WHAT TRUE FREEDOM LOOKS LIKE

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In Christ, Mark

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

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

John 8:36

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He 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.”

Revelation 21:3-5

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

Today, Independence Day (also known as the 4th of July), millions of people will celebrate their freedom in the United States. They will gather for picnics and cookouts, attend parades, and culminate the day with watching glorious fireworks displays. It’s a holiday where most people are off, a day filled with fun and enjoyment.

But here’s the thing.

There’s a large segment of those millions of people who aren’t really free because they have not yet accepted the true source of freedom, the freedom that endures for all eternity long after this temporary worldly life is over.

You see, people in America are entangled in their national history and pride so much that they believe freedom is grounded in a day 250 years ago when the nation’s founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, establishing the first thirteen American colonies as a nation liberated from British rule and tyranny. And although a democracy was born that day…a democracy we still enjoy today…it only set people free for the here and now. It hasn’t guaranteed anyone a future freedom nor will it.

This is because there is only one way to ensure that you are free now and forever, a truth that has existed since we started counting years as AD. Maybe you have never thought about that but why do we use a marker that separates BC and AD anyways? I know you have seen this used all the time but most people fail to understand that the demarcation point is the birth of Jesus.

Thus, BC stands for Before Christ and AD, short for Anno Domini, means “in the year of the Lord”, the time that Jesus came into the world to bring salvation, and yes, freedom. Not just salvation and freedom for the short term but salvation and freedom eternally. And so we base the way we look at time and years…the way we look at history…off of Jesus. He is our benchmark and yet, as mentioned earlier, there are millions upon millions of people who don’t even acknowledge belief in Him, a number that reached roughly one third of America’s population in two recent polls (Pew and Gallup). That’s a lot of people (roughly around 125 million) who think they are free and exercise that false sense of freedom to choose not to believe in Jesus, and yet they are as far away from freedom as they could be.

This isn’t just my opinion. The Word of God from the Gospel of John tells us this:

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

The Bible makes it clear and these are words from the Savior Jesus Himself. True freedom is only found in Him, the only One who God sent to save all mankind from their sins, the only One who can bring anyone to the Father (John 14:6).

When it comes right down to it, people can claim freedom through a democracy all they want but they are anchoring their liberation in a system of government and no government can or will ever be able to bring a person salvation and the associated hope of Heaven.

Only Jesus can do that. Only He can set someone free.

So what do we need to be freed from? Perhaps this is a question that needs to be answered to underscore the urgency of finding true freedom. Look at these verses from the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation which promises the return of Jesus to judge the earth and take into Heaven all who believed and trusted in Him as Savior, those who will be counted among the free:

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He 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.” 

Revelation 21:3-5

Within this passage, we find the promise and assurance of some of the things a Jesus believer will be free from as soon as they believe in Him and accept Him as Savior.

First, they will be free from death.

Jesus conquered death and the grave after bearing the sins of all mankind at the cross of Calvary. His subsequent resurrection and ascension paved the way for us to follow Him into Heaven once we place our belief in Him.

Second, they will be free from mourning.

There will be no more need for grief in Heaven for we will not lose anything or anybody ever again. We will live forever with God and Jesus, in the company of the other saints who gained their salvation.

Third, they will be free from crying.

There will be no need for sadness as you enter the eternity of Heaven free from all the afflictions and hardships that your worldly life brought upon you. You will only experience elation and joy over having made it across the finish line to claim your inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

Fourth, they will be free from pain.

In this, there will be liberation from all forms of pain.

No more pain from the guilt and penalty of sin.

No more physical pain from illness or injury.

No more emotional pain from any number of life events that may have left you hurt.

No matter what pain might look like in any person’s life, one thing is certain. It will be no more in Heaven and I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to that.

Finally, they will be free from the everlasting damnation and torment of Hell. 

The truth for every single person is that they are a sinner who has fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) and, without a Savior, are destined to live in Hell after this life is over. This is because their names will not be found in the Book of Life when Jesus returns for only those who chose to believe in Him as Savior will be written down. Going back to the Book of Revelation, we read about their fate:

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15

Heaven or Hell. All will end up in one or the other forever after they die. The only way to make sure you'll be in Heaven and freed from Hell is to place your belief in Jesus. Today, that is about two billion of eight billion people in the world which tells you that Hell is going to be very crowded if Jesus would return right now. 

And so yes, we celebrate our nation’s independence today but true freedom will come only when the Lord Jesus returns one day to make all things new, ushering every single Christian believer into Heaven, a world that is free from every difficulty we experience in this worldly existence.

If you want to know what true freedom looks like, whether today or any other, look to Jesus and believe in Him, receiving Him as your Savior. For it is only then that you will know that you are free indeed, now and forever.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.