‘Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever’. John 8 v 34-35
As a parent there are many times that I feel inadequate. There are times we get things wrong, we become frustrated and we can too often compare ourselves with other families whose social media lives seem to be going much better than ours! Our kids too can challenge us regarding the boundaries and the rules we put in place. Other parents are always “apparently” more relaxed, never enforce any discipline and let their kids do what they like, when they like it and with whomever they like! If you are a parent this may all sound familiar. You see our kids long for freedom. We know that is what they are born for, however we understand our responsibility to help them learn how to live free and what true freedom looks like. If not they will find that those things they thought would make them happy are actually ruining their lives.
There is is much talk today about people’s rights and unfortunately many in the world have turned away from the wisdom of God and have bought into the lie that following their own desires will bring them the freedom they are looking for. To compound this too many times the message coming from the church has been one of rule keeping and performance. People don’t draw close to the Lord to know him and be known, instead they learn about him and the things that they believe will please him. As a result, many believers have become tired of trying to live right and have fallen into an endless cycle of defeat when their efforts fail. Leaving them feeling condemned and causing them to turn away from God because of the guilt and shame that haunts them.
God doesn’t want us to live life from a distance. He came to create a family of which we are His children. Sons and daughters being nurtured and cared for by a loving Father. Jesus spoke a lot about freedom. He saw the weights that the Jewish people were living under in their strict legalist culture. He saw how they had taken what God had intended to serve as a light to others and a beacon of his glory and goodness and how it had be turned into religious pride that divided them and set them up against themselves. There was no love or compassion. Just comparison and judgement.
In these verses he speaks right to the heart of the Jewish culture using the language of the bond slave and son. This would evoke memories of the story of their Father Abraham. His wife Sarah, unable to bear children, persuaded him to sleep with Hagar the bond slave. She had a son Ishmael. But when Sarah finally conceived Isaac the son of promise, she no longer tolerates having Ishmael and Hagar in their home and she is banished. Jesus was showing the Jews that they could not rely on their law keeping to guarantee their place in the Father’s house. True sonship is birthed from promise. From believing in the one who the Father has sent. We become children of God when we follow His son and place our faith and trust in his saving power.
As we humble ourselves, as we admit that we don’t have all the answers, that we find true life by allowing His Spirit to lead us. It is in this place of submission that we step into greater and wider levels of influence than we have ever seen before. We can approach everyday with confidence knowing that we are loved, accepted, forgiven and highly favoured all because of the price that Jesus paid. He gave up his freedom so that we can have life.
Have faith today that as you trust in Jesus and your position in his family that you will walk in freedom and life, joy and peace, love and eternal security.
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Who Do You Say I Am Series – Exchange Church Belfast 2020