GLORIOUS LIBERTY
           of the
 CHILDREN OF GOD

For the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God; for
the creation was subjected to futility, not
of its own will but by the will of him who
subjected it in hope; because the creation
itself will be set free from its bondage to
decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the   
children of God.              Romans 8:19-21

The glorious liberty of the children of God is not something

which waits for the last day.   It is already here.

- Liberty.

- Freedom.

What else did the Messiah come for but to set the captives
free?

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he has anointed me to preach good news to

the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release

to the captives and recovering of sight to
the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed...."                        Luke 1:18

Every one of these blessings Jesus promises to bring us
is freedom:

- Good news to the poor.

- The trouble with being poor is that

  you're limited in what you can do,

what you can eat,
 where you can travel.

  You're strapped down.

- Good news to the poor is freedom.

- Release to the captives. 

- Freedom.

- Recovery of sight to the blind.

- The trouble with being blind is you are

   limited in where you can go.

You can't run through the woods,
jump on the rocks.

- Recovery of sight is freedom.

- Liberty to the oppressed.  

- Freedom.

Jesus gives freedom to the blind,
                                     lame,
                                     lepers,
                                     deaf,
                                     dead,
                                     poor.   And He gives it starting

now, in this life. Jesus doesn't merely say to people whose

lives are walled in,

"Never mind,   Some day you'll be in heaven

 and then you will be free."

"What do you want me to do for you?"

"Lord, that I might receive my sight."

"Receive your sight, your faith has made you
 whole."

"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

               "I will - Be thou clean!"

The mark of every single person who was touched by Jesus

in any way, was freedom. Obviously the behavior of the

followers of Jesus was freer than that of the Pharisees.

- They walked through the grain field ^.plucking
grain on the Sabbath.

- They ate without ritually washing their hands.

- They asked the questions that came into their
   minds without shame.

They were having a lot more pleasure in God than the
religious types of the day because they ^.were free.

This is still true.   The difference between a religious
person and a person who has come into a living union with
Jesus Christ is freedom.

- The religious person tends to be bound and
inhibited.

- The lover of Jesus is free.

But there are two kinds of freedom: inner freedom and
outer freedom. A rich man for instance has outer freedom.

- He is almost unlimited in where he can go

  in the world.

  - He can eat where he likes and what he likes.

  - His money gives him access to people of
    influence.

  - Doors open to him that do not open to others.

But this same rich man, with all this outer freedom, may
be inwardly a slave. His mind may be in bondage to vanity
and his desires fixed on lust.

While Jesus gave the lame and the blind a certain outer
freedom, these healings were signs of the real freedom He
came to bring: inner freedom.

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed
in him, "If you continue in my word, you are
truly my disciples, and you will know the
truth, and the truth will make you free."
They answered him, "We are descendants of
Abraham, and have never been in bondage to
any one:   How is it that you say, 'You will
be made free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, every one who commits sin is a slave to
sin. The slave does not continue in the
house for ever; the son continues for ever.
So if the Son makes you free, you will be
free indeed...."                     John 8:31-36

"What do you mean we will be made free? We're sons of
Abraham, we've never been slaves to any man."

"Outwardly perhaps ... but inwardly whoever continues in
sin is a slave to sin."

Surely we're all aware that our real bondage is not the
outer but the inner.

For I do not understand my own actions. For
I do not do what I want, but I do the very
thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want,
I agree that the law is good. So then it is
no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells
within me, that is, in my flesh.   I can will
what is right, but I cannot do it.   For I
do not do the good I want, but the evil I do
not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do
not want, it is no longer I that do it, but
sin which dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to
do right, evil lies close at hand. For I
delight in the law of God, in my inmost self,
but I see in my members another law at war
with the law of my mind and making me captive
to the law of sin which dwells in my members.

  Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver
  me from this body of death?         Romans 7:15-24

Who of us doesn't know exactly what Paul is talking about?
But what most of us have not yet come to believe is that
there is freedom from inner bondage in this life.   We
don't have to go on and on defeated by the corruption
within us that makes a mockery of our desire to do good.

If the Son makes you free, you will be free
indeed....      - not hopefully free,

- not potentially free,

- really free!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty.   

- Liberty as our portion,

     our dwelling place,

     our meat and drink,

     our daily joy.

