Christian Freedom
Perhaps you have given this some thought or perhaps it is just something you don’t think about; but the concept of spiritual freedom is important to understanding our relationship to God.
Right from the very beginning, freedom has ever been part of God’s design for us as created beings. The vision in God’s mind was that of people both male and female who would be willing to accept the blessing of a created world inhabited by a variety of creatures and given order by the cycle of day and night and the seasons. Within this created world, people would be given the responsibility to care for the world and to sustain it as partners with God. People would live with God in an idyllic partnership. Adam would be formed of the very ground from which each creature had come and Eve would be created of Adam. Both would complement each other and the harmony created by that partnership and the partnership with God would maintain a balance of all things. This idyllic partnership was to be lived out in a place which has come to be known as the Garden of Eden. Situated between 4 rivers, it would remain fertile and capable of supporting life forever.
Of course, we know that this idyllic partnership did not last as Adam and Eve were tempted by the presence of a creature that was more interested in causing strife and division than fostering a harmonious relationship. He points out to them that they are not equal partners with this person known to them as God. He is holding back on them. There is a tree that will give them all the answers to life and make them equal to this God who created them. All they have to do is eat the fruit of the tree of life and they will become as wise as God.
But don’t be too quick to look down your nose at Adam and Eve. Humans have ever sought to become like God in every way. After all, if we could become like God, we could control our own destiny. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, Adam and Eve came to realize that there was a good reason for God’s words. If only they had listened! But we know what happens. They find themselves outside that idyllic place and in a place where now they have to raise their own food from the world around them and they need to create more humans as they have lost their ability to live forever.
And so the world continues with God being present in the world and humans continuing to challenge the right of God to decide the course of human existence. The frustration of God with his creation leads to the decision to begin again. And so God directs Noah to build an ark and preserve a remnant that God hopes will lead to better things.
Fast forward ahead to a man named Abram living in the land called Ur. God makes a decision to try and create a nation that will be obedient as he hoped those who came before would be obedient. Abram follows God’s directions and is blessed. His name is changed to Abraham and his wife is renamed Sarah. God blesses them with a child in their old age as a sign that they can trust God and needn’t question any of God’s commands.
And so as the people move through the generations they remain conscious of God and his leading through the patriarchs of Isaac and Jacob. But jealousies lead to divisions within the people; brothers betray brother and eventually the people find themselves in physical bondage in Egypt.
Through a series of events, Moses is called to lead the people from Egypt to a land promised to their ancestors. The people are given a set of commandments that are to be the basis of their community life – a life that will direct them to giving God first place in everything and encourage them to a new respect for all life. They are to keep these commandments as a sign that they trust God for their very life and future. If they break the commandments, they can pray to God and offer sacrifices for which God will grant them forgiveness but they will remain bound to these commandments as the people of God.
We know from reading the Scriptures that the people of God struggled with staying true to God and to the commandments of God. The teachers of the people felt it necessary to assist the people in keeping the commandments in such a way as to ensure that the people would do everything right in God’s eyes. And so they interpreted the commandments to the point where they felt that no one could possibly make a mistake. If only the people would perfectly fulfil these laws and commandments, they would be free of worry about where they stood relative to their God. They would be in a right relationship to God.
But everything the people did was external. They could strive to do what was right, what was legal, what was required but it did not come from their heart. Inside they still struggled with how to feel free. The law only convinced them of their failure and the burden of the law began to weigh heavier upon them.
Think if you will about how frustrating it is to want to do everything right all the time. It is not only next to impossible, it is impossible! True, all things are possible with God but the point is that it is - with God! People, however, did not understand that they could be truly free only when they allowed God to free them.
The truth is that the only way we can truly be free is to accept that we will never be perfect. The way to be free is to use our will to welcome the forgiveness of God and the love of God into our lives.
Christians are a free people because God releases us from the pressure to be perfect. To put it another way, we no longer have to depend on our own strength of mind or heart or body to be the people of God. We do not have to struggle to say or do everything that is right. We don’t need to strive to be like God to be free. We need to depend on God and seek to live in a relationship with God where we can feel guided and encouraged.
If we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, understanding and spirit and truly love our neighbours and ourselves, we will discover the freedom that God gave to Adam and Eve. We will discover that God will forgive us our shortcomings and our mistakes and that we will be encouraged to take hold of God’s mercy. We will find ourselves in a right relationship with God – one that will give us a sense of peace and hope.
When the final freedom will come to the world we do not know but believers can experience freedom now as we remember the sacrifice of our God in Jesus Christ and that his resurrection from the dead means that there is nothing more in this world that can effectively bind us or separate us from him.
Take hope and know that because of what God did in his incarnation, we are free!
AMEN