Thank you for Kevin and his wife Christine. We pray for them as they finish off studies and think about their future and their desire to come to live and work in Ireland.
And we pray that if that is part of your plan it would become real clear to them and you would open up the right doors at the right time and provide a means for them to come.
And we pray for Kevin now and for us all that we would know your help, that we would understand your word, not just so that we can answer questions but that it would change us and help us see the kind of life you have called us to live and the life you have given to us.
So help Kevin and help us now we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
If you'd like a pen, I'm going to hand them around. If you want to take notes you can use the button.
All right, well good morning. It is good to be with you brothers and sisters.
Just as any of you who have traveled to another country, gone to a church there, you know just the joy that it is to be at a church in another country
and to immediately feel the unity of the spirit that you have with people in another country.
So it's great to be with you today.
If you would turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 8.
In the Bibles here it's page 1074, 1074, and that's John chapter 8.
You know when I found out that you had, last week you had Dr. Vickers, Brian Vickers preaching here
and then many of you came to the Bible week all week and heard him all week,
I thought it wasn't fair that they asked me to preach this morning because you got to hear my professor all week
and now you got the B team coming up here.
But it really is good to be with you.
So let's read from John chapter 8, starting in verse 31.
And this is what we'll be looking at this morning.
John chapter 8, verse 31.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
They answered him, that is the Jews,
We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.
How can you say that we shall be set free?
Jesus replied,
Very truly I tell you,
everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Now a slave has no permanent place in the family,
but a son belongs to it forever.
So if the son sets you free,
you will be free indeed.
Let's pray one more time.
Father, we come from many different weeks.
Maybe some of us had weeks that were joyful.
Some of us maybe had weeks that were painful,
that were hard.
All of us had weeks where we were full of sin
and full of struggle,
and we are just in need of hearing from your word this morning.
So Lord, I pray that you would help us.
I pray that you would help me to speak with clarity,
that you would give me the words of your spirit,
from your spirit to speak what would be helpful
to these brothers and sisters.
And Lord, would you give all of us ears to hear
what it is that you would be speaking to us today.
May your word not just be,
like Johnny just said,
an academic truth that we understand,
but it would be a transformative power
as your spirit applies it to our hearts.
We pray for this. Amen.
Well, I understand that you have been looking
at the topic of the Christian life this summer.
And so I wanted to go along with that
and talk about the topic of freedom.
And that's not just because we're coming from America.
I know America loves to talk about freedom.
But I want to talk about specifically freedom
in the Christian life.
What does it mean that we are free as Christians?
And when I say the word freedom,
I'm sure there's many different things
that come to mind for you
because our culture means many different things
when they use the word freedom.
When I say that word,
just think to yourself for a minute,
what comes to mind when I say freedom?
Maybe it's retirement.
Maybe paying off your mortgage.
Maybe vacation,
sunshine,
your parents leaving the home
and leaving you alone.
Maybe your children leaving the home
and leaving you alone.
Maybe it's this church service finishing
so that you can go and do what you'd like to.
Maybe it's just doing whatever you want to do
with your time.
That's freedom for you.
If you ask Google,
Google will tell you that freedom
is the power or right to act,
speak,
or think as one wants
without hindrance or restraint.
That's a very culturally appropriate
understanding of freedom.
And I understand just from watching the news
in your country
over the last few years,
there have been a lot of talk about freedom
and referendums
and being free to do what you want to do
with your life.
There's a lot of confusion
over this topic of freedom
in our culture.
And we are going to find
this same confusion
over freedom
in our passage this morning
in John chapter 8.
The Jews,
as they listen to Jesus
speak about freedom,
are misunderstanding
and confused
about what he means by that.
And so this morning,
I want to look with you
at how does Jesus
define freedom.
And it's a radically different way
of defining it
than his contemporaries,
than our culture,
and honestly
than many of us as Christians.
The way that we normally think
of freedom,
Jesus defines it
in a very different way
than us.
And just to give you
a high-level view
so that you know
kind of where I'm going
with this
as we speak this morning,
we are going to see here
that Jesus tells us
that apart from him,
we are all blindly
slaves to sin
with no ability
to free ourselves.
but Jesus,
as the only one
with authority
over sin
and over us,
can break the power
of sin
and release us
to live free from sin.