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed
in him, "If you continue in my word, you are
truly my disciples, and you will know the
truth, and the truth will make you free."

                                                          John 8:31-32

The freedom comes as we continue in Jesus' word which is
Spirit and life. Continue in it! As we hold on to His
word - watch over it, live it - we experience in this
life, even in  these bodies of flesh and blood, the
glorious liberty of the children of God.

If you continue in my word.....

For instance,

1. If you continue in my word of the cross you will know

    the truth....

....that you've been forgiven and you will be free from guilt.

Most of us have had flashes of insight about our forgiveness

stretched between long seasons of darkness.   We need
to get to the point where those flashes of light become
continuous unbroken day. We need to soak up the word of
the cross until we absorb it into our nature.

The word of Jesus is not just something that came out of
His mouth; it was what He did. The most forceful word
Jesus ever spoke was His laying down His life on the
cross. Every time we behold the Lamb hanging on the cross,
we hear His word saying to us,

- "Your sins are forgiven."

- "The evil within you is now conquered."

 
- "Your guilt is removed."

- "You are clean."  

I continue in that word of the cross by fixing my heart
on the cross of Jesus every day when I get up, seeing
it as the center of my life,

the source of my strength.

I also continue in the word of the cross by learning to
joyfully deny myself for others.   

- Take up my cross.

I constantly put my stubbornness on the altar and yield
my will to God's way of mercy.

We need to continue in this word to know nothing except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified,

- until the power of the word of the cross  

  literally sets us free from all guilt,

- releases us into a. life ruled not by guilt

  but by endless thanksgiving to God.

- A life overflowing with mercy toward others.

Make no mistake, this is a life we can live. It's
already happening on this earth. It can be happening
to us all.

2.   Continue in my word of promise and you will know the truth....

.... that the Spirit has come and has set you free from

     the lust of the flesh,

               lust of the eye, and the pride of life.

Notice how many of the words of Jesus are promises....

- "I will not leave you desolate..."

- "I will come to you."

  - "I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice.

  -  "Whatever you ask the Father in my name He
   will give it to you."

  - "Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon
  you ... you shall be my witnesses..."

Every one of these promises is fulfilled as we receive the
Holy Spirit into our lives. And He, the Holy Spirit,
fulfills us as nothing, nothing in this world fulfills us.

 
All the fulfillment we sought through lust and pride -
and which always disappointed us,

      left a bad aftertaste,

     ended in disillusionment - becomes ours as the
Holy Spirit fills our lives with the glory of God.

Now we begin to taste what it's like to be able at last

to get on top of lust and pride and enter into the freedom
of a God-satisfied life. Only God-satisfied people are a
free people. They alone have the freedom to live in
praise to God and in generosity and forbearance toward
those around them.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will
say, Rejoice.   Philippians 4:4

3.  Continue in my call to faith and you will know the truth....

....that I am the resurrection and the life. That I have
set you free from the fear of death.

Since therefore the children share in flesh
and blood, he himself likewise partook of

the same nature, that through death he might
destroy him who has the power of death, that
is, the devil, and deliver all those who
through fear of death were subject to life
long bondage.               Hebrews 2:14-15

Jesus conquers death on the cross ... but He delivers us
from the fear of death and the power of death by calling
us to faith.

"He who believes in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live."

"I am the bread of life; he who comes to me

shall not hunger, and he who believes in me

shall never thirst."

Every morning when we get up Jesus calls us again to
faith.   "Believe in me....

   Trust me...

       Put your life in my hands...
      Take me at my word..."

And as we do, we literally step from death into life. We
enter a divine walk here on earth, eternal fire burns
within us, living water flows from our hearts into the
needs around us, we're able to give ourselves to others
because we're no longer scared inside of dying.

...because the creation itself will be set
   free from its bondage to decay and obtain
   the glorious liberty of the children of God.

For a short while longer the creation around us remains
in bondage to decay. But the glorious liberty of the
children of God is already here.   It's an inner freedom
each of us is meant to have now.

God help us to continue in the Master's word until we
begin to know the truth and find that freedom.

- Continue in my word of the cross and you will

  have forgiveness.

  - Continue in my word of promise and you will
    have the Holy Spirit.

  - Continue in my call to faith and you will
experience life that destroys death.