Everlasting Freedom And Liberty

Scripture: Luke 4:14-19; Romans 8:1-4

Theme: Everlasting Liberty and Freedom

This is a sermon that can be used near July 4th in the US and any day to speak about the liberty/freedom that we can experience in Christ Jesus.

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Liberty – Freedom – Independence – all those words ring with a noise that sounds like sweet music to our ears.

We in the United States understand those words. We cherish those words. We take those words to heart. We believe they are foundational words for our way of life. Since the Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783, we have lived in a land of freedom and liberty.

While over the last 247 years (dating from 1776 when we declared our independence from Great Britain) there have been other struggles, conflicts and even a Civil War, this place that we call home has been a place of peace, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness.

Now, of course we could get into the weeds and talk about all the injustices and inequalities that have existed and still exist in our country today. We could spend hours debating whether or not we are truly free.

However, I would much rather for us to just appreciate our country today. Appreciate what the Founding Fathers were attempting to achieve. Appreciate what millions upon millions of people who have lived in our country have tried to provide for us today. Appreciate all their hard work, their sacrifice, and their love for God, for country and for family.

I want to talk to you today about liberty – about freedom because the Bible is full of passage after passage that deals with true liberty and true freedom.

I. All of us were created to be free.

The Bible is clear that from the beginning of time to the end of time here on this earth we were:

+Created in the Image of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.

+Created to be free; to experience a life of liberty and freedom.

As you read the first chapters of the book of Genesis and read about life in the Garden of Eden you quickly realize that humankind was not only created in God’s Image, but humankind was also created to be free.

Free to love God and free to love one another.

Free to enjoy an abundant life here on God’s Good Earth.

II. All of us were created with free will.

What is free-will?

Simply this – Free will is the ability to be able to choose. It is the privilege that we are given by God to either follow Him and live an abundant life or chose to go the opposite direction and create a world opposite Him – a world in which evil and sin reign and rule.

Susy Kassum in her writings puts it this way:

“God created every man to be free. The ability to choose whether to live free or enslaved, right or wrong, happy or in fear is something called freewill. Every man was born with freewill. Some people use it, and some people use any excuse not to. Nobody can turn you into a slave unless you allow them. Nobody can make you afraid of anything, unless you allow them. Nobody can tell you to do something wrong, unless you allow them. God never created you to be a slave, man did. God never created division or set up any borders between brothers, man did. God never told you hurt or kill another, man did. And in the end, when God asks you: "Who told you to kill one of my children?"

And you tell him, "My leader."

He will then ask you, "And are THEY your GOD?”

? Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY did not choose to create a bunch of robots. He did not program us to simply follow His Directives, Direction and Will. Instead, since we were created in His Image, we were not only created to be free, but we were created with free will. We can choose to live the way we want to live.

No one can tell us that we must follow God, be a person of righteousness or be a person who loves the LORD and others.

We can choose to do the very opposite. We can choose to reject God, we can choose to live a hellish life and we choose to be selfish, hateful, and greedy if we want.

But having free-will does not mean that one day we will not stand in front of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY as our Judge.

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” – Hebrews 9:26