A Revelation About Freedom // You Have Been Set Free, Part 1

A Different Perspective Official Podcast

Freedom is something we all want but before we go asking ourselves how do you get it or where do you get it, first it might be worthwhile figuring out exactly what it is because freedom, real freedom may not be what you think.

Most of us, I guess, would define freedom as being able to do whatever we want whenever we want. And that definition right there is what brings a whole world of pain crashing down on our lives. I don't think there's a single person on this planet who doesn't want to be free. Do you want to be free? Well of course you do, me too but if freedom is that important to us you have to ask yourself, exactly what is it?

Sure there's political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association, the freedom to gather, to protest, to live where you want to live, to marry who you want to marry, to choose to have children or not. In this day and age we live in a world that's more and more fixated on our individual freedoms, our rights as individuals.

After all I'm entitled to enjoy my life, right? So it doesn't take too long to start imagining that freedom is being able to do whatever we want whenever we want. Anything that cuts across that is a restriction of our alienable right to be free. And yet if you travel to any place where that kind of freedom is practised what you discover is lawlessness and anarchy. There's no safety, there's no protection, there's no security because that 'anything anytime' kind of freedom is a terrible thing.

That's what the rule of law is all about, to keep us safe and secure. So when you think about it what we actually need is a different definition of freedom, one that really works. Try this one on for size, Galatians chapter 1 verses 3 to 4:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins to set us free from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.

It seems that God takes our freedom so seriously that He sent Jesus to suffer and die to set us free. From what? Well from our sin and from this evil age. So according to God real freedom, the sort of freedom that Jesus purchased for you on that cross is about setting you free from the devastating consequences of your sin and the evil that pervades every nook and cranny of this age so that you can live in grace and in peace.

Not such a bad definition when you think about it. So here's a question for you, what sin, what evil is robbing you of the freedom that Jesus came to give you because that sin, that evil is what God is calling you to hand over to Him today? His will for you is to be free to live in the grace and the peace of Jesus Christ.

But that's not always an easy thing to do. One of the things you discover when you set your heart on following Jesus is that the rest of the world is not going to be standing by and cheering you on. In fact far from it. Not long after I became a Christian, a few decades ago now, the IT consulting firm of which I was a partner had the opportunity to bid for a rather large government project in the developing world.

But the simple reality was that unless you paid the bribes to the various officials you were completely wasting your time in bidding. As you can imagine as a brand new Christian I was faced with a real dilemma and can I tell you I came under quite some pressure to compromise.

It happens in every corner of our lives because when you decide to believe in Jesus, when you decide to follow Jesus, when you decide to live your life for Him let me tell you the world is not going to be all that happy with you. They'll criticize you, laugh at you, persecute you, whatever fits best at the time.

You see those people want you to believe that their way is the way of freedom, of success, of enjoyment. The world wants you to believe that following Jesus somehow is going to rob you of your freedom. What do you believe? Who are you trying to please? Jesus? Or those naysayers around you?

Paul the Apostle made a very clear decision on that question in his life, Galatians chapter 1 verse 10:

Am I now seeking human approval or Gods approval or am I trying to please people? If I was still pleasing people I would not be a servant of Christ.

People are so fickle, have you noticed? Jesus did, that's why we're told in John chapter 2 verses 23 to 25:

When He was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival many believed in His name because they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus on His part would not entrust Himself to them because He knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone for He Himself knew what was in everyone.

At some point in every corner of our lives, in every thought, every decision, every action, each one of us has to decide who we're trying to please, people or God? And the way it tends to work is that it's not so much the big decision we make up front that matters, it's the little decisions that we make a hundred times a day that together tell us who we're really trying to please.

Come on, who are you trying to please with your life? Because if you're still seeking human approval, if you're still trying to please people you wouldn't be a servant of Christ.

Look to experience freedom, real freedom we need to stop focusing on the world. What we need is a spiritual revelation. The fact is that the freedom that only Jesus Christ can bring is a fantastic thing but whilst the facts are incredibly important you don't find freedom in facts.

The Apostle Paul was an interesting character. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious body in Jerusalem and there's a reason that he made it to the top of the pile, Philippians chapter 3 verses 4 to 6:

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew's; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

So Pauls heritage, his breeding, his upbringing ticked all the right boxes. He studied the Old Testament law, he knew it from back to front, he worked hard at it, you know the sort of person. He had all the head knowledge that you could ask for, all the discipline that you could ever expect of anybody.

On top of that he was a Pharisee. Now this sect took the idea of following the law to incredible lengths. The very word 'Pharisee' means to be a religious separatist. He was absolutely full on and yet the one thing he didn't have was freedom until one day on the road to Damascus Jesus appeared to him and that encounter with Jesus was the turning point of his life. This is what he writes years later looking back on it, Galatians chapter 1 verses 11 to 12:

For I want you to know brothers and sisters that the Gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

So it wasn't something that he'd learned through years of study, it was a revelation. The original Greek word used there for revelation is the word 'apokolypsis'. In other words it was an apocalyptic revelation, dramatic, powerful, completely life changing.

And it wasn't a revelation about Jesus, it wasn't words from a book, come on Paul knew all those words in the Old Testament Books, he'd studied them for years, he'd made it to the top of the religious pile that way but that's not what changed his life. It wasn't a revelation about Jesus, it was a revelation of Jesus through a personal encounter with Him.

Have you had a apocalyptic revelation of the person of Jesus Christ? Have you had a dramatic, powerful, life changing encounter with Jesus? No, then get a revelation, Jesus is waiting for you now. He wants to turn your life upside down now. All the head knowledge in the world won't do that for you, only Jesus.