Freedom In Christ

(SLIDE 1) BREAK FREE: GALATIANS 5:1 – “IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST SET US FREE. STAND FIRM, THEN, AND DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BE BURDENED AGAIN BY A YOKE OF SLAVERY.

(SLIDE 2) THE OPPOSITE OF FREEDOM IS BONDAGE! BONDAGE – subjection or slavery restraints. The basic concept of bondage is “loss of freedom" (IMAGE of PRISON CELLS/SHACKLES/CHAINS. The idea connotes servitude to another. JEWS – EGYPT.

SIN IS an ENSLAVER IN a negative sense. It makes you do things you don’t want to do and prevents you from doing what you think is right to do by God. (John 8:34) Jesus answered them (Jews), “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever sins is a slave of sin.” (2 Pet. 2:19) For you are a slave to whatever controls you.

SIN IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE! It takes away our freedom in Christ. It brings us into bondage again from the things Christ free us from. Sin is not only evildoing humanity, against society, against others, or oneself. But against God. SIN TAKES PEOPLE AWAY FROM GOD! IT SEPARATES YOU FROM A HOLY GOD. It makes your conscience hard and rebellious towards God.

SIN ruin lives. It ruins families and relationships. It destroys a promising future and good lives. EX: ADAM/EVE – SHAME (But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.

CURSE: to the serpent – “cursed are you above all livestock and wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

To Eve: I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor, you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you (subordination).

To Adam: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil, you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and dust you will return (physical death).

CAIN/ABEL – Genesis 3:10-19 CAIN got jealous of his younger brother Abel because the LORD accepted Abel and his gift, 5, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. 8 One day, Cain lured his brother to go out into the fields."[a] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.10 But the LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on, you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth."13 Cain replied to the LORD, “My punishment[b] is too great for me to bear!

JACOB/ESAU- Jacob deceived his brother Esau twice; 1) birthright and 2) the blessing of his father. "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing (Gen. 27:35-36). Esau desired to kill Jacob once his father passed. And they live separate lives for many years.

JUDAS ISCARIOT – greed; sold his master for money and then committed suicide

Ananias/Sapphira – lied to the Holy Spirit (God) and died instantly

Scriptures insist that on their own, people cannot defeat sin. They are helpless to reform themselves. And this is a fact of life. We may earnestly desire to do good, but evil is too powerful for us. We cannot do the good we wish to do.

Romans 7:18-23 - 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[d] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[a] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind, I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I am a slave to sin.