FREED FROM BONDAGE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In that day the Lord will end the bondage of His people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.

Isaiah 10:27

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Yesterday, we looked at the fact that there will be a remnant of people who will have a chance to go to the Holy City of Jerusalem and into the presence of the Lord God Almighty. We saw in two instances, one in the past and one in the future.

Looking at the past and the scriptures from Isaiah, Chapter 10, we read where there was a remnant of Israelites who would be given the opportunity to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and get a fresh start after seventy years of exile in Babylon. This would happen because the people turned back to God, placing their full faith and trust in Him, and in doing so, they would find themselves freed from bondage, liberated from their captive state and free to live and love and learn and worship again in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.

We then looked at the future and scriptures from the gospel of Matthew and the books of 1 Thessalonians and Revelation, excerpts that all speak about the time when Jesus will return as He promised, a time when the world will be under His judgment. At that time, not everyone will have the opportunity to leave this current heaven and earth as it is utterly destroyed. No, only those who placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be saved and have the opportunity to join Jesus and God, His Father and ours, in the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1-3). For those who Jesus places on His right, there will be life forever, the salvation promise sealed in His shed blood at Calvary. For those who chose to deny Jesus, the ones on the left, there will be no more life, only a fiery death in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Not a pretty scene is it?

But there will be something else gained by those who through Jesus get a chance to enter into an eternal life in the new Jerusalem. They will be set free from bondage of the world. Look at these words from Revelation 21, verses 4 and 5:

He (speaking of God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Did you catch that?

There will be no more death and no more mourning or sorrow. We will be freed from it all as death loses its sting through the victory Jesus won over it on the cross and at His resurrection, a resurrection victory that paved the way for Christians to share life forever with God and Jesus.

Indeed, God will wipe every tear from our eyes and usher us into peace and comfort and joy as we enter into His everlasting light and love. For all our pain will be a thing of the past. Ditto for dealing with life’s tribulations and difficulties, especially having to cope with sin. All of this will be a thing of the past for the Lord will make all things new.

Friends that newness does not start through Christ returning. Rather, that newness happens when we willingly choose to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, submitting our will and way to His so He might conform us to His image and, in doing so, make us new creations, our old selves set aside so He might make all things new within us (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is then that we find life and life forever. What we do after that is to answer the call of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and help others become free from bondage as well.

Question: Have you escaped bondage from sin and death yet?

If the answer is no, Jesus is waiting to make all things new for you, now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com