Context, Context, Context
Paul’s teaching on the greater glory in Christ is the context, and the problematic but powerful church in Corinth was his audience. Through Christ and by Holy Spirit, Paul presents the potent benefits of life in the Spirit (Pneuma, breath, presence) which includes;
- Life Without Barriers. This does not mean I can do my own thing, living only for the moment; but it does mean a life that is open and without guilt, and especially without shame.
For in fact, as we look into the face of Christ, which we do through the disciplines of the study of the word, worship, service and prayer, our face is lifted. It is a true face-lift, not the Hollywood version. It not only provides an outward freedom, but also is also a true lifting of our perspective from self and the world, to Christ and his divine purposes. As we look unto Jesus, who is the author and the completer of our faith, the one who for our own benefit transforms us from the inside out, we are truly changed. (Heb. 12:1, 2) Further…
- His freedom allows us to be filled with all the fullness of God. This includes his life, light, love, and our praise or our Doxa, for his honor or glory.
In light of this, we can and should expect that as we live in relationship with the Lord, we will see complete liberation from the past, our sin, sickness, fear, etc., as this is the plan of God for us, as described in Isaiah 61 and Luke 4.
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, (and in Isaiah the day of vengeance, but this is left out of Jesus reading as recorded in Luke 4).
This liberty or freedom refers to the great Jubilee God provided for the children of Israel although they rarely if ever practiced it. It included the cancelling of all debts, allowing families to start over once again. What a joy this would be, a divinely planned bankruptcy and an opportunity to start over! In practical terms, this was good news indeed! The law of Jubilee is found in Leviticus 25:10…
“You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. I shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property and each of you will return to his family.”
The Jubilee discussed in the Old Testament, with all of its glory, was just a foreshadowing of the glory God has provided for us in Christ, under the New Covenant. God’s plan was activated in the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ. He did this for his children, so they may live in true freedom. The purpose is to transform us into the very image of Christ, so that we can be and do all for God, our families, and for our society; as God ordained us to be and do from the beginning (see Gen. 1:26). The question is this, what is freedom? How can we experience the abundant life promised by Jesus in John 10:10? That is the subject of this booklet.
“Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders,
or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God.
Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost;
but if it is resting on Christ, you are free, and you will be saved.
Now choose what you want.”
Martin Luther
