Freedom

The Father’s Heart

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“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Wow, this verse is loaded with hope, comfort and encouragement. God is in your midst, with you and beside you. He is PRESENT and aware of what you and I are going through and he cares. He is POWERFUL and he wields his strength on your behalf to rescue you from yourself and all your enemies. He is PLEASED with you. The Lord doesn’t just tolerate you, He takes great delight in you. He is 100% for you not against you. He really loves you and even sings over you.

Why do we as God’s people struggle to believe this? Why do so Christians live as if the Father has a perpetual frown and feelings of disappointment directed toward them?

I believe it’s because of amnesia. That is gospel amnesia. We have a tendency to forget how amazing the grace of the gospel is and seem to think, perhaps subconsciously, that the guilt of our sin must be carried by us for a certain amount of time as way to show remorse.
We forget the Father’s heart towards us or we just don’t know it deeply, intimately and accurately. Often our experience with our earthly fathers or lack thereof plays a significant role in distorting our view of the Heavenly Father. Earthly fathers are designed by God to reflect a mirrored image of the love, compassion, patience & faithfulness of GOD the Father.
When you became a Christian you were given a right standing before the Father, declared righteous before Him because of the righteous work of Jesus‘ life given for you as a sacrifice for your sins. You are now “accepted in the Beloved”, you are redeemed, you are forgiven and you are sealed with the HOLY SPIRIT (Ephesians 1:3-13). The Father has lavished love and grace upon you who are “in Christ”. He chose you and set His love on you even before you were born, knowing all the sinful choices you would make that He would forgive and cleanse by the blood of Jesus. God demonstrated His love for you that while you were still a sinner Christ died for you (Romans 5:8). He took your place, your sin, your guilt and your shame. So why would you walk in any of that any longer. You died and now have new life because of Christ. You now have a new identity and trajectory for life. God has given you purpose and has good plans for your days here on earth. It’s time to live in these realities and avoid false narratives and influences on your thinking and your feelings. It’s time to be fully alive as a beloved child of God, enjoying the grace of God, doing the will of God and reflecting the glory of God with joy inexpressible!

The Glorious Gospel

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What makes the gospel so glorious?20130222-234958.jpg

There are many reasons that the gospel of Jesus Christ is glorious. One of the reasons is that Christ brings FREEDOM to those who are in bondage to sin. The Apostle Paul wrote “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2 ESV) Christ gives His people freedom from the penalty of sin (Romans 6:23, 5:1), which would mean condemnation, death, & judgment for the sinner. He gives freedom from the power of sin so that His people are no longer dominated & slaves to sin (Romans 6). Many people including myself have experienced freedom from drug & alcohol addiction through believing in Christ. I have seen some seemingly hopeless addicts & alcoholics delivered by the power of the gospel. Christians have been freed from the penalty & power of sin and brought into a glorious liberty to serve the living God. The penalty of sin which is death has been taken care for the believer in Christ (Romans 6:23). He now possesses the free gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. The power of sin has been broken in Christ. We are free from law of sin and death. Freedom comes from knowing the truth and namely the One who embodies truth Jesus Christ (John 8:31-32, 14:6).The Spirit gives us life and freedom! Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17)! The Holy Spirit leads us into the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by helping us know the truth and believe the truth we are set free, and no longer slaves to sin (John 8:31-32). He who the Son sets free is free indeed. One day Christ will deliver His people from the very presence of sin. One day “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 ESV) …But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:27 ESV)

Another thing that makes the gospel glorious is the FELLOWSHIP with God that believers experience. We are now brought into relationship with the Father and the Son, which Jesus called eternal life (John 17:3). Either you know him or you don’t. You either have the Spirit of God in you or you don’t. This fellowship with God that we experience is through the presence of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. We have become the Spirit of God’s dwelling place, the very temple of God.

Here are some of the graces of being in fellowship with God:

  1. Instruction-8:14 (He leads us, guides us and instructs us)
  2. Intimacy -8:15 (We come to God and call Him Father. We are not orphans)
  3. Identity -8:16 (We are God’s children and we belong to God’s family. This is our identity.)
  4. Inheritance -8:17 (We have been given everything we need & more; Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3)
  5. Intercession-8:26 (He intercedes for us and helps us in our weaknesses)

The last reason that I will give for the gospel being glorious is the FUTURE that God the Father has graciously planned & secured for His children (Romans 8:18-37). The Father has glory & good in store for His children. We will see the glory of God (Romans 8:18), we will have glorified bodies (Romans 8:23), and we will be glorified with the Lord (Romans 8:30). God will work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28), He is for us & always will be (Romans 8:31), He will freely give us all things (Romans 8:32) and nothing will separate us form His love (Romans 8:37-39)

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