Free at Last

  • Jason Smith
  • Nov 9, 2008
  • Series: Walk the Line: A study of Colossians

"Our society is not a community radiant with the love of Christ, but a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we can easily get entangled and lose our soul. The basic question is whether we ministers of Jesus Christ have not already been so deeply molded by the seductive powers of the dark world that we have become blind to our own and other people's fatal state and have lost our power and motivation to swim for our lives." Those powerful words of Henri Nouwen show his understanding that we as followers of Jesus Christ find ourselves caught between two natures, between two worlds. One is committed to Jesus Christ, being a radiant reflection of His love in this cold, dark world. The other is committed to self, being consumed with getting everything we can for ourselves in this life no matter what the cost. This is the battle that has been waging since the Garden of Eden and will continue until we walk on streets of gold. Each one of us is constantly being pulled between these two natures, these two worlds. We long to live a life of freedom in Christ, yet so often we submit ourselves to the same sinful ways that trap us in a world of guilt, obsession, and shame.  We are like a butterfly that has been given the ability to ride the wind and experience the freedom of flight, but instead choose to walk around in the mud and the muck like it formerly did as a caterpillar.

 

Over the past several weeks we have been exploring the truths of the letter from Paul to the Colossians. In our study so far we have discovered that through Jesus Christ, the Colossians had been redeemed from their former life and found forgiveness for their sins. They had died to their old self and now were confronted with false teaching that would have them submit themselves to rules and regulations of this world instead of to Christ. Paul has consistently argued that because of the change that had occurred in their life they were to walk in a manner pleasing to Jesus Christ. Today, we find ourselves at the halfway point of this letter and it is at this point that Paul shifts gears and gets really practical about what it means to walk with Christ. He wants to make it very clear to the Colossians and to us that In Christ we have a freedom to live a different kind of life. We are not bound to continue to live the same old way that we did before Jesus Christ entered our lives. We have been set free. Let's look at what Paul has to say in Colossians 3:1-10.