How The Son Sets You Free

“HOW – The Son Sets You Free!”

This Thursday is the 4th of July – a time set aside to celebrate the day America declared her Independence from England. To live in a free country is an awesome thing… AND LISTEN – we who have been born into that freedom, have absolutely no idea just how awesome it is…

During the past 260 years – thousands of people have shed their blood, given their lives on the battle field, and they have set sail in some pretty shoddy boats - for the mere hope of experiencing what you & I experience everyday… Think about it… THIS 4th of July don’t get so caught up in the food, fireworks & fun – that the great freedoms we have in America never even cross your mind…

This morning I want to talk about an even greater freedom then the freedom we experience as Americans… And it’s a freedom that – we don’t have to; shed our blood OR give our lives on the battle field to get it… YOU SEE - somebody else already shed His blood as he fought & won that battle 2,000 years ago for US.…

Let me read a couple of passages of Scripture as we begin;

The first is from John 8 - in this chapter Jesus is battling the Jewish leaders over questions of his identity.

So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will realize that I am he and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me--he has not deserted me. For I always do those things that are pleasing to him." Then many who heard him say these things believed in him. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ”But we are descendants of Abraham," they said. "We have never been slaves to anyone on earth. What do you mean, `set free’?"

Jesus replied, "I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free. John 8:28-36 (NLT)

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:1,2 (NLT)

TODAY – we are going to talk about the greatest freedom AND THE most important teaching there is in the entire bible. A teaching that God formed & shaped before the creation - a teaching that all of scripture sicne the fall in the garden were pointing to..

How a person gets right with God. How a person receives the freedom that Christ won on the cross… Thsi morning we are going to talk about – HOW the son sets us free?

PRAYER….

QUESTION???

Did Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection;

defeat, slam dunk, crush, smash, cream, rout, best, beat, destroy, demolish, conquer, vanquish, blast, trample, finish

overcome, overpower, overthrow, overturn,

extinguish, annihilate, eradicate, exterminate and obliterate

Satan. . .

Yeah baby. . .

OKAY - HERE’S a few more questions…

Is Satan happy about what happened on Calvary? No…

Can Satan – undo what Christ finished on the cross? No….

Will Satan just roll over and say ‘uncle?’ No he won’t…

Has satan done anything to mess things up? Yes…

What has he done? Satan has perverted, slanted, twisted and distorted, God’s plan of salvation…we see in the bible…

LISTEN – satan confused people about the details of salvation… to such an extent that people don’t really think the details matter all that much…(Hey let’s not get bogged down in details – all that matters is we love Jesus).

QUESTION - are details important;

q If you place the wrong key in your car, will the engine start? The answer, of course, is no. The right key is an essential detail.

q If you are following a map and you accidentally take the wrong road, will you still end up at Aunt Ethel’s house? No, not unless you backtrack and take the right road. Taking the right road is an essential detail.

q If you dial a phone number incorrectly, do you still reach the desired party? Of course not! The small detail of just a single digit is crucial.

q If your computer program is missing just one small file which is required for it to load, will it still load? No, you will receive a "file not found" error message, and until you correct that detail, you won’t be accessing that program.