Day: January 24, 2017

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The Truth That Sets Us Free

25th January

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, 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 are truly free.””

John 8:34-35

We are free. We are not bound by sin. We are not slaves to it. We have been severed from the root of it. Why? Because Jesus said so! More than just His words, His actions showed us so! We live in freedom because we have been set free by the sacrifice that the Son of God made on our behalf, taking our sins and taking our punishment for us.

Sometimes the word ‘freedom’ may be unclear for us. Jesus’ listeners also didn’t quite get it. They didn’t understand that actually there were slaves to sin in the first place. If you don’t understand you’re bound to something, then of course you won’t understand being free from it. Yet that is what lifestyle we were living before Christ came into our lives. We were trapped by sin. It ensnared us, motivated us, deceived us and lied to us; all without us actually realising. Yet when Christ entered into our lives, those prohibiting chains of sin, were shattered into pieces. We were and are set free: truly free. We longer have to say yes to sin’s temptation, but rather we can walk in the victory of Jesus.

Not only is this ‘freedom’ a one time action, but a constant freeing from the things that try to attach themselves to us. Jesus has given us His word, so that we can know this truth and that by this truth we can be set free! Let us following His word, accept what He did for us, and live in His freedom.

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ONE

24th January

““Where is Your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.””

John 8:19-20

Jesus statement in today’s key verse was not only relevant and applicable for Jesus’ listeners at the time of His speaking but also for all those who read His words today. If you want to know God the Father, then simply look at Jesus’ life. Jesus clearly says this of Himself. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.” Jesus isn’t simply implying that if we know of Him, then we will also know of His Father, in human terms. No. On the contrary. Jesus is implying that if we know Him, then we know His Father, because they are ONE! In John 10:30 Jesus plainly spells this out, “I and My Father are One.” So clear were Jesus’ words, that the people wanted to stone Him for making such a statement, because, His words clearly implied that He was God!

So what does that mean for us? If Jesus and the Father are indeed ONE, then that means Jesus was God. Period. Yet that is not some far away truth that we reserve as a reference when trying to convince people, Jesus and God were and are ONE. It is a truth that should transform our lives. Why? Because we are involved. Jesus didn’t just disappear when He rose again and ascended to Heaven, He lives on; In US. Jesus Himself said, in John 14:20, that “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in My Father, and YOU are in ME, and I am in YOU.” Again in John 17:23, when praying in the Garden of Tears, Jesus repeats these same words, “I am in THEM (meaning us) and YOU are in ME.” Jesus, who is ONE with the Father, who is God, lives in us, and we in Him. Simply put, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, lives in YOU. Moreover, we live in His presence, in His favour and are seated in Heavenly places with Him.

This is the wonders of the ONE-NESS of God.