Cost Of Freedom 2 Series

Opening illustration: You ever watch those shows about these submarines that go down 2 and a half miles to the wreck of the Titanic? That’s one thing that I think I could never do. To be crammed into a machine not much bigger than a telephone booth with 2 other guys, 2 miles below the surface of the water, with the incredible pressure of that water just trying to squish the vessel. Well, let’s say that you were down there, and you just couldn’t take it anymore. You were going nuts, and you said, “I have to get out of here!” Opening the hatch would be about the stupidest thing you could do. Yeah, you might get out of the sub, but you’d be crushed by the water before you got the chance to drown. The apparent captivity of the submarine actually gives you freedom. That confinement preserves your life. And it’s the exact same thing when we talk about Christian living. Living the way that God wants you to might seem restricting, but it’s sure a lot better than the alternative.

Introduction: Jesus’ ministry grows rapidly, healing, deliverance … He tells that He is the Son of God. Many Samaritans believe in Him. Jesus feeds the 5,000. He walks on water and discloses that He is the living water and bread from heaven. He also tells that He is the light of the world. There is conflict and disagreement amongst the Jews. The Jewish leaders attempt to arrest Christ but there are some who believe in Him that He is the truth and set them free, even though some fell away, and it is here He addressed them.

What is the problem that restricts our freedom?

1. The CAUSE of our problem: OUR SINFUL NATURE

We get into trouble because of our tendency to go our own way rather than God's way. The Bible calls this tendency to go our own way rather than God's way, our sin nature. My sin nature gets me into all kinds of trouble. I do things that aren't good for me. I do them even when they're self-destructive. I don't do things that are good for me. I act in ways when I'm hurt that only increase my hurt; and then hurt others around me. I try to fix problems and often make them worse. Sin is the reason why the entire world is a mess, including my own private world.

"There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." - Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)

A person without Christ has but one way to live: by the dictates of their sin nature. That's why Christ came, to make it possible for us to be delivered from sin's penalty - hell. He took our hell for us at Calvary, so we wouldn't have to. Now He calls as many as will receive Him to do so before He returns, so heaven rather than hell, will be their eternal home. One day He will return and make this world new by removing sin, Satan, and Satan's people. We'll be delivered from sin's presence. But until then, those who have trusted in Christ as our Savior must learn how to walk in the freedom from the power of sin in our lives.

As we said, sin is our going our own way, rather than God's way. It's our wanting to be God instead of letting God be God in our lives. People say "I don't want anybody telling me what's right and what's wrong. I want to call my own shots; make my own rules, be my own boss. I want to put myself at the center of the universe. I want to live my own way, I don't want anyone telling me what to do with my life." That's called playing God. And it says, "I want to control." And we try to play God by trying to control people, our problems and our pain.

• We try to control what other people think of us. We play games, wear masks, pretend, we fake it, we want people to see certain sides of us and we hide other parts, and we deny our weaknesses and we deny our feelings: "I'm not angry; upset; worried; afraid."

• We try to control how other people behave around us. Parents try to control kids; and kids, parents. Wives try to control husbands; and husbands, wives. We try to control others at work, school, and church. We use guilt, fear, praise, silence, or anger.

• We try to control our problems. We say: "I can handle it, I'm O.K. Really, I'm fine. I don't need any help and I certainly don't need counseling." But the more we try to fix our problem, the worse it gets.