That that is true freedom
is living away from sin.
And that only Jesus
provides true freedom,
the freedom to live
as God created us to live.
That is what we will see
here in our passage.
But before we get there,
before we look at
Jesus' definition of freedom,
I want to just take
a few minutes to see,
well, where are we
in John's Gospel?
We jumped in here
in chapter 8.
What happened before?
What's happening around this?
Well, John's Gospel,
if you've read it before,
you'll notice that
it focuses very often
on these lengthy
confrontations
between Jesus
and the religious leaders
of the day.
This is not the case
with other of the Gospels
as much,
but very much
in John's Gospel.
And the religious leaders
of Jesus' day
were very confused
by him.
They were struggling
to understand
because they were intrigued
with what he was saying.
They said he speaks
as no one has ever
spoken before.
And so some were
starting to believe.
You see that actually
in verse 30,
here in chapter 8,
it says,
as he spoke,
many believed in him.
So they were interested,
some of them
were believing in him.
And yet at the same time,
Jesus was saying things
that to these leaders
sounded harsh,
sounded confusing,
sounded even to them
sometimes blasphemous.
Like someone should not
say these things
if they love God.
And so when Jesus introduces
the topic of freedom
for them in this passage,
in our passage
we're looking at today,
again,
they misunderstand him.
Look back at verse 33 here.
It says,
they answered him,
we are Abraham's descendants
and we have never been
slaves of anyone.
How can you say
we shall be set free?
Now this is an interesting
statement they make here
because if you have ever read
any of the Old Testament,
you might think that
this is a bit strange.
How can the Jews say
they have never been
slaves of anyone?
In fact,
the Old Testament
is the story of the Jews
being enslaved to everyone.
The Egyptians,
the Philistines,
the Babylonians,
the Assyrians,
every world power
around them
at some time
enslaved the Jewish people.
And yet they say here,
we have never been
a slave to anyone.
We are Abraham's descendants.
But see,
for the Jews at that time,
they knew rightly
that they were God's people.
And so they had this
spiritual,
inward freedom
that no,
we are God's people.
God has made a covenant
with us.
And so no matter what
our external circumstances
look like,
we have this inward,
real freedom
freedom,
because we are God's people.
But the problem is,
well,
and I should say,
that is why they ask
this question.
They say,
how can you say
we shall be set free?
In other words,
if I'm already free,
how can I be more free?
How is that possible?
That's what they're asking Jesus.
But the problem is,
and what we'll see here,
is Jesus is going to expose
that they are in fact mistaken.
That they have
misdiagnosed
their need,
and they have
misunderstood
what it really means
to be free.
And so what can we then
learn about freedom
as a Christian,
and the freedom
that Jesus brings
from this passage?
Well,
I'm going to show you here
quickly three things
from this passage
that Jesus,
three ways
that Jesus describes
the freedom
that he brings.
The first thing he says
is that it is
conditional freedom.
The second thing
is he will say
that it is
a created freedom.
And then third,
he will say
it is a costly freedom.
So let's look at
those three things
in turn.
First,
the freedom
that Jesus brings
is a conditional freedom.
Look back
at verse 31.
To the Jews
who had believed him,
Jesus said,
if.
That's an important word.
Whenever we see that word
when we're reading the Bible,
it should cause us
to stop.
Because if
always brings
a condition
attached.
If you hold
to my teaching,
you are really
my disciples.
Then you will know
the truth
and the truth
will set you free.
So the freedom,
the first thing
we see here
is that the freedom
that Jesus brings
is not an automatic freedom.
It's not a freedom
that everyone
automatically receives.
And this is something,
putting these
if statements
is something
that Jesus does
very often,
especially in the
gospel of John
that we are looking
at right here.
You can think
of other places
that are familiar
to us,
like in John 15
where Jesus is talking
about being the vine
and the branches
and he says,
if you remain in me,
then you will bear fruit.
Or he talks about
if you remain in my love,
then you are my disciples.
Or he says,
if you keep my commandments,
then you will show
you are my disciples.
So this is a very common thing
for Jesus to put
these kind of
if statements
and put a condition
on a promise.
Well, so what is
the condition here
that Jesus is placing
on this?
