Freedom in Christ

Throughout the past month I've become pretty convinced that most of us Christians have little understanding of what it actually means to have "freedom in Christ." We probably have little understanding of what it even means to have a relationship with God in the first place...it's something I spend each day trying to figure out.

Ask most people what the point of this relationship is or why I should "ask Jesus into my heart" and I'd be willing to bet that most people would give some sort of response about being able to go to Heaven when they die. Fair enough, but there's far more to it than that. What we do with THIS life matters.

Others, myself included many times, would mention something about "fulfillment" and rightfully so, after all, God created us to know Him and it's only through a relationship with Him that we find our true purpose. But this response inevitably comes up short too because a relationship with God isn't about what WE can get from HIM - fulfillment, happy feelings, purpose, etc.

I recently had the opportunity to show the Jesus Film to four students this past week, and much of the conversation that resulted in the 90 minutes after the movie finished had to do with what it means to have a relationship with God.

Good luck trying to sum that up in 60 seconds or less using about half of the English vocabulary you possess in order to make it simple enough to understand.

It seems that the longer I walk with the Lord, the less and less I truly understand what it means to have a relationship with Him. We try to put it inside a nice little box that makes it easy and convenient for us to be in a relationship with God, but at the end of the day, a relationship with the Creator of the Universe and Author of our faith should not be as easy to summarize as we make it out to be sometimes.

I have had many other conversations since being here that closely resembled the one after watching the Jesus Film, but this time more than any other I left feeling like I could only tell them what a relationship with God is NOT, and not what it IS.

And when we can't wrap our minds around something we create rules, policies, procedures, and guidelines that make us feel more comfortable. "Don't do this, don't do that"...again, looking at it from the angle of what a relationship with God is NOT and not what it IS. If I had a dime for every person I've run into that thinks this is what Christianity is about, I'd be slightly less rich than if I had a dime for every time I've heard someone say they're going to Heaven because they're a "good person." (Show me where that is in the Bible...)

Or there are other things that we think we're supposed to do as good Christians, as if a relationship with God is like checking boxes on a list.

Read the Bible and pray every day and our relationship with God is doing well.

Share our faith once each week and our relationship with God is doing well.

Go to church every week and lead a Bible study and our relationship with God is doing well.

I've read over this passage many times, but it's continually jumped off the page at me the past week or so:

Jesus just finished the Sermon on the Mount a couple chapters ago where he lays out what can easily appear to be practical rules, yet he says,

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

Interesting...

Countless other places in the Gospels, Jesus returns to this theme.

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30

My point is, I think there's way more freedom in our relationship with God and our walk with the Lord than we as the Church can even comprehend.

It's easy to preach on Sunday mornings about living by the Word and the guidelines that God has set out for us, and while extremely important, that's not the Gospel.

The Gospel is that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us infinitely more than we can even imagine, passionately wants a relationship with us, and sent His son to die for us so that our lives WOULD'NT be all about rules and guidelines that we have to follow. He simply desires our love.

You can look all you want, but THIS type of relationship is not portrayed ANYWHERE else in our culture or any other culture, which is why it's so hard to fathom. Love that's given freely without having to earn it, grace and forgiveness to cover even the WORST, dirtiest parts of us, and a Father and Friend who wants only the best for us and who will walk with us every minute, every second of every day along the way.

Pray for me, that the Spirit would speak through me to convey these truths to the students here. Truths that I can't even fully comprehend or understand. Would the Lord give ME a better understanding of what it means to have a relationship with Him and would I live out and experience the Gospel this year in a way that I never have before!