Setting the Captives Free
Freedom. From the time we are small there is a part of us that wants to be free. Babies want to walk on their own. Kids want to ride their bikes farther and farther away from the house. Youth just want to hang out with friends and not be trapped by rules and authority. Young adults aren’t ready to face responsibility. Adults realize that freedom comes with a price. But the fact remains that freedom is the desire.
The opposite of freedom is slavery. To be a slave means to have no rights and privileges of your own. As a slave what you want doesn’t matter, you don’t have a choice. The slave owner sees their slave as a piece of property, less than human, and often times treated that way. Slaves taken from Africa to the United States in the 1700 and 1800 hundreds were considered to be without a soul, only animals.
Truth from the Bible says that we are all slaves. Each of us comes from a long line of slaves going back to Adam and Eve. We told God that we didn’t want him and this sin of disobedience put us in spiritual chains. Jesus says, “whoever sins is a slave to sin”. Since we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God that makes us all slaves to sin. Because of sin we are less than the human beings God created us to be.
Satan is the slave master in this world. He knows our weaknesses and takes full advantage of our sinful natures. The bible says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He twists the truth and uses lies to manipulate the minds of human beings. His only goal is to steal, kill and destroy. We believe the lies of the devil so much that it blinds us from seeing the truth of who we really are. Our ability to make choices is corrupted as we prefer to make decisions that keep us trapped in darkness.
Enter Jesus. God comes down with an emancipation proclamation, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come...I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”
Freedom! Sins forgiven! Souls set free! Trust in Jesus as the one who died for your sins and rose from the grave to give you new life! This freedom comes with a love for God that you could never have as a slave to sin. Suddenly there is hope. We can embrace the free gift of God’s love removing the chains of sin from around our spiritual feet. This is the good news of the gospel!
The problem is that sins run deep. There are generations of people passing along the consequences of their sinful behaviors. Sinful attitudes and choices leave us trapped in some seriously dark places. We’ve spent years in disobedience from God living as slaves. Part of us doesn’t know there is a better way. Jesus saves us and begins to work on our hearts transforming us. His Spirit will spend the rest of our lives exposing the scars from sinful slavery and working with us in our recovery. We were originally created to be like Christ, to worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Instead of being slaves to sin, believers in Jesus Christ are slaves to God. As slaves to God this means we don’t want any other choice than what God has for us. Since God’s way is the best way we now have the grace to turn from our sin and choose God. This is the ultimate expression of freedom. This is totally backwards than what we are used to. This fact alone can create doubts and make it hard at times to follow Jesus. Satan will still try and take advantage of our failures but he will never have complete slavery over the believer as he did before.
With the Spirit of God living in us it is time to spread this emancipation proclamation. The more we give our lives to God we can begin to help other see the truth. As the word of God enters into our hearts and transforms our minds, we can speak truth and wisdom towards others. Lessons that God has taught us we can teach others. Lies the devil once spoke we can expose for what they are. As the word spreads of our freedom lives will begin to change. It all starts with the Spirit of Jesus working in and through us. We can make the same bold statement of release as he did.
Every day we encounter people who need to be set free. Look around you. Examine your self. Has God been at work in your life? Are you allowing him to shed light on your sinful areas? The Spirit wants to transform us into people who like Christ live for God completely. With the Spirit of God empowering you, Christ gives you his authority to point people to himself. Jesus Christ is where we find true freedom. The scars of our slavery to sin can be healed. The battle against going back to sinful slavery can be won! This is the good news that we are supposed to share with the world. We didn’t earn it, we don’t deserve it, but God freely offers freedom because of Jesus Christ and his actions on the cross.
In God’s eyes he sees Christ in our lives and we have value. Our mistakes have been paid for. The ransom for our sins has been covered. When we fail Christ lifts us up and we continue once again in the opposite direction from our sin. Hurts that we have been holding onto can be let go. There is no need to live in fear and doubt anymore. Jesus is all about setting the captives free. Let us treasure Christ and seek to live for him. God will bless us by being a part of his mission to release people into his kingdom. Trust in Jesus. Be free!