What does he say
you need to do
to prove
that you are his disciple?
Well, he says,
you see it in verse 31 there,
he says,
if you hold
to my teaching.
And that word hold
there is the same word
that is used
in John 15
for abide
that you might be
familiar with
where he talks about
abiding in him
as the vine.
So that word hold
or remain
or stay
in his teaching.
So just to show
that we are his disciples,
Jesus is saying,
you must hold
to my teaching.
You must remain
in my teaching,
my word
that I have taught you.
And see,
in the Christian life,
there is this great emphasis
on truth
as we see here
that Christianity
is not just about
feelings
or emotions
or opinions,
but Jesus is concerned
with what is true
because he says
knowing the truth
in verse 32
is what sets you free.
So let me just
make a,
just apply this
very briefly,
very quickly here
that if,
if just saying
that you are a Christian
is not enough,
just,
just to make
that statement,
being a disciple
or a follower
of Jesus
is not just
an intellectual thing
that you know
certain truths
about him,
but Jesus is saying,
no,
this is about
a moral commitment
to me
that you must remain
in my teaching,
hold to my teaching.
And so,
well,
what does knowing
the truth do?
Well,
the truth
sets us free,
right?
That's what he says here.
But the next question
that we should ask
is,
well,
what does it set us free to?
I mean,
what are we free from?
What are we free to?
What is this freedom
giving us?
And that brings us
to the second point
that not only
is Jesus' freedom
conditional,
but his freedom
is also created.
And that's a bit confusing.
What I mean by that
is that it is a freedom
that is according
to our design,
according to the way
that we have been created.
Truth sets us free.
And so that means
that knowing
what is true about us,
knowing what is true
about God,
knowing what is true
about how God
has created us,
is what will set us free.
That is the truth
that will free us.
So the question
that we need to ask
is,
okay,
well,
what is true about us?
How have we been created?
How has God made us?
Well,
turn with me back
all the way
to the beginning
of the Bible,
Genesis chapter 1.
It's on page 3
of these Pew Bibles,
but it's a little
difficult to find,
so just find the first book,
Genesis 1.
And let's read here
just for a minute
about what is true
about our design
that would help us
to understand
what has God created us for?
What is the freedom
that God has made us to do?
So starting in verse 26
of Genesis 1,
it says,
Then God said,
Let us make mankind
in our image,
in our likeness,
so that they may rule
over the fish
and the sea
and the birds
and the sky
over the livestock
and all the wild animals,
over all the creatures
that move along the ground.
So God created mankind
in His own image.
In the image of God,
He created them.
Male and female,
He created them.
God blessed them
and said to them,
Be fruitful
and increase in number.
Fill the earth
and subdue it.
Rule over the fish
and the sea
and the birds
in the sky
and over every living creature
that moves on the ground.
Okay, there's a lot there,
but let me just point out
a couple things to you.
And the first thing is,
if you can see,
and this is a very interesting thing
to notice,
in verse 28,
when God created mankind,
man and woman,
the first thing that He does
is He blesses them, right?
In verse 28,
it says,
God blessed them.
And then He says to them,
Be fruitful
and increase in number.
Fill the earth
and subdue it.
Well, what is that?
That's a command, right?
So the first words
that God speaks to you
and to me
or to Adam and Eve
as creatures
is a command.
And yet it says
that command
is a blessing.
Do you see
what I'm saying here?
This is very interesting
because often I think
even as Christians
we can think,
well, commands from God
are almost bad things.
They come because of sin.
Because we're broken people,
God has to tell us what to do.
But that's not the way
the Bible presents it here.
This is before sin
had ever entered the world.
Adam and Eve are perfect,
living in unity
with each other,
with God.
And God blesses them
with a command.
A command from God
is a blessing.
And so the first thing
that we can see here
is that we are created
as creatures
to obey God.
That is how we are designed.
And obeying God
and loving God
and enjoying God
and following His commands
is the freedom
that we were given
when we were first created.
Those are not things
that came afterwards
as a second idea from God.
But that was His first
primary free thing
that He was giving us
is in your freedom
as my created creatures,
obey me.
This is my design for you.
And so before sin,
we joyfully lived
under God's commands.
