Liberty in Christ
What does that mean?
- Freedom from the Mosaic law which only tells us we are guilty of sin and blinds us to what Christ Jesus has accomplished for us with his life, sacrifice, resurrection, - as our Teacher, Shepherd, Savior, High Priest and Creator.
- Freedom from being dominated over by corrupt desires, which allows our soul to walk in the Spirit/ the will of God.
- Freedom from the restraints and miseries of the earthly frailty. Our bodies may be dying but our Spirit is being refreshed, assured and matured in the love of our Lord. We can have joy, peace, love, hope, and faith when outwardly there is no reason why we should have such wonderful things.
- We are Christ minded not worldly-minded. (Note: 1 Corinthians 2:16)
- This liberty has only been given to us as Christians because we have accepted the blood covenant with our Lord Jesus Christ, which paid the penalty for our sins. This covenant made it possible to have a relationship with God.
- We are not self-assured by good deeds or works or even those we surround ourselves with, for these things can give us a false sense of security. We are to be assured in our Lord Jesus Christ alone.
To Be Liberated
We can try to do many things to “change” -for what “we “ think is better but unless there is a heart and mind change nothing will change.
We are doomed to repeat the same things over and over again. Ever hear people say they are going to do something to make their situation or life better but their “idea” of better is pitiful next to God’s plan. Then you have those who like to TALK but don’t even follow through at all. Maybe it’s because of fear, maybe it’s not sure how to pursue their objective, maybe it was a temporary desire, maybe the passion was snuffed out, maybe they didn’t seek God’s direction.
Ever give advice “inspired by the Holy Spirit” to someone and it sounds and looks like they were listening but in following up in conversation their situation and mindset is still much the same.
Jesus said, the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Our sheer “will” power of the flesh is weak, inconsistent, and easily distracted. It wants to give in to the screams and naggings of the world. The flesh has a difficult time getting out of mundane themes and feelings of yesterday to a fresh perspective on the here and now. It is captured in the cocoon and familiarity of the days before. The dust we have accumulated from yesterday’s life is never brushed off with the renewing assurance (hope) of the Lord. And since it is transfixed on yesterday and it’s cloud, it finds it difficult to seek God’s face and partnership in the tasks at hand. If finds it difficult to stand because it never considers who wants to stand with them. It finds it difficult to see God’s mercies and grace are fresh and anew everyday.
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22-23
The flesh finds it difficult to be humble and submit to God and not this life. We forget who is our caretaker at times who makes all things new- including our perspective on day.
“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Pslam 118:24
“Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.” Psalm 54:4
Life without God is very lonely and trying and meaningless.
So what does a person need to be liberated?
- One: People need to give their life to the Lord Jesus Christ- EVERYDAY! Don’t try to give him only parts because one part affects all the other parts. I know this from experience. Give him the entire engine- not just parts of the engine. Give him ALL you are able to give.
- Two goes with one: Admit you have been wrong in your thinking and understanding and you need God’s help. Only a fool admits he/she doesn’t need God. I need him everyday to keep a sound mind! (Note Galatians 5:22-23) Sound mind isn't our way but God's way.
- Three is very important: Submit to His Spirit and not our flesh. For God changes our heart when we give our life to Him and He makes us want to please Him. We no longer want to submit to our sinful and weak nature but walk humbly with God. (Micah 6:8)
- Four goes with 1,2 & 3. Read the Word of God for yourself. Ask God to guide your reading and study and meditate on the words that seem to pop off the page. God wants to liberate your life through His Spirit! (Holy Spirit)
- Five: Stop quickly when you feel you are being seduced into horizontal thinking… where it’s just you tackling the things in life and the world and God seems to be absent or at least very distant in your mindset and heart.
God says, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
“A heart of flesh” in this case is not talking about the sinful nature but a heart that is receptive to God and the things of God. It is a heart of “moral” character, conscience, resolution, and determination. And God is to be not just the compass of that heart but the strength of that heart.
“I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.” Jeremiah 24:7
“This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5
Have you ever tried to please God by your own “will” power or strength. It is not just the most frustrating thing a person can go through but you feel like a complete failure as a Christian.
