Celebrating Freedom!

Transcription

1 John 8:31-36

2 Celebrating Freedom! Last Friday was the 4 th of July. Once again, we celebrated our hard fought emancipation from England in 1776 by eating hotdogs and watching ballgames.

3 Our Birthright Nevertheless, we as Americans do believe that Freedom is invaluable; that Freedom is the birthright of every person.

4 A Much Greater Freedom It is the NEW-BIRTHRIGHT of every Christian. And it makes no difference whether a person is born rich or poor, or whether that person is red yellow black or white, or whether that person is educated or uneducated Because of the gift of God s forgiveness in Christ, we can ALL BE FREE! Experience Freedom in Christ!

5 A Much Greater Freedom Free from the SLAVERY of sin. Free from the PENALTY of sin Free from the GUILT of sin Free from the SEPARATION of sin.

6 A Much Greater Freedom It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal. 5:1) He s speaking primarily of a freedom from the tyranny of the OLD LAW, and that this new found freedom is predicated on a New Covenant relationship with Jesus Christ.

7 A Much Greater Freedom His Word is Truth If you continue in His Word, then you are truly disciples of Jesus, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you Free. Because, when the Son of God sets you free, you become Free Indeed. (Jn. 17:17; 8:31-32, 36 abbreviated)

8 Spiritual Freedom! How many of us have felt the chains of sin in our lives? How many of us have felt the oppression that sin can cause? How many of us have felt the guilt and remorse because of sin? The Bible says that all of us begin our search for Christ as the slaves to sin.

9 Jesus First Public Address The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because he has anointed Me to proclaim Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free

10 Free from the SLAVERY OF SIN Ropes and chains are NOTHING compared constraints of life-dominating sin. to the cruel Sin is a prison from which there is no escape, Save One. Jesus! Somebody said, The grace of God in Christ is too good NOT to be true. they were right! And

11 The Bondage of Sin But for the lost soul - still living under the bondage of sin. Sinking deeper and deeper every day into the abyss of Sin; there is no joy, no peace, no grace in which to hope

12 Good News! You are not alone. God cares for you. Christ adores you. They do not want to see you living as a slave to sin. For the lost, Christ wants you to be free. It s why He paid your at Calvary! sins

13 Good News! For the Christian, still beset by doubts and fears, Christ did not come down from Heaven and die on the Cross to return you to a life of hopeless servitude. 2 Cor. 3:17 - Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom.

14 More Good News THE In Bunyan s Pilgrim s Progress, Bunyan describes the daily drudgery of sin as the Slough of Despond. When Christian and Pliable fall into the Slough of Despond, Pliable is quickly discouraged and turns back towards the City of Destruction. Meanwhile, Christian, who is set on not returning to the City of Destruction, starts to despair about getting out of the slough. By the grace of God he is rescued by Help, who helps Christian get out of the Slough. Christian didn t see these stairs before since he was in despair.

15 Romans 7:24-25a O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this Body of Death? We now know the answer Thanks be JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD! to God, He came (specifically) to Seek and to Save that which was Lost! (Lk. 19:10).

16 Christ s True Mission Come unto Me, all you who labor and laden, and I will give you rest. (Mt.11:28) Do you seek His rest for your soul? Do you seek His freedom from sin? are heavy Then when we finish here today, come unto Him in full repentance and be born-again. Or repent of your sins and let Him forgive you and return your peace and rest.

17 Free from the PENALTY OF SIN What is the penalty of sin? It is death eternal death. For the wages of sin is death (And I am happy that the verse does not stop there but goes on to say), But the free gift of God is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

18 Let s Be Real The sinner deserves death, because he has rejected the will of God. The sinner deserves death because he has chosen the path of sin. But the FREE gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Only He can set us free even from the penalty of sin. A lot of folks think that if they do enough good stuff, God will reward them with Heaven. NOT SO.

19 Saved by His Blood Eph. 1:7-8a - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 1Pet 1: We were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

20 Simplified to its Core No Christ. No redemption. Know Christ. Know redemption. It s that simple. And that profound.

21 Free from the GUILT OF SIN As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Ps. 103:12). The concept here is that if my transgressions have been removed I am no longer guilty. When I stand before the Judge of Judges He will look at me, see the blood of Jesus on my heart, and say, Not guilty. Yes I am a still a sinner But that is not what God proclaims me to be. He proclaims me made righteous by the redemptive power of Jesus sacrifice.

22 Grace vrs. Guilt When you come into Christ, you become a new creature. (2 Cor. 5:17) In Christ, you have the continual cleansing of all of yours sins, and thus all of your guilt. (1 Jn. 1:7) Guilt is like a horrific ball and chain that weighs down my heart and prevents me from moving forward into God s peace it s a daily reminder of my future condemnation

23 Baptism Washes Away Sin and Guilt But, when one puts on Jesus in baptism, or returns from the world, Jesus essentially says, Welcome home. Here are my robes put them on. You were dead, now you re alive. (Rom. 6:3-5;Lk.15:24)

24 Imputed Righteousness I will take your place and you will take Mine. You are no longer guilty. Instead, you are covered in My blood and Righteousness. My Yes, we not only have the freedom from the bondage of sin, and the penalty of sin, but we also have freedom from the guilt of sin.

25 No Condemnation = No Guilt Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1)

26 Free from the Terrible SEPARATION OF SIN Oh, Death, where is your victory? Oh Death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:55) He was speaking of spiritual death and the eternal separation sin brings in the next life.

27 Free from the Terrible SEPARATION OF SIN BUT - Death no longer has any victory in the life of the Christian. Death no longer has any sting. For sin has been dealt with and even though we may die in this mortal body God has promised that we will live forever and ever and ever with Him.

28 Heb. 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment. Because of sin everyone will die and if we have been living in rebellion against God we deserve spiritual death and the eternal separation it brings. (Rev. 3:5; 20:15)

29 WITH HIM and THROUGH HIM Jn. 14:6 & 3 I am the way, and the Truth, and the one comes to the Father except through Me. Life; no I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

30 1 Thes. 4:16-18 The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Is this Your comfort?

31 An Elderly Lady Are you sinking into death? The older lady didn t answer. This happened repeatedly

32 An Elderly Lady Finally, the older woman looked at the friend in disbelief and said, Sinking? How can I sink when I am standing on a solid rock? If I had been standing on the sand, I might sink but thank God I am standing on the Rock of Ages and there is no sinking here.

33 IN CHRIST Freedom from the slavery of sin. Freedom from the penalty of sin. Freedom from the guilt of sin. Freedom from the separation of sin. Are you Free? Come to Jesus. He offers you His Freedom Today.