"Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
- Romans 8:21
The writer of Hebrews gives us a clear explanation as to why Christ, our Redeemer, had to come and take our place. It says, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb 3:14,15). There are two areas that man was bound, where he "could not" escape on his own. Here, we find both of them - the power of death and the fear of death. These two areas became the target to our redemption.
Jesus had to take our place in death in order to deal with the dominion of death. Death had become the ruling power that held us all in captivity. We were bound by it. And as a result of its power, it posed the threat to an impending judgment that we could not break free from. It took the Son of God coming and breaking the stronghold of sin and death, before we could experience any sense of freedom from its control.
Now that the work of redemption is complete, we have a liberty to serve God. The Greek word for "liberty" is ELEUTHERIA [L-uh-tha-re-a], and it implies the idea of living our life as we ought to live. The good news of the gospel is that we now have the freedom to live as God intended for us to live. We do not have to live under the dictates of a debilitating and disabling force that seeks to confine and restrict us from a life lived in God. Paul called it a "glorious liberty" because this freedom is meant to be the means of getting us back to a life crowned with glory and honor. Jesus said, "I have come that ye might have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). The life of God is a glorious life, filled with all kinds of possibilities. But so often, we find fellow believers living on a very low level of life. They are saved and on their way to heaven, but they are living far below their privileges.
One of the biggest reasons for this is because they are still allowing this other predator to stalk them, which is the fear of death. The fear of death is not just the fear of dying. Some Christians do struggle with that. They shouldn't, because as Paul said, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain..." (Phil 1:21). By us having the hope of eternal life we should be able to resolve any and all fear of dying. Yet, even though this is an issue for some, the more damaging effect is its effort to contain the principle of eternal life we have in Christ, in this life. If Jesus said we could have life and have it more abundantly, then there is no limit to its measure. Every one of us has a liberty to see an increase to the measure of life where it overflows. But rest assured the enemy does not want you to experience life in an overflowing measure, so he will use fear to try to contain you, confine you, and hold you back from having more life. His goal is to lie to your mind about how God sees you, and use his lies to try and prohibit you from venturing out into a world of possibilities in God.
Galatians chapter five says, "You are called to liberty..." (Gal. 5:13). Second Corinthians three tells us, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). Your liberty is all about Christ removing the barrier and lifting the limits off of your quest to be filled with the life of God! Don't let anything try to hold you in bondage! Whether it is your flesh or the lies of the enemy - make up your mind you are not going back under any yoke of man or devil. The word of God say, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). You have the Spirit of God living in you, so take your God-given freedom to walk in all that the Lord has for you. Why be confined any longer. It is time to arise, to live free, walk free, and be free in your pursuit of what Christ paid for at Calvary!