More then a decade ago, I remember being on the phone sharing my predicament to my grandmother. I had just been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit weeks before. Life had turned from night to day and I was trying to share this new reality with everyone I knew but as I started listening to the radio ministries and reading my bible I found myself off kilter, I knew I had been swept clean by the Holy Spirit. I no longer had those resentful feelings I used to have. I knew I could finally read God’s word to where it now made sense. I was now enjoying church. I was like a spiritual sponge soaking all I could from the pastor’s sermons. I even liked that “Christian” music. I had become a new creature in Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
BUT when I compared my life to other Christians, I found I didn’t measure up.
I didn’t want to crawl, I wanted to walk and run like everyone else
and that is where I inadvertently stepped into a hole. Ever play out in a
green field and step into a hole that was covered by some long blades of grass?
What happens? Well that is what I did.
In my haste to “catch up” (figuratively speaking) “I” was trying to please God with my own "will" power. That was my first mistake. Second mistake was not comprehending all the spiritual warfare I was now standing in. No one told me once I became a Christian I would suddenly be a target on Satan's hit list. I wondered why if I am a Christian why are these sinful thoughts popping into my head from no-where? I didn't even give it the remote possibility it was Satan whispering in my ear to sabotage my faith. I thought it was ALL me. These thoughts really bothered me until I was thoroughly frustrated. (Sinful thoughts would had not bothered me before but since my heart had changed, they bothered me now. After all Jesus says if you even think it, you are guilty of sin.) Was the thought something I conjured up and hunted down and sequestered OR did I put those "thoughts" into the production line? I didn't... so what did?
Go tell those "thoughts" to go take a jump off a high high high cliff so when it hits the ground no one can tell what it originally looked like. That is way the word says "stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil". But I at the time did not know that. And do to the confusion and junk thrown at me, and thinking - that junk was my problem ... and thinking I had to be perfect by my own strength I was now stumbling over mere ideas that came into my mind.
Hebrews 12 calls this life “a race” but I find the only competitor in this race is MYSELF. I am up against myself, my wandering mind, my feelings, my desires, my wants, my needs, my understandings, my perceptions, my lack knowledge when it comes to the word of God and so on… That is why it is important to be in the word of God so you can stay liberated in God. Satan is the big bully on the sidelines- heckling you and throwing whatever he can in your path to try to stop you. We "compete" against ourselves in all the different facets of this life. And this race is “figuratively” more like a three-legged race where Jesus is to be our partner and we are depend on his leading not ours. We move as he moves.
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." Acts 17:28
Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
In my haste to “catch up” (figuratively speaking) “I” was trying to please God with my own "will" power. That was my first mistake. Second mistake was not comprehending all the spiritual warfare I was now standing in. No one told me once I became a Christian I would suddenly be a target on Satan's hit list. I wondered why if I am a Christian why are these sinful thoughts popping into my head from no-where? I didn't even give it the remote possibility it was Satan whispering in my ear to sabotage my faith. I thought it was ALL me. These thoughts really bothered me until I was thoroughly frustrated. (Sinful thoughts would had not bothered me before but since my heart had changed, they bothered me now. After all Jesus says if you even think it, you are guilty of sin.) Was the thought something I conjured up and hunted down and sequestered OR did I put those "thoughts" into the production line? I didn't... so what did?
Go tell those "thoughts" to go take a jump off a high high high cliff so when it hits the ground no one can tell what it originally looked like. That is way the word says "stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil". But I at the time did not know that. And do to the confusion and junk thrown at me, and thinking - that junk was my problem ... and thinking I had to be perfect by my own strength I was now stumbling over mere ideas that came into my mind.
Hebrews 12 calls this life “a race” but I find the only competitor in this race is MYSELF. I am up against myself, my wandering mind, my feelings, my desires, my wants, my needs, my understandings, my perceptions, my lack knowledge when it comes to the word of God and so on… That is why it is important to be in the word of God so you can stay liberated in God. Satan is the big bully on the sidelines- heckling you and throwing whatever he can in your path to try to stop you. We "compete" against ourselves in all the different facets of this life. And this race is “figuratively” more like a three-legged race where Jesus is to be our partner and we are depend on his leading not ours. We move as he moves.
