The dictionary’s definition of freedom is:-
Freedom:-
“The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.”
“The power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity.”
“The state of being unrestricted and able to move easily.”
Friends, I would like to discuss in this letter, what is freedom and what has it cost? The dictionary’s definition is above, but what does God have to say on the matter?
John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
I believe what God is saying here is we are free. We were created free, God never intended for us to be servants to anyone or anything. Adam and Eve were created free, they had the freedom to choose whether or not to believe the serpent. We are created free but born into sin, Jesus opened up a way to redeem us and He paid the price for forgiveness of our sins and bought our freedom. By His agonies on the cross He paved the way for us to be able to claim freedom via His blood.
Matthew 27:35 “And they crucified him, and parted his garments,…”
Matthew 27:50 “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.”
Matthew 28:5 “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.”
Matthew 28:6 “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”
Let’s move backwards along the timeline. Let’s go back to when it all began.
We all know (assuming you are a believer in Jesus, if not I encourage you to give your heart to Him) how it all began. In a nut shell, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit created heaven, the angels and the universe. The angels were created ‘free’, they had the power of choice, they were ‘servants’ to no-one, but God was their master, they served Him because they loved Him. Every government needs a leader and the Godhead was the leader in heaven. Angels served because they loved their creator not because they were subjected to. One of the first indicators that the angels were created free is recorded in the Bible when Lucifer rebelled against Jesus. Lucifer/Satan did this from choice, then he encouraged a third of the angels to join him. The angels that went with him did so by choice, as did the angels loyal to Jesus, they stayed by choice, freedom.
Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…”
Isaiah 14:13 “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:…”
Isaiah 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Revelation 12:4 “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:…”
As with all nations, communities, kingdoms, there is always a trouble maker and heaven was no different. Lucifer wanted dominion and like kingdoms today he fought for it, and lost. As a result he was banished from heaven and ended up on earth. I believe we know the story from here, but what about us? We are born under the curse of sin, we are born slaves to the devil. But Jesus wasn’t about to leave His creation to suffer under the curse of sin. Satan, while he lost the war in heaven, succeeded on earth to lure the human race into sin. This meant he was the usurper, the lying, devious temporary monarch of planet earth. Jesus wasn’t about to leave His creation in the clutches of the devil, a plan was hatched to save His creation and regain the throne. Jesus had to redeem His people, He had to set them free. The cross and all its shame and pain was the pathway to salvation, via the cross we are redeemed and salvation is ours. We are set free from the curse of sin, and are rightful citizens of heaven. Jesus will return to this earth soon and disperse the devil, his unrightful reign of terror will end with the breaking of the day, Jesus will come and we can claim our homes in heaven.
But, this my friends is only the tip of the iceberg, let’s go deeper. What, my friends, is really the ‘price of freedom’? how much has it really cost our Saviour? and would monarchs of today go to the same lengths to redeem their subjects?
Deep into every government is a covenant, a layout of rules, regulations, statutes, that is specific to their kingdom. It is the way they want their kingdom ruled and their covenant is reflective of their character. A kind, loving covenant reflects a kind, loving ruler. A harsh, cruel covenant however reflects the character of a harsh and cruel master. Every covenant has its clauses, a means of saving or destroying (dependent on who is ruler) a law breaker. This, my friends, is ‘the price of freedom’. To what extent is a monarch willing to go for the ‘saving’ of a subject. Let’s take a quick look at history, the American civil war is a perfect example. One country, different states, all fighting over slavery. North and South fighting each other over the right of freedom. The cost? According to information readily available on the internet:-
“The financial cost of the war was significant, totalling an estimated $5.2 billion.”
“The war resulted in at least 1,030,000 casualties (3 percent of the population).”
Freedom in this instance cost a lot, the conscience of one state, one government, to protect moral laws and life led it to fight for personal freedom. This is but a example of the fight for freedom on earth. Everyone in God’s planet has the right to freedom, but there are clauses. What if you have broken the law? the laws of the state judge you, and if they find you guilty punishment swiftly follows, you may even lose your freedom. But this is where we are free, to start with we were free to make the decision to break the law in the first place. If we are living under the protection of the state we are subject to their rules and restrictions, if we choose to break these rules then it is rightful we have to ‘pay’ for our crimes. Punishment follows, now different monarchs have different redemption ‘clauses’. Some insist you ‘pay the price’, the ‘cost’ of freedom, others offer a clause, a way to redeem yourself. It is all dependant on the covenant of the rulership of the government you have chosen to live under. Some states have ‘better’ morals than others, as in the above example, the North fought for freedom while the South fought to retain bondage. These are but examples of freedom and the cost of it under a earthly government.