We followed the blueprint
that He had put in us
or maybe if you're
a computer person,
you could say
the software
that God gave us
inside to run properly
was to function
according to this design,
the design that He gave us.
And what was that design?
What was the design
that God gave us
when He created us?
Well, you saw that there
in verse 26
it said of Genesis 1,
God says,
let us make mankind
in our image,
in our likeness.
So our design
is the image of God.
That is the way
that God has created us.
And sometimes I think
we can be confused
over what does
the image of God mean?
Does that mean
I look like God?
That God kind of
looks like Kevin
or Kevin looks like God?
What does it mean
to be in the image of God?
Well, it really means
that we are God's representatives,
that we are little pictures
of God in this world.
And we know that
because if you study
the cultures
around the Jews
at the time
that Genesis was made,
the kings of those cultures,
so Egypt
and those other ones
that were living,
the kings were called
the image of God.
So it wasn't just the Jews
who used this kind of language,
it was all the cultures
around them as well.
That they were,
the king was called
the image of God.
And that didn't mean
that these kings
looked like God.
They could even be
the image of a female God.
But what it meant
was that
they were representatives
of that God's rule
in the world.
That was what it meant
to be the image.
And so,
then these kings
would then set up
images of themselves
in their land.
So you think of,
in Egypt,
the Sphinx,
which is an image
of the king.
That was a way
that the king
then put an image
of himself
into the land,
again,
to show
this is my land.
I rule
in this land
through these images
that I have created.
And this is exactly
the same imagery
that God is giving us
in Genesis 1,
that he was giving
to the Jews,
that he was giving
to the people of God
when he first created them,
is you are little images
of me
in this world
created to show
God's character,
to bring his rule,
to bring his reign
into this world.
That is what it means
for us to be
the image of God.
And so,
by design,
we are created
to reflect God,
to show what he is like.
That is our software,
is to show God.
And if you think
about that for a minute,
that means that
the freedom that we have
when we were created
was a freedom
with boundaries
around it, right?
Because God
is a God
who only acts
in certain ways.
God is a God
who is holy
and only does
certain things.
And so,
if we were created
in God's image,
that means that
our freedom
that we were created in
was a freedom
with boundaries
around it.
And that may sound
strange to you
to hear about
a freedom
that has boundaries,
but I think I can
illustrate that for you.
Think about
the roads
around here.
What would happen
if you took
all the street signs down,
all the street lights away,
you know,
any painting
that was on the ground
and just made it free?
What would happen
the next day
when you were driving
trying to get to work
the next day?
It would be chaos, right?
Absolute chaos.
No one would get anywhere.
I've been in countries
like that
and it really doesn't
feel like freedom.
It feels just like a zoo
trying to get around
to where you're going.
There are boundaries
put in place
to give you freedom
to get to where
you want to go.
Or another way
that we could illustrate this,
think of a child
flying a kite.
I don't know
if children in Ireland
fly kites.
I don't know
if children in America
fly kites,
to be honest.
They probably
just play video games.
But if you know
what a kite is,
think about a child
flying a kite.
The kite is
at the end of a string,
say 200 feet up,
and that kite
is just straining
at the wind
trying to get free,
right?
Because the kite
just wants to go higher.
It wants more room.
It wants less boundaries
on it.
Well, what happens
if the child
cuts the string?
The kite feels free
for a minute,
it flutters for a second,
jumps up for a few feet,
and then suddenly
falls to the ground,
right?
It just flutters
its way back down
to the ground
because the string,
the boundary,
was what actually
gave it freedom to fly.
And that's exactly
the way that it is
with us,
brothers and sisters,
is God gave us
boundaries
to make us free.
As we function
within those boundaries,
that is the freedom
we have.
So it is a freedom
of obedience.
that God has given us.
Let me just show you
something else.
Let me show you
another offer of freedom,
though,
from Genesis 3.
If you turn over
just a couple pages,
this is on page 5
in your Bibles.
Because again,
we were created
with this freedom,
but now listen to this
next offer of freedom
that came to us.
In Genesis 3,
let's look at verse 2.
Sorry,
but we'll start at verse 1.
Now the snake
was more crafty
than any of the wild animals
the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman,
Did God really say
you must not eat
from any tree in the garden?