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." Acts 17:28
Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
He is the author and finisher of our faith- not us. When we try to be the author and finisher of our faith we get all ensnared in life and live in disobedience.
Let’s go back to the hole I was ensnared in …. And as I flipped through the pages of my bible and listened to my grandmother’s words of encouragement, my eyes directly fell upon this verse.
“….. It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.” Zechariah 4:6
Tears came from my eyes… all this time I had been trying to be “perfect” by my “own” strength when all I had to do was turn and ask for God’s help. God is the one to aid us as we live this Christian life.
I remember this relief came over me. I
spoke the verse's words out loud, my grandmother’s voice smiled on other end of
the line. “That’s right!” She replied. “God loves us. He doesn’t
want us to try living this life without Him.” This revelation sank within
me; God is going to assist me. God is going to help me.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Thank God for THE Shepherd who picks us out of all the different kinds of holes in life.
We are all like sailboats without wind for our sails when we try to go through this life without God’s help. Yep- all kinds of dangers there. Pirates, sharks, dehydration, the unpredicted squall- to name a few. We are just aimlessly walking and groping through the darkness when we go it alone. Yep- there too! Those left behind Legos, walls that come out of no where, the bed post that seems to find your toe every stink'n time, and the eluding light switch.
SO before we can be liberated we must see some of the symptoms of what we need to be liberated from. Here are a few.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Thank God for THE Shepherd who picks us out of all the different kinds of holes in life.
We are all like sailboats without wind for our sails when we try to go through this life without God’s help. Yep- all kinds of dangers there. Pirates, sharks, dehydration, the unpredicted squall- to name a few. We are just aimlessly walking and groping through the darkness when we go it alone. Yep- there too! Those left behind Legos, walls that come out of no where, the bed post that seems to find your toe every stink'n time, and the eluding light switch.
SO before we can be liberated we must see some of the symptoms of what we need to be liberated from. Here are a few.
- Legalism.
- Counting your good deeds as a way to find favor with God.
- Measuring your own goodness against other people's "lack of goodness".
- You finding yourself closer to fears then to God.
- Trusting yourself more then God.
- Hypocrisy, holding to a doubt standard towards others, partiality.
- Lies, deceit and deception and slander.
- Being conceited and prideful.
- Jealousy, anger, hostility, foul abuse language.
- Envy, coveting, greedy over what the world considers the “good things” in this life.
- All the different forms of worldly addiction. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, immoral sex, hording, gluttony, internet and video game addiction and so on.
- Impure and/or lustful thoughts.
- Idolatry. The worship of things and people instead of God.
- Not upholding truth, denying the truth.
- Participation in demonic actives, witchcraft, fortune telling, mediums or spiritualist.
- Accepting our circumstances in life as a measure of who we are in Christ.
- Living in your own understanding and perception.
- Thinking everyone is wrong except you and your own little group.
Quite a few are listed in
Galatians 5:19-21.
"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2:16
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:1-4
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8
“Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? It is exactly as the scriptures say, “For you we face death all day long. We are like sheep on their way to be butchered.” In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love- not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:35-39
(God is the everlasting hand of friendship and faithfulness)
“You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God’s right side. Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth. You died, which means that you life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God. Christ gives meaning to your life and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory” Colossians 3:1-4
"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2:16
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:1-4
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8
“Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? It is exactly as the scriptures say, “For you we face death all day long. We are like sheep on their way to be butchered.” In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love- not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:35-39
(God is the everlasting hand of friendship and faithfulness)
“You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God’s right side. Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth. You died, which means that you life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God. Christ gives meaning to your life and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory” Colossians 3:1-4
(Set your heart on what is eternal not temporal.)
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:7-8
In the liberty of Christ we find all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us.
