Freedom in Christ   

Thursday is the 4th of July, and we will once again celebrate the birth of our nation. It was 240 years ago that the United States was born, and it came about because of a new and revolutionary idea: the idea and the belief that a nation could be built upon the ideals of liberty, responsibility, godliness, and the freedom to become what God intended for us to be. The celebration of our nation’s birthday is a celebration of independence and freedom.
We also recognize that we have this precious gift of freedom because others were willing to pay a very high price on our behalf. Freedom is not free. Freedom is actually very expensive. The ideal of freedom is an ideal that our founding fathers believed was valuable enough that it was worth risking everything to accomplish. They risked their fortunes, their families, their reputations, and their honor. They risked their very lives, and many of them paid for our freedom with their own blood and the blood of their children.
We are blessed today to live in security and comfort. In fact, today we are able to gather and worship in security and comfort, and we are able to do so because thousands and thousands of young men and woman have given their lives and shed their blood so that others could experience the joy of freedom.
There is another war taking place within each one of us. The enemy fighting against us is Satan, and the weapon he uses to attack us is sin. Sin is a terrible disease that takes control of your life and enslaves you, and it leads to the destruction of your life and your soul.
In Romans 7, Paul wrote about his own struggle with sin. And then in verse 24 he asks this question: “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” What a terrible place to be: enslaved to sin and destined to eternal death. But praise God! There is salvation from sin, and there is freedom from slavery. In that same passage in Romans 7, Paul tells who can deliver us. It is Jesus Christ, and it is the sacrifice He made on our behalf that can set us free.
We rejoice in the freedom we enjoy as citizens of our nation, but as citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom, we have an even greater freedom that we enjoy. And once again, our freedom is/was not free. Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, that brave young man on the battlefield 2000 years ago, laid down His life and shed His blood, and it was all so that you and I could truly be free.

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