Freedom part 4
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32, NLT). That's pretty much all I want to say today. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. It is the truth--the ultimate truth of the universe that God is love and He loves you--that sets us free and makes us free. Here's the key though--the truth HAS set us free and made us free. That happened. It is finished. Done deal. But it is the truth we KNOW that allows us, equips and empowers us, to EXPERIENCE that freedom. Because, well, look at it like this: Let's say you're in a prison cell. You're a slave to sin, and the law, and death. And you can't get out of that cell no matter how hard you try. Eventually you would give up and stop trying to get out of the cell. You would just accept that there's no way out. Now let's say that when you're sleeping someone comes by and unlocks the door. You wake up, totally unaware that you are all of a sudden free to leave the cell. Totally unaware that the door is unlocked and all you have to do is open it up and walk through it. The truth is... you're free. But the reality is, until you KNOW that you're free you're still going to behave as if you're not. It's the knowing that makes the difference. Which is why preaching the gospel at all times is so important. And why you should even use words to do so if you absolutely have to. Actions speak louder than words. The gospel is, again, "God is love and He loves you." When we SHOW people that truth, we free THEM from the bondage they are in. We show them a more Excellent Way. And when someone sees something that is better than what they have... when they discover a truth they didn't know... well, let me say it like this: When you know better you can do better. Knowing is half the battle, right? And applying what you know is the other half. The truth is the truth whether you know it or not or believe it or not. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. But think about this: "Jesus loves me, THIS I KNOW, for the Bible tells me so." The knowing is so important. It's the first part of the Divine Order of things--knowing and believing. Because you can't believe what you don't know. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God. When you hear the still, small voice deep inside that is God telling you "I love you" with every beat of His heart in your chest... that gives you something to build on. Something to believe. That's when you can stand on the Rock and not be shaken. You will KNOW the truth, and the truth will set you free. God setting us free doesn't NEED to happen. It happened 2000 years ago on an old rugged cross. What needs to happen, in order for us to experience and enjoy the gift we've been given, is for us to know. If someone, right now, put two million dollars in my bank account, I'd be rich. It would have nothing to do with me. It would be a gift. But here's the thing: Until and unless I checked my account balance, I wouldn't know I was rich. And I'd have to act like I've been acting--living paycheck to paycheck. So we can't dismiss the importance to knowing. Once you know, you can believe. Once you believe... what is true becomes true for you. Knowing and believing the truth is what lets us--equips and empowers us--to experience the truth. And the truth... is freedom. Freedom FROM sin, and death, and the law. Freedom TO live and love. And that gift... man, that's priceless. It's available to us. It has been given to us. We have it. We just need to know it, so we can believe it!