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The realization of who you are in Christ, when He is your Savior, is freedom. And it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. The knowledge of your sonship sets you free to walk in the path of righteousness, doing the will of God, who is now your Father. And as we continue to meditate upon the prayer of the psalmist, may the Lord continue to graciously work in your heart and mine, to be led forward in life, even though every day seems to bring fresh challenges. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground [Psalm 143:10]. And it is His word that is the light for your path ahead leading you on, for it gives you a godly perspective to handle wisely all that is part of life’s earthly pilgrimage, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether [Psalm 19:7-9].
And the fear of the Lord, in the scripture above is fear that is not a fear that destroys you, but an overwhelming love for God, a trust and dependence upon Him, that expresses itself in giving to Him in unquestioning obedience. It is seen wonderfully displayed in the testing of Abraham’s faith, where he was able to lay down his son of promise, upon the altar of sacrifice as a burnt offering in obedience and trust. ‘Now I know that you fear God’, were the words of the Angel of the Lord, who went on to proclaim the blessing upon him and his descendants [Genesis 22:12-19]. It was how Abraham was led forward by God, as he expressed his love for God in giving to Him.
The key to it all was Abraham’s relationship with God. It was rooted in love and continual fellowship with Him, to be a prophet of God, as he heard from God to speak it forth and apply it in his own life. He was a friend of God, one from whom, God chose not to hide what He was about to do. And you and I are Abraham’s descendants this day, by faith in the God who promised to bless Abraham that all nations on earth may be blessed through him, privileged to live in the promise of God to Abraham, His friend. And another, even more wondrously deeper, dimension of his relationship with God, is what the apostle Paul describes in his letter to the Romans, declaring the freedom from being in bondage to fear. It becomes possible when the realization is birthed in you, of who you are when you receive Christ as your Savior and Lord.
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God [Romans 8:15,16]. The child of a millionaire will not know the material riches at his command, unless he is aware of the fact that his earthly father is an extremely wealthy man. But it all pales in comparison to the greatest realization of it all; and that is the mind boggling truth of you being a child of God. And what it implies is that you belong to Him, and He, the God of heaven and earth, belongs to you. Whether you are rich or poor, strong or weak, no matter what your circumstance may be, everything becomes vibrantly colourful when illuminated by the knowledge of this powerful truth.
You have a God, who is your Heavenly Father! And it is the nature of your relationship with Him, of being His precious child that becomes the benchmark in determining how you relate to everything else in your life. Never be bogged down therefore, if you have been at the receiving end of the apparent injustice and cruelties of life. For, you have a good, good, Father. And the Holy Spirit who now indwells you is the Spirit of adoption, declaring your adoption as a son or daughter of the Living God. It has ramifications that go deeper than being adopted, or even genetically being a child in the worldly sense.
For, when adopted as a child of God, it is not about external similarities. Rather it is the potential and power in you, of an inner transformation, for you have been created in the image of God. It is about having the character of God. ‘Be holy, as I am holy’, are His words of empowerment to you. It is knowing the truth of your identity in Christ that is liberty and freedom. But, as seen in the parable of the prodigal son, there can always be challenges that come in it’s path. [Luke 15:11-32].
They were both sons, but were hindered from walking in it, for reasons quite different, at different ends of the spectrum in a way. The younger son, thought he could return, to be only a servant. It was a feeling of guilt, because of his wandering away from his father that was keeping him from the position and privileged relationship of being a son. The elder son on the other hand was legalistic in his approach, only to miss out out on the love and fellowship that would be his as a son. Filled with grudge, he was unable to enter in, and be joyful. In short, both of them found themselves unable to walk in the freedom that was theirs, if they had only received and applied it rightly.
Teaching a valuable lesson, it shows that guilt can creep into a person’s life, even as a child of God, unless sin is not dealt with rightly. And it is the word of God that is the antidote, and can be your weapon, in such a circumstance. It is the sword of the Spirit, declaring that your sins have been removed by God, as far as the east is from the west [Psalm 103:12]. It is the message of the Cross, where the Savior has paid for it all to set you free. And when memories of a sinful past makes the feeling that you are a sinner linger, it is the blessed Holy Spirit who can make you remember, what the Lord does not remember! For ‘I will remember their sins no more’ is His precious promise to you. It is what can overcome the troubling memories that can come through various avenues to take you back to a place of bondage, from which you have been set free.
Salvation is by grace and through faith. It is a gift from God, that you received in order to be saved. When doubt arises in you about your unworthiness to approach God, and your prayer being heard, it is the truth the realization of which can bring freedom in you, a sense of liberty. For, He heard you while you were yet a sinner, to save you. Now, how much more can be your confidence, when it comes to taking your cares, your sorrow and your joy to Him in prayer, in knowing that He hears you. You can boldly approach the throne of grace, to obtain grace and mercy in your time of need, for you are a child of God, and nothing can alter the glorious truth.
You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear [Romans 8:15]. Where there was fear therefore, there is now freedom, that is a distinguishing feature of sonship. The law of first mention, when applied to fear, takes you back to the garden of Eden, where Adam hid himself from God in guilt, fearing the repercussions of his sin. But sin has been dealt with on the Cross of Calvary.
