Living in Freedom
Certainly we owe our gratitude to the men and women that have sacrificed to keep this nation free. I believe this nation is still the greatest on earth and affords us a tremendous amount of personal liberty. I have two grandfathers that fought in major combat in WWII; one is a recipient of a bronze star and a purple heart and the other was a prisoner of war in a German war camp. It makes my blood boil when I see and hear people disgrace our freedom by calling for greater government control of our personal lives. My grandfathers risked everything to stop oppressive governments not to build them.
Despite our great national freedom, there is a freedom that is far greater. People are seldom aware of the spiritual tyrants that are trying to keep them in bondage. The good news is that Jesus Christ came and destroyed those tyrants for the purpose of making us free in this life and the life to come. Maybe you’re not aware of what really wants to steal your freedom. Let me explain.
Have you realized that when a person is lost in their sin that they are legally under arrest by the destroyer? Let me quote Colossians 2:13-15 from the Message Bible. Read this carefully. “When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive — right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s Cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their shame authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.” Sin is the breaking of God’s law of righteousness. Since every person has sinned (Rom 3:23), everybody at one time or another had a warrant for their arrest by satan and his demonic hosts. A warrant serves as permission to access and to occupy your property. Some warrants can even seize property. That is exactly what happened to all humanity when we sinned. We were seized and occupied by the dictator of death. Satan holds the title deed to every soul that refuses Christ and keeps them oppressed in life.
But it didn’t stay that way! Jesus came and destroyed the destroyer; He oppressed the oppressor, and put to shame the source of all shame! Hebrews 2:14 says that Jesus, “…destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” 1 John 3:8 says, “…for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He would destroy the works of the devil.” Do you realize that satan no longer holds that arrest warrant against the ones who have asked Jesus into their lives? Jesus nailed it to the cross!
Turning your life to Christ is equivalent to renouncing satan’s control of your life. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under law, but under grace.” Since Jesus destroyed the devil’s hold on you, you no longer have to permit sin to dominate you. Sin will dominate you only if you allow it. You have ruling authority over addictions, pornography, lying, stealing, and worry. Drunkenness can no longer hold you if you have Christ and you know how to use your God given authority. Grace is an impartation of the life of God that allows you to dominate sin. You don’t have to remain in the same old defeated lifestyle.
Pastor Tim
Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti, NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.
