True Freedom

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but, in humility, consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 Insecurity is the greatest challenge to a Christ-like life of selflessness and the personal freedom that always accompanies it. If one consistently feels threatened and unsure of his/her value and purpose in life, it naturally follows that the driving force of that life will be comprised of repeated attempts to validate and reinforce personal worth through an unwavering focus on self. The essential ingredient of the forbidden fruit was selfishness, a replacement of the divine order of [(1) God, (2) others, and (3) self] with a corrupted order comprised exclusively of self…but man and woman were not created to live like this, and devastation in various forms will always result when we rebel against God’s order. Jesus, however, came to reverse the effects of the curse by reversing the curse itself through an act so profound, so full of the mind and love of God, so complete in power and glory that all of creation, lost as it was through the fall of God’s image-bearers, was, and is, being re-created in accordance with the exact specification and plan of God, to build an eternal dwelling place for Himself, constructed of living stones, with Christ Himself as the Capstone. Paul states triumphantly that “we are being built together to become a dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit” (Eph 2:22) and that, therefore, “God’s will for us is our sanctification” (1 Thes 4:3); because of this, we must continually strive above all things to enter His rest by walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Jesus said that “everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40)…which brings us back to our theme passage in which we learn that, when we are most like Christ, we are selfless, we are servants, we are love. The first step in this process is to realize how infinitely valuable we are as God’s children; our value is, in fact, unassailable, being firmly rooted in God’s heart...so we have nothing to prove. We can drop the onerous burden of continually striving to defend and promote ourselves at the nail-pierced feet of Christ who said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mat 11:30). We don’t have to work to uphold ourselves any longer because the God of all creation holds us securely in His very heart! What a relief to have done with that awful work of promoting and defending ourselves! So beloved, “the Freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21b) is this: - We are immensely valuable and eternally loved. - We’ve been called to join our great God and Savior in the greatest mission that ever was or ever will be, to work at His side to restore what was lost and expand His eternal Kingdom “until it fills the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:35b). - We now have the freedom to love and serve others, to consider other human beings, made in God’s image, as more important than ourselves, to take the time to understand their needs and then to meet them through the power and love of the Holy Spirit… …until that glorious day when faith shall be sight, and we will become like Him completely, “for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2