~Freedom~
Ephesians 4: 20 - 24 NKJV
I was thinking just the other day of how much different my own life would be if I did not have Christ Jesus? And if indeed I didn't have Him, how much different would it be? Would it be at all noticeable? I do know one thing, and that is that others around me have from time to time told me that they have noticed "something" different about me. Of course, if there were any changes in me, then perhaps I would have been the very last person to notice them. The advantage that I have is that I am well aware of those days when my old man thrived within me. Those days of anger, lust and other such behaviors which were more than likely among the "Thou shalts" which Moses carried down that mountain so long ago. Sure, I noticed a few things in my own behavior, but all the while I was under the belief that somehow it was just normal. After all, each day I saw others around me engaging in the same behaviors. To me, I was just a normal person. That old man was still alive and well within me. I'm guessing that the first time I even suspected that there was something missing was when I heard Dennis talking of that old man who once dwelled within each of us. What took me so long? Like I said, to me I was just another normal person. I'm guessing that this is indeed part of the lie that satan feeds us, that those behaviors which run so contrary to the will of Christ, are just normal behaviors. For all intents and purposes, we buy into that lie. Not only that, but we are born into it from the very begining {Romans 3:23}. That is our old man, that sin nature which we are all born into. To say that we never even had a chance at redemption would be a false statement. For Jesus Himself became sin on our behalf that our old man would be vanquished {2 Corinthians 5:21}. Indeed, our Lords entire creation miracle was one that was uniquely and lovingly planned. From "Let there be light" to God declaring all which He had created to be good, is all part of His ultimate plan. Make no mistake, satan is very much a part of our Lords plan as well. Although he is simply being used by God for His ultimate purpose, he's still a part of the plan.
6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Romans 6: 6 - 10 NKJV
It is in Romans 6 that we learn of the fate of that old man which we once walked in. For he was crucified with Jesus "That the body of sin might be done away with." How is it that we today can be dead to sin unless that old man is done away with? For he who has died has been freed from sin. So, what does this all have to do with my life in Christ? Well, everything! For all of those old behaviors which my old man carried with me have been done away with...forever. Does it do me any good to lament over behaviors of the past which Jesus Himself has bled and died to put to death? Not at all, they're dead to me! This is the life that I now have in Christ. I have no need to cry tears over the past, they're dead to me. Now, what is it that I do have with Jesus? Well, I have the freedom to know that I live each and every day as Christ {Galations 2:20}. Despite what many a pulpit pounder will try to tell me about how I need to be more like Jesus...I AM Jesus. I guess the best way that I could describe this feeling is to compare it to one who has been imprisoned for years but is suddenly pardoned, his past crimes wiped away from the records. He is left with nothing but the freedom which he now enjoys, no longer bound to that life which he once lived. This is his new found freedom. This is my life in Christ.
~Scott~
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