \u2018My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose<\/em>. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do<\/em>\u2019 (46:10b\u201311). You can be confident that nothing can thwart God\u2019s plan for you.<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you that from the moment of conception, you love all people regardless of race or background. Thank you that Jesus has set us free and that, one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Pippa Adds<\/h2>\n
\n

Galatians 5:1<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.\u2019<\/p>\n

It is a wonderful truth; Christ does set us free from sins, addictions, fears and bad habits. I know that freedom myself and have seen many others totally transformed by the reality of this verse. We then have to continue to walk in that freedom and not be tempted back into those old habits, but keep claiming Christ\u2019s freedom and the power of the cross.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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