Dear friends, Sin is a huge burden of debt that accumulates more and more every day we live. Anyone who has been under the burden of a mortgage, or credit card debts, or student loans or any kind of debt knows the burden I am speaking of. And the burden of sin can weigh so heavily upon us that we feel entirely unable to escape it. And sin is slavery. Jesus said, “anyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). This slavery is real captivity where we lose our freedoms, where we have a harsh taskmaster (Satan) who requires us to do as he says, and where we daily and constantly feel the weight of the chains and the bondage of our slavery. The above is the real condition of the Jewish nation multiple times during their history. They were enslaved to the Egyptians, then again to the Babylonians, shouldering the burden and the bondage of captivity multiple times throughout their lives, until finally they came under Roman rule where they longed for freedom and independence. And it was into this very condition that Jesus Christ came and preached His first sermon: 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lords favor. 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Luke 4:17-21 (NIV) In the Old Testament God told the Israelites to celebrate the “Year of Jubilee” every 50 years, and during that year all debts were to be cancelled and all slaves were to be set free (Leviticus 25). In choosing Isaiah 61 to preach from, Jesus declared that He, Himself, was the fulfillment of the Year of Jubilee. He came to “proclaim freedom for the prisoners…to release the oppressed.” Little did the people who listened to Him that day know that He would do both of these things through His death and resurrection. Regarding the debt we have been incurring since birth: 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 (ESV) Dear friend, do you know that Jesus paid your sin-debt when He died on the cross, and therefore your record of debt has been cancelled? Yes it’s true, you owe nothing! God has forgiven your every sin, your every mis-deed, your every wrong thought. Jesus paid for them with His very life, and His life’s blood. Regarding the Satanic and demonic powers we were captive to by birth: 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:15 (NIV) Almighty God first overthrew Pharaoh and his army, making a public spectacle of them through each of the plagues, then He released the Israelites from slavery to them. Jesus came and disarmed and defeated our enemies, defeating them through death, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them at the cross. In doing so, He has released us from slavery. We are free free free. Believer in Jesus, you are released from the power of your enemy. You are set free from bondage. He has delivered you from their servitude and brought you home. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, Colossians 1:13 (ESV) Now it’s time for you to celebrate. It doesn’t matter how heavy your previous debt load nor how hard your previous slavery was. You are released from it all. You are free, and Jesus is your jubilee. And if you are not a believer; that is, if you are still under the burden and debt of sin and in captivity to unbelief and to Satan’s kingdom, may I encourage you to simply believe this good news that you are reading today? If you put faith in Christ, and His work accomplished on the cross for you, you will discover the truth of what the Scripture teaches: you will be free. “Father in heaven, how I thank you for sending your Son right into the midst of my debt burden and my sin bondage. Thank you Jesus for dying to set me free. Thank you Holy Spirit for applying the work of the Savior to my heart.”
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 20:50:01 +0000
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