Yes! There is Good News! July 16, 2016

Last time we met, we were discussing the topic of freedom. We swung from our national freedoms won for us 240 years ago to the freedoms won for us almost 2000 years ago by our redeemer Jesus Christ. And those freedoms, the latter ones, are immeasurably more important than the former.

The Good News is that if we have personally come to our Savior and have accepted His blood as a sacrifice for our life, then we have freedom that is far beyond anything any government could ever promise. The things of this world, this society, this physical life are subject to certain laws of physics that cannot be changed. All physical things are subject to the concept of entropy. There is no way out; we will all die.

So what am I saying? No man-made government has or will last forever. All of the world’s empires have crumbled. But there is one government and only one government that is eternal. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace ... Of the increase of His government will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) And this is why the freedom given to us through and by the Son of God is immeasurably more important than the transitory freedoms granted through the Constitution.

In the gospel of John, Chapter 8, Jesus said two things concerning this freedom; “If you hold to my word you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free,” and “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” But what is it that we will be set free from? “Through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2) You see, Jesus did not set us free from keeping the law, for Paul has already said in Romans 7:12 that “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” We still find that stealing and coveting, etc. are sin. John in his first letter confirms this when he defines sin for us by stating, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact - sin is the transgression of the law.” So again, what is this “law of sin and death” that we have been set free from?

Simply stated, scripture tells us that the penalty for sin is death; we sin, we deserve to die! But our freedom from this law is that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin and went to the cross for us. This is a big subject!

More on this next time.