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh [Romans 8:3]. And therefore, today when satan the accuser of the brethren, brings a charge against you, about your sin, there is a Heavenly Advocate in the court of the Father, who pleads your righteousness; and not because you have not committed a sin, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but because Lord Jesus Himself has borne the punishment for the sins of the whole world. A staggering truth; but it is the perfect and complete, finished work of the Lord on the Cross. Therefore, when you receive Him into your heart, to be your Savior and Lord, you are lifted up to be a child of God, with the Holy Spirit who is in you now, becoming the One who authenticates it in your spirit, and to birth in you a freedom from condemnation. Therefore, you can be grateful for all that has happened in your life, instead of being guilt ridden, as you meditate upon, and walk in the freedom that is now yours.
Where there is a will, there is a way, the world may say. But there is no way you could have refrained from sinning until you were saved. And the wages of sin is death. But, after you were saved, you enter into a glorious freedom that hitherto was not available to you. For, the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. And therefore, when until now you could not help but sin, or miss the mark that God has for you, to be His child, now you can choose not to sin. It is the freedom that sonship brings in you. There will be challenges, and you can still end up sinning, but now you have the freedom to say ‘no’ an option that you did not have earlier. Born with a sinful nature, only sin in all it’s dimensions would have been your life’s story. But now, something more powerful has appeared on the landscape of your life. It is the beautiful grace of God that teaches you to say ‘no’ to sin. You can, but you don’t have to !
It is the freedom that is yours’, because you are a son, or a child of God, and it is what can be imbibed and experienced, from the Lord, the Only Begotten Son of God’s own life, even as He began His ministry on earth. Being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward when they had ended, He was hungry [Luke 4:2]. The Lord was fully God and fully man, as He walked on earth. And after being without food for forty days, He was hungry. It is when the tempter came. For, the temptation to sin comes when the devil exploits situations that present a desire combined together with an opportunity, to plant a sinful thought in you that is contrary to God’s word, and His will for you.
‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread’ was the attack of the devil, upon His very identity, in order to shake the foundation of His being, and His ministry. But the Lord in the realization and assurance of being the Son of God, stood His ground, to be sustained by the word of God, declaring, ‘It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God’ [vs 4]. ‘I can, but I don’t have to’ was the Son of God’s powerful stance that made the devil retreat, to wait for the next opportune moment.
And so when temptations arise in your life, there is never the need, to rationalize or find reasons to justify in order to succumb to it. For sin’s pleasures, are always temporary and fleeting. It is instant gratification that they afford you. But with the Holy Spirit giving in you the realization of who you are, and also the attitude that is in line with it, you can say, ‘I can, but I do not want to’. And a wonderful feeling will come in you, in doing the will of God, your Heavenly Father. There is never the reason therefore, to stand in the place of temptation, instead of fleeing from it. As seen in the scriptures, Joseph in the house of his master, the Egyptian was enabled to do it [Genesis 39:18]. Even passive smoking, or being in the company of one who is doing it can end up corrupting you.
And the wisdom of God , can by His grace empower you that you may stay away from sin that so easily entangles a person. Christ has dealt with the problem of sin on the Cross of Calvary, and it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. ‘I can, but I don’t have to’ can be your victorious perspective concerning sin that has held you captive until now. For, you are a child of God. He can get you out of your problem of sin, in case you are still in it’s clutches. And the prophet Zechariah has given a wonderful picture of the one taken out of sin’s fiery destruction in describing the high priest, Joshua, standing as a brand plucked from the fire. But sin having been dealt with, your iniquity is removed [Zechariah 3:4]. Therefore, He can also keep you out of it.
The devil tried yet again with the Lord, tempting Him to bow down and compromise, taking the easy way to declare His Sonship. But ‘I am the Son of God; and I don’t have to do it’ were His words of confidence and clarity [Luke 4:6-8]. And they can be yours this day, when the devil tempts you with the material riches of this world, it’s pomp and power that are ultimately futile. Confident clarity comes to you, by the wisdom of God that is written in the scriptures, even as the Lord declared to the devil, ‘It is written ..’ [vs 8]. He was acquainted with the scriptures, from a very young age, as He grew in wisdom and favor with God and man [Luke 2:52]. It is also seen that it was according to His custom, that He was at the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath, and knew the words that spoke of Him, to be able to say as He rolled up the scroll after reading, that, on that day, the scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing [Luke 4:16-21].
He remains the unchanging pattern in your life and mine today. And strengthened in like manner, by the wisdom of God you will know the words to speak when you approach the place of temptation, in order to make the devil flee. Freedom comes in you, as you continue in the word, to learn and understand continually until you come to a place, where you know the truth. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free [John 8:32].
Therefore, if the SON makes you free, you shall be free indeed [John 8:36]. It is the glorious gospel. Sin made you a slave; but the Son makes you a child of God, to live in freedom and liberty, fulfilling the will of God. Pontious Pilate was sadly wrong, as he asked the One who is the Truth ‘What is truth?’ [John 18:38]. Truth is not a philosophy; it is the person of Jesus Christ, the blessed Son of God. A fallen man needs a helping hand and not a philosophy to lift him up and make him stand. The apostle Paul got it right, when in his wretchedness, one that you and I can well identify with, he calls out, ‘Who will rescue me from this body of death?’ to then triumphantly declare’ I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord’ [Romans 7:24,25].
There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit [Romans 8;1]. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, or freedom [2 Corinthians 3:17]. You are no more a slave; you are a child of God, through Lord Jesus, your Savior. In Him you have freedom from sin, the strength to come out of it, and remain out of it.
And in humble adoration, as we draw near His throne of grace, without guilt or shame, knowing that we are accepted, and forgiven, may we give thanks unto the Father, for the confidence and clarity that we have received, in knowing and experiencing the Truth, the Living Word, the Son who has set us free. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