The dark churning skies of "our" world are blown away by a refreshing wind which reveals calm clarity in the mind and heart as we humble ourselves before God. His quiet compass of our soul keeps us away from the religious Bermuda Triangle. His anchor for our soul keeps us from becoming estranged from his love. We sadly see those who only live to serve this world and its always-unsatisfied appetite of meaningless. We are reminded with His pure light, God gives our life meaning; he satisfies our eternal souls with his eternal constant love. What more does the soul need but God?
Sin & Liberty Don’t Mix
Some even now think God’s liberty gives them the right to sin and live immoral lives but sin only brings you back under bondage. It separates you from God.
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13
God has no favorites. God is not impartial. God is not a hypocrite.
“But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.” Colossians 3:25
Liberty & His Return
The good work happens when we trust in him and his liberty. It won't matter when the day the Lord comes because you will be living and growing in his liberty. You will be ready!
“God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that day that Christ Jesus returns. I pray that your love will keep on growing and that you will fully know and understand how to make the right choices. Then you will still be pure and innocent when Christ Jesus returns. And until that day, Jesus Christ will keep you busy doing good deeds that bring glory and praise to God.” Philippians 1:6, 9-11
Wearing Liberty.
“Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.” 1 Samuel chapter 18
According to one of MANY Jewish customs this was one way to show a covenant. Jonathan is saying to David, “Whatever is mine in yours.”
This covenant also illustrates the covenant we have with Jesus Christ- if we have made him Lord of our life. Not having a robe of righteousness ourselves, Jesus has given us his robe of righteousness, which not only makes us holy and acceptable in the sight of our Heavenly Father, but it allows us live in God’s righteousness by his Holy Spirit.
Romans 13:14 “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Galatians 3:27 “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Ephesians 4:24 “and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 3:10 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
Liberty is being clothed from head to foot in what God has given us. Think about the armor of God.
“A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood but the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth, and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.” Ephesians 6:10-18
Think about the parable Jesus shares with us about the Story of the Lost Son. (Note Luke 15:11-32
The son has lost his entire inheritance. He has been living the way of the world and being used by the world. He ends of in the lowest of low jobs - feeding the swine. Seeing nothing to lose he decides to go and ask if he can be a servant in his father’s house but as he approaches the road to his father’s house a man, who recognized his saunter from the distance, comes running towards him.
As the man got closer, the son realized it was his father. The father did not have rage or disbelief as he looked at his son standing there in soiled and tattered rags for clothes but one of tears and a smile. The father embraced and kissed his son as if he had been waiting for this day for a long time. Ashamed the son said to his father, “Father I have sinned against both you and heaven, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.”
The father wiped his son’s tears of repentance from his face. It wasn’t long after when some servants approached. The father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found…”
The Father of Heaven has given us the best robe that His house can offer - the robe of HIS righteousness - a sign of a loving covenant with you as his child. He has only offered it to you through Jesus Christ and Him alone. You are accepted by God because of this covering of righteousness. You can live in His liberty because of this covering. Living according to the Holy Spirit not the flesh. He has placed a ring on your finger - also a sign of a loving covenant with you through Christ. This ring is also a sign of authority and “restored” relationship and “honored” position- for you are God’s child and you have authority over sin in your life and evil trying to smother your light. He has given you sandals for your feet- which represent the peace that comes from the Good News of Jesus Christ. Jesus has saved us. We were once lost in sin and this world but now we are found. We have been saved and restored and liberated in Christ.
The devil and sin have no power over us. Evil has no power over us. No wonder why the Devil and his evil forces want to destroy us. Fortunately he can only kill our bodies not our souls and to be absent from the body for a Christian is to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8
THINK ON THIS-
Are you liberated in Christ? Have you accepted his liberty? Are you assured in Him alone? ARE YOU A PRISONER SET FREE? God wants you to be. Have you been living as the rest of world does and used by the world and found yourself empty? Come to Him just as the Lost Son did and find how much God loves you. Come to Him. He doesn’t want you to live this life without Him.
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:7-8
In the liberty of Christ we find all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us.