The woman said to the snake,
We may eat fruit
from the trees in the garden,
but God did say
you must not eat fruit
from the tree
that is in the middle
of the garden,
and he must not touch it
or you will die.
You will not certainly die,
the snake said to the woman,
for God knows
that when you eat from it,
your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God
knowing good and evil.
How's that for an offer of freedom?
Don't follow what God says.
God knows when you disobey Him,
then you'll really find freedom.
Your eyes will be opened.
You'll be like God.
You'll know good and evil.
You see what's going on here?
God created us
with freedom to obey.
And Satan came and tempted
Adam and Eve
with the first sin
with this offer
that sounded like more freedom,
but really ended up in slavery.
Slavery to sin.
And this is exactly the way
that the Bible talks about this,
is that we have given up
freedom to obey
and we have taken on
a freedom,
or sorry,
kind of a freedom
to obey God
and now we have given up
that freedom
and given up all freedom
and now are slaves of sin.
Let me show you
where the Bible
describes it in that way.
Go to page
1,223.
It's 2 Peter 2.
This is just a very graphic image
of how this works.
2 Peter 2.
It's on page 1,223.
And this is a chapter
of the Bible
that is talking about
these false teachers
that are coming
to this church
and they are telling the people,
listen,
I know that you heard
that Jesus is coming back,
but it's actually not true.
And so,
you can just live
however you want to live.
Don't worry,
there's no judgment
that's coming.
You're never going to have to answer
for what you've done.
You're just free to live
however you want to live.
They're offering freedom
to these people.
But it's not a real freedom.
And this is what we see here
in 2 Peter 2, verse 19.
It says,
They promise them freedom.
This is the false teachers.
They promise them freedom
while they themselves
are slaves of depravity.
For people are slaves
to whatever have mastered them.
So you see that.
Here's these false teachers
coming to the people
saying,
Don't worry about
obeying God's commands.
Just be free.
Just be free from those.
Take this freedom.
But Peter says,
No,
these people themselves
are slaves of their sin.
No one is free.
You are either
a slave,
a servant of God
obeying Him,
or you're a slave,
a servant of sin,
obeying sin.
And that is exactly
what Jesus says
back in John 8.
So let's go back there.
If you lost the place,
it's John 8, 1074,
that page.
In verse 34,
Jesus says,
Very truly I tell you,
everyone who sins
is a slave of sin.
So see,
this is exactly
the language
that Jesus is using
back in our passage
in John 8.
He's saying that
the real bondage
is not bondage
to the Egyptians
or sitting in a church service
or whatever it is.
The real bondage
that we experience
as humans
is bondage to sin.
And Jesus says here,
it's interesting to notice
that sin cannot be controlled.
It can't be something
that you think,
Yeah, you know what?
I don't actually think
that anyone is controlling me.
I don't want to live
to obey God.
I don't want to be
His servant.
But I don't think
I'm really owned by sin either.
I kind of just do
what I want to do.
That's kind of the way
that I live.
I mean,
according to Jesus,
that's not a real category.
He says,
Everyone who sins
is a slave of sin.
Right?
So you can't control your sin.
If you are a person
who does sin,
you're a slave.
You're a slave to sin.
You're either a slave to sin
or a slave to God.
And that's exactly the way
that Paul describes it.
You don't need to turn there,
but just in Romans 6,
if you read through that chapter,
that entire chapter
is showing
you are either
a slave of God
or a slave of sin.
It's one or the other,
and you need to decide
on which one.
But Jesus came,
Jesus came
to bring us back
our freedom.
And that's exactly
what we see here
in this passage.
Look again,
look at verse 35.
Now,
a slave has no permanent place
in the family,
but a son belongs
to it forever.
So if the son
sets you free,
you will be free
indeed.
So we think
that we are free
in our sin often.
We think,
I'm doing whatever
I want to do,
just living my life.
We're like those people
in 2 Peter 2
that we read about
who are promising freedom.
You know,
I don't have to worry
about judgment.
But we are slaves.
We need this freedom
that Jesus is offering us.
He says,
the son is the one
who can set you free.
Well,
brothers and sisters,
this is a radically
different vision of freedom
compared to our culture
that we have talked about.
