Freedom!

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18 (NKJV)

Although there are many rousing scenes in the movie Braveheart, the one that causes my heart to feel like it’s going to burst out of my chest is when Mel Gibson’s character, William Wallace, defiantly and gloriously shouts out with his dying breath “FREEDOM!”

To be human is to long for liberty. Ah yes, sweet freedom. It’s such a fundamental need that one of the founding fathers of the United States, Patrick Henry, famously and passionately proclaimed “Give me liberty or give me death!” Indeed, his impassioned plea resonated so strongly and deeply with his compatriots that it became their battle and rallying cry during the American Revolution.

Let us make no mistake, my friends, the desire for liberty is deeply embedded in the human heart. So much so we chase all manner of false things in our efforts to obtain it. In doing so we run down bottomless rabbit holes more times than we can count only to realize later that our misguided attempts at securing our emancipation was fleeting and temporary at best. In short, we attempt to assuage our deepest longings with the shallowest of answers leaving us discontented and unfulfilled. To say we are left undone by our mournfully unsuccessful efforts is an understatement.

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Romans 7:24 (NKJV)

Is there no escape from this suffocating prison of our soul’s woeful discontent? Where shall we look for the true liberty our hearts so desperately seek?

Mercifully, Paul doesn’t leave us hanging by answering this fundamental question lodged deep in every heart in the very next verse.

I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:25a (NKJV)

My friends, true, lasting Liberty is found where it intersects Sunrise. The life everlasting and abundance that we so desperately search for is found in Jesus who lived a sinless life, died on the cross in our place, was buried, and then raised to life eternal on the third day.

But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves. Malachi 4:2 (NKJV)

Be assured that as the sun rises each morning so do the Son’s healing mercies and boundless grace!

²² Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
²³ They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24 (NKJV)

Where, or rather, in whom have you placed your hope?

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 (NKJV)

The Son has risen and in doing so given rise to liberty. Have you embraced the freedom Jesus offers to all who believe? I pray you have!

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NKJV)

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36 (NKJV)

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Christ is Risen by Phil Wickham