The Glorious Freedom of the Children of God

Reflections from Pastor Bill

July 4, 2009

(Please forgive the bland look, this blog is still under construction)

This fourth of July weekend we will celebrate our national freedom – which privdes us with a perfect launch to celebrate our personal freedom as the followers of Jesus Christ.  In working through my sermon this week on John 8 (7 Explosive Claims of Christ), I reflected on spiritual freedom and I wanted to explore it further.

Remember, freedom is the absense of retraints on our ability to act or think.  So reflect with me a bit here.  

• What do you want to be FREE FROM in your life? What is holding your life back?  What is restraining your ability to think and act as you want to think and act?  What burdens you?  Journal 3-5 things you really want to be FREE FROM in your life.  And if you want, post it here and we can share our longings for freedom together.
• But, most of us don’t want to just be FREE FROM things.  Don’t we also want to be FREE FOR other things?  FREE FROM is the negative side.  So what do you really want to be free FOR? Journal 3-5 things you want to be free FOR in life.  What do you really want to become or do?  Taking the time to reflect on this could change your life.  What are your greatest longings and hopes?  And again, if you want to share, respond here and we will continue the dialogue. You may want to rank order what you want to be free from and free for, so you know where to put your energy first.

To guide our thinnking about freedom here are some Scriptures I gathered this week on freedom in Christ.  And after that are my beginning ideas on a Christian Declaration of Freedom.

Some Scriptures on Freedom

• “In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.  The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The Lord is with me; he is my helper.  I will look in triumph on my enemies.” Psalm 118:5-7
• “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”  Ps 119:32
• But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.” Ps 129:4
• He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.” Ps 146:7
• “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” Ps 119:45
• “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Jesus. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  Luke 4:17-21
• “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Jn 8:31-32
• “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jn 8:36
• “It 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.”  Gal 5:1
• “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Ga 5:13  (See also 1Pe 2:16)
• “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” 1Cor 9:19
• “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Ro 6:18
• “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Ro 6:22
• “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Ro 8:20-21
• “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” Col 1:22-23
• “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Rev 22:17
• “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  2Cor 3”17-18
• “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”  Eph 3:12
• “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25

Are there any Scriptures you would add?

A Christian Declaration of Freedom

Send back to me what you would add so we can have an ongoing dialogue.

FREE FROM…

• I am free from failure for “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
• I am free from always needing more and more for “my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
• I am free from fear for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2Tim 1:7).
• I am free from the power of Satan “for greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1Jn 4:4)
• I am free from defeat “for God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus” (2Cor 2:14)
• I am free from ignorance for “we have the mind of Christ” 1Cor 3:15)
• I am free from inferiority for I am “complete in Christ” (Col 2:9-10)
• I am free from inadequacy for “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2Pe 1:3)
• I am free from shame for “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin” (1Jn 1:7)
• I am free from worry for “I cast all my cares on him because he cares for me” (1Pe 5:7)
• I am free from bondage for “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2Cor 3:17)
• I am free from condemnation “for there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:1)
• I am free from fear for we know that “God works together all things for the good of those who are called in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:28)
• I am free from worry of what people think of me for “I am hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-4)

What would you add here?

FREE FOR…

• I am free to be loved for “we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1Jn 4:16) and “I have been chosen by God and adopted as his as his child (Eph 1:3-8)
• I am free from defeat for “in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Ro 8:37
• I am free from the fear of death for “death has been swallowed up in victory… But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Cor 15:54-57
• I am free from frantic busyness for Jesus says “I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28
• I am free to dream “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)
• I am free to rejoice “in the Lord always (Phil 4:1)
• I am free to be a friend of Jesus (Jn 15:15)
• I am free to be nurtured by my Father in heaven for I am a child of God (Jn 1:12, 1Jn 3:1)
• I am free to speak with God face to face and to expect his mercy and grace (Heb 4:16)

I had less time to work on this one, what would you add here?

Tags: Bill July, Christ, Christian Declaration, declaration of freedom, Don, Freedom, God, Isaiah, James, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Luke

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