For Freedom

“It is for freedom that Christ set us free.” If you have faith to believe, you already know what this means. Even if you cannot express it, your soul knows it–through worship and prayer you experience the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom 8:21). To some, being set free for freedom’s sake does not make sense. To us it is joy and peace.
I am reminded of Paul’s profound statement, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption—the forgiveness of sins.” Col 1:13,14
Our rescue from Satan’s clutches was wrought through the suffering and death of Jesus. He did not bear the cross that we might simply be free from darkness. He bore the cross, in obedient love, so that His Father would be free to bring us into His Presence and glory. That is where we are now.
This freedom in which we now dwell stands in stark contrast to what we once were in the sight of God. In fact, everything we were opposed everything He is. We were darkness; He is light. We were consumed by the hate of selfishness; He is an unending flow of love. We were once deceived by a lie of vain glory; He is the only true God, full of glory.
I believe that Jesus’ death set both parties free, for both were constrained. Our prison was a sinful nature. We were not free to do what we wanted—slaves to sin. Our chances of getting out of this prison were zero. We would have had to escape from ourselves. Similarly, God the Father was not free to bring us back to Himself. His own immense glory prevented Him from even looking upon what we had become. The curtain in the temple is proof—His Presence on one side and mankind of the other. Any attempt to cross that boundary—us coming to Him, or Him coming to us—would result in our death. We were at an impasse.
At the cross, Jesus did for us what we could never do, and for His Father what He could not do. For sin cannot simply be forgiven, it must be taken away in death—destroyed so that it cannot rise again. To die for our own sins would have defeated God’s purpose in bringing us back to Him. And God cannot die, so that too was an impossibility. Jesus stood in the gap—the Son of God and the Son of man—His death was the death of sin, the death of our sinful nature, the destruction of everything about our souls that opposed God.
So there was freedom. Immediately, the Father tore apart the temple veil, that He might look upon our souls for the first time since the creation of the world. Then He raised His Son from the dead. And through faith we are united with Him in that resurrection to live a new life.
“The glorious freedom of the children of God” is no small thing. The Father is no longer an angry God, and Judgment Day carries no fear for us. He is our loving Father. He holds us in His everlasting arms; He will never let us go. We are free to abide in His Spirit and free to embrace the peace of Christ. We are free to worship in Spirit and in truth. We are free to ask, because He listens, and responds. We are forever free from sin, free from the law, free from ritual and religion, made new through His death and His resurrection. We are already free to partake of the banquet table—the fruit of His unending love, no matter what. It is for freedom that Christ set us free! The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes! (Ps 118:23)