Our culture,
like we talked about
at the beginning,
defines freedom
as doing what you want to.
But the Bible here,
we see,
defines it as doing
what you were created to do.
That is what freedom is
according to the Bible
and according to Jesus.
And that is a view
of freedom
that is very oppressive,
or the culture
views that
as very oppressive.
And so I want to
encourage you
just for a second here,
do not be discouraged
by the culture
around you in Ireland.
It's the same for us
in America
that tells you
you are oppressive,
you are hurting people
by telling them
that they need to live
in certain ways.
We are the ones,
as Jesus' representatives,
bringing his message
of wholeness,
of flourishing,
of telling people
how to live
in the way God
has created them
to live.
Well,
how do we know
what that looks like?
What does that freedom
to live as we are created
to live look like?
Well,
Jesus already showed us
in verse 31,
he says,
if you hold to my teaching,
you are my disciples,
you will know the truth,
and the truth
will set you free.
Right?
So,
it is the truth
of God's word
that shows us
what that freedom
ought to look like.
And I do want to
move on to the third point,
but I do,
just to make a quick
application here,
sometimes,
as God's people,
maybe I should say
all the time,
if my experience
is accurate,
I don't feel
that freedom
all the time.
I know that
God's word,
and Jesus tells me here
that I have been set free,
he says,
if the Son sets you free,
you are free indeed,
but sometimes
I don't feel free indeed.
I feel my sin,
I feel my weakness,
I feel that I can't
get past those things
and live the way
that God has created me
to live.
And so,
I think it's just important
to acknowledge that reality
and acknowledge that
while,
in one sense,
the Bible does say
that in places
like here in John 8
or Romans 6,
it says that you are
free definitively now,
you are no longer
a slave of sin,
you are a slave to God,
there also is
the recognition
in the Bible
that the fullness
of that reality
is not here yet.
You think about
1 John 1
that says,
if anyone says
he does not sin,
he is a liar
and the truth
is not in him.
So,
the fullness
of the true freedom
of God's children,
we wait for a final day
where we will be
with God in heaven
with no more sin,
no more sorrow,
no more weeping,
no more weakness.
We wait for that final day
and yet,
we have a preview
of that today
in that Jesus
really definitively,
truly has liberated us
from sin
to serve Jesus.
But I just want
to acknowledge that
because I know
sometimes we don't feel that
and that often
you will hear
if you read books
about the New Testament
that there is kind of
this balance
of already but not yet.
We are already free
but not yet totally free.
We are waiting
for the day
when we will be
finally free.
Well,
let me just turn
for the last couple minutes here.
I do want to go
to the third characteristic
because it is very important here.
The freedom that Jesus gives
is not only conditional,
it is not only
a created freedom
but it is a costly
freedom as well.
You see,
freedom
is never free.
Look at verse 35.
Jesus says,
now a slave
has no permanent place
in the family
but a son belongs
to it forever.
Jesus here
kind of changes
the tone
a little bit
of what he is saying
to introduce
an image for us
so that we can
understand this better
and he says
there is this imagery
of a household
that has servants
in the household
and then sons
in the household.
And a slave
or a servant
in a house
they can't free themselves.
Sometimes it is hard
for us to relate
because we don't see slaves
in our culture
but maybe you can relate
as an employee.
If you are an employee
working for a boss
you are not really free
to do whatever you want.
You are not necessarily
free to take the company
whatever direction
you want to go.
You kind of have to do
what your boss says
and there is also
not permanency.
You could be let go
at any point
by your employer.
And that is exactly
what Jesus says.
A slave has no
permanent place
in the family.
A slave could be let go
at any time.
If the master
doesn't like him
he is gone.
But what about
the boss?
Or what about
the boss's son?
The boss
who walks into
the workplace
never has to worry
about his permanency.
No one can fire
the boss
because he is there.
He is there forever.
Same with a son
that is in a house
and that is what
Jesus is saying.
A slave has no
permanent place
in the family
but a son
belongs to it
forever.
And what Jesus
is saying to us
here is that
only the son
of a family
has inheritance
has rights
has permanency
to stay in the
family forever.
And then look
what he says
in verse 36
so if the son
sets you free
you are free
indeed.
Well what is
Jesus saying there?
