I'd mentioned in my TNL post that I had a series of devotionals that'd be coming your way. This is the first, and although it's not going to be an organized series like the quindecennial series, it will have a slight structure, but don't get your hopes up because I'm a fairly disorganized type of gal. Now that that's all been said, lemme get started.
I hear a lot of Christians talk about this concept of freedom in Christ. It's sung in plenty of songs, one of the more famous ones being "We Are The Free" by Matt Redman. It's common. But as I was thinking about this concept, it raised a couple of questions. What does freedom in Christ look like to outsiders? Why is it referred to as freedom, if it has to be in someone or something? Is that even considered real freedom? It's a wild thing to think about, and although my questions sound very doubtful, keep reading.
Freedom in Christ is an anomaly compared to most other freedoms:
Freedom in Netflix, for example, can only be found in the shows or movies that Netflix provides. If they don't have season three of Stranger Things on Netflix yet, then you can't go watch that. Freedom in partying is allowing oneself to be free, but only within the limits of a particular party or event. Freedom in alcohol, is allowing oneself to be free, but only within the limits of what alcohol brings or makes one feel.
Freedom can only be found on earth within certain parameters. Just take a second to think about it. What's something that you're free in & where there are no boundaries? The answer? Is nothing on earth. Whether you realize it or not, there are always rules or limits to the "freedom" that will forever be found on earth. And that's because we're only human.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin, causing the entire world to battle with sin until Christ comes again. It talks about how Adam and Eve were given free will, freedom to control how they wanted to live, and they chose the wrong things, forever damning the earth to live alongside sin in a constant battle between good and evil. I know, that's hecka dark, but I promise things are going to get a whole lot lighter in a second.
John 10:10 is gonna be my transition here. "The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Now, I'm going to pull the generic Christian card and use John 3:16 for a second here. "For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only son, and that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
I know that's a lot of verses to take in at once, but lemme just chat about them for a moment and explain my point in bringing them up. Adam and Eve bought into what Satan was telling them in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve stole from the garden, killed what lives they could have had, and destroyed the original plan that God had created for them. And because of that, we're all bound to that sin as descendants of the first man and woman on this planet. But in John 10:10, God isn't here to remind you of your sins like I just did with Adam and Eve. God's here to provide them life, a life that they would have never even come close to tasting. And what makes that promise in John 10:10 even better, is the promise the Lord sets in John 3:16. God, the creator of the entire universe and more, had one son. A son that he sacrificed to this unworthy planet full of imperfect people to save us. To save us and put us before Himself.
What human could do that? What piece of technology could do that?
I was recently listening to a sermon that a student at Mariners HSM gave where she asked the congregation, "What could a God the size of a soda can do?" And the more I think about that phrase, the more I realize how powerful and large our God is. And that same God, the one that made the universe, the one who's size is unfathomable, the one whose love we can't put a price tag on, is the same God who grants us freedom. And we as people didn't have to do anything to deserve it. It was just a given right from Him. Isn't that wild?!
And that's when I just begin to think of how lucky I am. To be the hands and feet of a God who cares about each and every one of His people so much that He gives us pure freedom.
Yeah, as human beings we have earthy options to choose what we're going to eat for lunch on a daily basis or decide how late we want to stay up doing homework, but it's nothing that will last us forever. We're granted a forever freedom with Christ in heaven. And I don't think that I'll ever be able to fully comprehend that.
So as I finish writing this first post, it's not the type of post that's got all of the answers. It's merely a post to get you thinking. To get you processing. To maybe even get you doubting, and that's not necessarily a poor thing to be doing. Questioning is healthy, and if you have any questions or thoughts, let me know either through my blog page, or through social media!
There is so much more.
Much Love,
Delaney Miller