The dark churning skies of "our" world are blown away by a refreshing wind which reveals calm clarity in the mind and heart as we humble ourselves before God. His quiet compass of our soul keeps us away from the religious Bermuda Triangle. His anchor for our soul keeps us from becoming estranged from his love. We sadly see those who only live to serve this world and its always-unsatisfied appetite of meaningless. We are reminded with His pure light, God gives our life meaning; he satisfies our eternal souls with his eternal constant love. What more does the soul need but God?
Sin & Liberty Don’t Mix
Some even now think God’s liberty gives them the right to sin and live immoral lives but sin only brings you back under bondage. It separates you from God.
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13
God has no favorites. God is not impartial. God is not a hypocrite.
“But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.” Colossians 3:25
Liberty & His Return
The good work happens when we trust in him and his liberty. It won't matter when the day the Lord comes because you will be living and growing in his liberty. You will be ready!
“God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that day that Christ Jesus returns. I pray that your love will keep on growing and that you will fully know and understand how to make the right choices. Then you will still be pure and innocent when Christ Jesus returns. And until that day, Jesus Christ will keep you busy doing good deeds that bring glory and praise to God.” Philippians 1:6, 9-11
Wearing Liberty.
“Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.” 1 Samuel chapter 18
According to one of MANY Jewish customs this was one way to show a covenant. Jonathan is saying to David, “Whatever is mine in yours.”
This covenant also illustrates the covenant we have with Jesus Christ- if we have made him Lord of our life. Not having a robe of righteousness ourselves, Jesus has given us his robe of righteousness, which not only makes us holy and acceptable in the sight of our Heavenly Father, but it allows us live in God’s righteousness by his Holy Spirit.
Romans 13:14 “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Galatians 3:27 “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Ephesians 4:24 “and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 3:10 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
Liberty is being clothed from head to foot in what God has given us. Think about the armor of God.
“A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood but the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth, and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.” Ephesians 6:10-18
Think about the parable Jesus shares with us about the Story of the Lost Son. (Note Luke 15:11-32
The son has lost his entire inheritance. He has been living the way of the world and being used by the world. He ends of in the lowest of low jobs - feeding the swine. Seeing nothing to lose he decides to go and ask if he can be a servant in his father’s house but as he approaches the road to his father’s house a man, who recognized his saunter from the distance, comes running towards him.
As the man got closer, the son realized it was his father. The father did not have rage or disbelief as he looked at his son standing there in soiled and tattered rags for clothes but one of tears and a smile. The father embraced and kissed his son as if he had been waiting for this day for a long time. Ashamed the son said to his father, “Father I have sinned against both you and heaven, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.”
The father wiped his son’s tears of repentance from his face. It wasn’t long after when some servants approached. The father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found…”
The Father of Heaven has given us the best robe that His house can offer - the robe of HIS righteousness - a sign of a loving covenant with you as his child. He has only offered it to you through Jesus Christ and Him alone. You are accepted by God because of this covering of righteousness. You can live in His liberty because of this covering. Living according to the Holy Spirit not the flesh. He has placed a ring on your finger - also a sign of a loving covenant with you through Christ. This ring is also a sign of authority and “restored” relationship and “honored” position- for you are God’s child and you have authority over sin in your life and evil trying to smother your light. He has given you sandals for your feet- which represent the peace that comes from the Good News of Jesus Christ. Jesus has saved us. We were once lost in sin and this world but now we are found. We have been saved and restored and liberated in Christ.
The devil and sin have no power over us. Evil has no power over us. No wonder why the Devil and his evil forces want to destroy us. Fortunately he can only kill our bodies not our souls and to be absent from the body for a Christian is to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8
THINK ON THIS-
Are you liberated in Christ? Have you accepted his liberty? Are you assured in Him alone? ARE YOU A PRISONER SET FREE? God wants you to be. Have you been living as the rest of world does and used by the world and found yourself empty? Come to Him just as the Lost Son did and find how much God loves you. Come to Him. He doesn’t want you to live this life without Him.
Jesus may those who read this take to heart your words and apply it to their lives. In Jesus Name Amen.