Let’s take a look at ‘the price of freedom’ from heaven’s view point. Yes, we are living on earth and we have to abide by the laws of the land we are living in, but as believers in a God of love and a heavenly kingdom above we need to understand just where God stands in the fight for our freedom. Firstly, God never pushes His way into our lives, let’s take a quick look at a Bible verse in Revelation.
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:…”
This Bible verse, I believe, is one of the best in pointing out Jesus never forces His way into our hearts, He always knocks and waits for us to answer the door, this is also more proof that He created us free. Here is another Bible verse enforcing the love of God and the point, we have freedom.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
See it says “believeth”, we have the freedom to believe or not to believe, it also points out that God gave His only begotten Son so we can have eternal life, such love. Let’s delve deeper into this statement “God gave”. This is where the secret lies to our salvation. God gave His only begotten Son, so we can have everlasting life. Above we mentioned some verses relating to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this my friends is the key to our freedom. This is the price of our freedom. See friends, when Satan rebelled in heaven, then succeeded in bringing sin into our world, the covenant in heaven was tested. The price of sin according to this heavenly covenant was death. The law of God instituted from the beginning clearly stated, “the wages of sin is death”. Satan claimed this truth when he tempted Adam and Eve into disbelieving God’s word. But what Satan didn’t factor in was the fact that Jesus is a God of love and mercy and Jesus has in His covenant clauses. Yes my friends, it’s not over when you sin, you haven’t lost your ‘freedom’. Jesus has a clause for everyone and the best verse in the Bible to illustrate this is:-
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Yes, the wages of sin is death, but we have life via the cross and the never-ending love of our beautiful Saviour. The wages of sin is death, but friends, we don’t have to die for our sin as our blessed Saviour has already done it for us. The price of our freedom my friends, has been paid, we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. For by His death we are set free, ‘the price of freedom’.
Here is a allegory, a painted picture to highlight the price of freedom.
Two children were playing in a dusty street. Intent on their play they failed to notice the horse drawn carriage, too late, as the carriage bore down upon them the elder of the two children reached out and pushed her sister to safety. Darkness enveloped the child on the road. Bystanders rushed to attend but precious little could be done. The young girl on the side was destitute, her sister had been her only family. Forlorn and destitute the child blindly ambled along the dusty track, nowhere to go, no one to help her. Finding her way under a bridge the child curled up and sobbed herself to sleep. Gentle hands were shaking her, tender hands were lifting her up and guiding her along the path. She could hardly see, she was so despondent, but someone was urging her along. Finally coming to her senses and looking around her she found herself surrounded by other children. People who had seen what happened and cared had followed her under the bridge and brought her out. She was now in a home for children who had nowhere else to go. Someone cared, someone had given her a new lease on life, she didn’t know who. Time passed and the child grew, but she never quite could put out of her mind the horrors of that fateful day. She needed answers. Leaving the security of her dwelling the child, now a young lady went back to where it all happened so many years before. Walking up and down the path the girl noticed things she hadn’t seen before. The main object of her attention was the little white church on the corner. Something was drawing her to the church, drawing her inside. All was quiet and calm in the building, she wandered around till on one of the pews the young lady noticed a picture. It was like no other she had ever seen before, it was a picture of a man on a cross. Puzzled she glanced around, a pastor was moving through the church at the time and noticing the girl’s distress, moved over and offered his assistance. Pointing to the picture the young girl requested explanation. Gently laying his hand on the young girl’s shoulder the pastor pointed out that it was Jesus. Jesus had died on the cross to save all from sin and it was Jesus who leads the way. Going back to that fateful day the young girl asked the pastor if he remembered. The pastor did remember the child, after all it had been him who guided her to safety. After careful instruction the child, through tear stained eyes understood. Yes, there had been a tragedy, but God in His providence had someone on hand to guide the child to safety.
There is a parallel to this story. Jesus is the older sister and it is Jesus that pushes us to safety. He gave His life that we may live, He paid the price and it is by Jesus’ representatives on earth we can be led to safety, led to the cross, to life and to freedom. Remember as we walk this rough highway, remember the girl in the allegory above, Jesus will push us to safety and He will carry us home and He will always have someone watching, ready to stand in as His representative and guide us to the cross, to freedom.
Put your hand in the hand of our Saviour, He has already paid the price for our salvation, He is waiting to carry us home.