He is saying
that Jesus
as the son
in the family
has the authority
to liberate
the slaves.
That is the picture
that he is giving us here.
And so we are
those people
in this image
that were slaves
in the family.
We were servants
to sin.
We had no permanency
in God's family
because of our sin.
But Jesus comes
as the son
with all authority
and he is the one
who can liberate us
and set us free.
But brothers and sisters
how did Jesus
liberate us?
How was it possible
for him to free us?
Peter tells us
in 1 Peter 2
that he bore
our sins
in his body
on the cross
so that we might
die to sin
and live to righteousness.
See the only way
to free us
from our slavery
to sin
was for Jesus
to come
and to take on
the punishment
of sin
which was death.
Jesus had to take
on our punishment
so that he could
then give us
his righteousness
and free us
so that we would
then be sons
in the family
sons and daughters
in the house
just like he is.
And that's why
the Bible uses
this imagery
of adoption
so often
because we were
slaves in the family
but now Jesus
has exchanged
his life for ours
and given us
his sonship
given us
his daughtership
for those of you
who are women here
and allowed us
to come into the family
as adopted children
into the family.
So let me
end just with
two quick applications
here
with how do we
respond to this
vision of freedom
this vision of freedom
that Jesus is giving us.
Well some of you
who are sitting here
you may still be living
as a slave
to sin.
You may be someone
who says
I am not willing
to give up
my autonomy.
My freedom
is too precious.
I want to be able
to live
however I want to live.
If that is you
here today
then my friend
consider
the cost
without Christ.
Let me just
read you
a verse here
in Romans
chapter 6.
You don't need
to turn there
I'll just read you
a quick verse.
Paul here
writing
he acknowledges
that if you
don't follow God
yeah you're free
to do whatever
you want to.
You can sin
whatever way you want to.
he says
when you were
slaves to sin
you were free
from the control
of righteousness
but listen
what benefit
did you reap
at that time
from the things
you are ashamed of?
Those things
result in death.
So yes
if you want
to live free
from the rule
and reign of God
you are free
to do that
but the end
of that
is death.
And my friend
Jesus is offering
you freedom
from that.
But remember
this freedom
is conditional
and the freedom
is costly.
Jesus paid
the price
to free you
from your sin
and all that
is required
of you
is that you
repent
and believe
and then he
will give you
the ability
to remain
in his word
to be set
free
by his truth.
Maybe others
of us here
the Lord
is using
these words
of Jesus
to we
want to be
we want to be
servants of God
we want to live
in the freedom
of obedience
and maybe
the Lord
is showing
you areas
of your life
that are coming
to mind
where you're
not living
in this freedom
of the sons
of God
you are still
living as if
you were a
slave of sin
well how do we
how do we
get by that
how do we
live in that
freedom of
obedience
and this
sounds like
a very simple
application
it sounds
too simplistic
to say
you should
read your
bible
and pray
but what
did Jesus
say in our
passage
in verse 31
he said
you will
know the
truth
and the
truth
will set
you free
right
he says
if you
remain
in my
word
then you're
my
disciples
so really
it's not
as simple
as that
but it is
as simple
as that
that as we
know more
and more
of God's
truth
God will
allow us
more and
more to
be set
free
the real
freedom
comes from
the work
that Jesus
has done
in dying
for us
but experientially
day in
day out
God conquers
more and
more of
our hearts
through
the word
of God
showing us
truth
and that
truth
setting us
free
well
let us
pray for
that together
that the
Lord would
set us
free
in this
way
Father I
thank you
just for these
brothers and
sisters for
the joy
of being
with them
this morning
for the
privilege of
looking at
your word
Lord would
you
give us
a great
vision of
the glorious
freedom of
obedience
that Jesus
has died
and rose
again to
win for
us
and would
you give
these brothers
and sisters
great strength
as they fight
for the fight
of obedience
which is the
fight to
fight in the
way that we
were created
to live
in your name
amen
thank you
very much
Kevin
thank you
all for
coming today
it's great to
have you with
us
we'll see you
next week
and if you
want to
feedback any
comments or
ask any
questions to
Kevin
please feel
free to do
that afterwards
and talk to
Jack and
Zona while
they're here
and find out
a little bit
more about
them but
good to see
you