It is important for Christians to regularly examine the person and work of Jesus Christ as found in the Scriptures in order to determine just how Christ frees us and unites us. Let’s explore the three questions that arise from this theme:
This question echoes and re-echoes throughout the New Testament and is still the central question facing people today. The Christian faith is centered in the person of Jesus Christ.
Who is this Jesus? We must guard against remaking Jesus to fit our own ideas. Too often men have attempted to remold Jesus and the Scriptures to make them conform to the concepts and presuppositions of contemporary secular thought. This can never be done, however, without undermining the Christian faith. There is only one Jesus—the historical Jesus of the Scriptures. In the Scriptures we learn the good news of the gospel, that God—the infinite, personal Creator of the universe—has invaded this planet in the person of Jesus Christ. Supernaturally born in a minor province of the Roman Empire, this Jesus lived a sinless life and through his actions demonstrated God’s love for all men. He was put to death on a Roman cross, but because of his bodily resurrection, believing people need no longer fear the powers of sin and death and hell.
We are both freed from something and to something. The Bible declares that man has rebelled against his Creator and has become enslaved by sin. The effects of this rebellion can be seen everywhere, from the brokenness of human lives to the corruption of human society. Ultimately, all human problems—both individual and social—spring from man’s rejection of God’s plan for humanity and man’s attempt to find fulfillment apart from God.
The good news of the gospel is that God, in his love, has acted in Christ to free men from their bondage to sin and death and hell. The death of Christ on the cross was the most significant event in history. Through his sacrificial death, Jesus Christ made it possible for all people to be freed from a life ruled by sin and freed to a life ruled by Christ. To all who will repent of sin and turn to Christ in trusting faith and obedience, the risen Christ in his grace promises forgiveness and life, both now and eternally. It is one of the glorious mysteries of the gospel that an individual can only find freedom as he or she becomes a bondservant of Jesus Christ.
The freedom that Christ brings must never be confused with secular aspirations for political or social freedom, valid as they might be. The freedom Jesus brings is spiritual, and the Christian knows that this is the ultimate need of all people. Therefore, while fighting for social justice at every opportunity, the Christian will also seek to proclaim the release from spiritual bondage offered by Christ. Jesus rejected the radical schemes of the Zealots of his day, not because they were too revolutionary but because they were not revolutionary enough. He knew people could have political freedom and still be enslaved by sin and guilt. Only as they recover the purpose for which God created them can true freedom come.
The Bible says that one of the catastrophic effects of humanity’s prideful rebellion against God is alienation. This has two dimensions. Man is alienated from his Creator, and he is alienated from his fellow man. In Jesus Christ, however, God has brought about the possibility of reconciliation of both man with God and man with man. Through faith in Christ people are reconciled to God; they become a part of the church, which consists of all people who share a common loyalty to the Jesus Christ of Scripture.
One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian is love. The Christian no longer is to see others from a human point of view, whether they be Christians or non-Christians. Instead, he or she is called to see others as God sees them and to seek to minister to their needs in the name of Christ. He or she is called to be united together in purpose and love with all who are serving Christ. He or she is called also to declare by word and act the good news of the gospel to those who are outside the people of God, beseeching them to become reconciled to God.
It is my prayer that all who bear the name of Christ will search the Scriptures afresh and discover there in a deeper way Jesus Christ, the freedom giver and uniter.