The Beauty of His Story: Bondage & Freedom

Photo by Trevor Leyenhorst (Used via Creative Commons)

How many of you have watched the movie "The Ten Commandments"?

If your family was anything like mine, you probably gathered around the TV to watch it when one of the major networks aired it every year at Easter. I'm still not sure if it was the thrill of watching the movie or getting to stay up past my bedtime, but it was always a much anticipated event.

The story of the exodus, the moment when God freed Israel from slavery to Egypt, is perhaps one of the greatest moments in God's story. It's quite the epic story complete with burning bushes, an evil king, plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea. It's a story of God coming through and delivering His people from bondage.

Fear Leads to Oppression

I find the beginning of this story intriguing. Famine in Canaan (the Promised Land) drives Jacob and his family to Egypt. Because Joseph (one of Jacob's sons) is in a position of power, Jacob's family is able to settle in Egypt, finding provision and protection. This provision and protection allows for the birth of many children and grandchildren, and so the nation of Israel becomes "extremely powerful" (Exodus 1:7). Eventually, Joseph's generation dies and a new king comes to power who knows nothing about Joseph or his legacy. He sees the Israelites as a threat: "Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more." (Exodus 1:9-10, NLT)

Because of their fear, the Egyptians begin to oppress and eventually enslave the Israelites. Egypt decides that whips and chains and ruthless demands are the answer, the way to keep Israel from fighting against them. And it works (until God steps in). In all the time the Israelites are slaves, they never seek freedom on their own. They cry out to God and wait for a deliverer.

Satan is Afraid of You

In the same way that Egypt seeks to limit Israel's power through bondage and slavery, Satan seeks to limit your power through bondage to anything and everything but God. Much like the Philistines who sought to remove Samson's strength so they could tie him up (Judges 16:5), Satan wants to tie us down and subdue us so we can't accomplish what God has purposed for our lives. He does this by leading us into slavery to a number of things:

• Sin: "You let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin." (Romans 6:19, NLT) A few verses later, Paul talks about the shame that comes as a result. We sin; we feel ashamed; we sin some more; we feel more ashamed. It's a never-ending cycle that leads us deeper into bondage, fashioning chains we could never hope to break.
• False gods: "Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist." (Galatians 4:8, NLT) We worship all kinds of things instead of God: financial security, entertainment, relationships, etc. We decide these things are more important than God or can provide better than He can. So we become slaves to them, seeking to serve them so they will be good to us.
• Whatever controls you: "For you are a slave to whatever controls you." (2 Peter 2:19b, NLT) What controls you? Fear? Money? Lust? Food? Your emotions? Whatever it is, you are a slave to it.

When we are slaves, we lose the ability to be what God created us to be. We are restrained by the ropes and chains that bind us. We are locked in prison cells, unable to effectively love and serve the people around us. It's exactly what Satan wants. And he's pretty good at making it happen.

The Time of the Lord's Favor Has Come

Fortunately, the story does not end with us stuck in slavery. Eventually, God sent a deliverer to Israel and led them out of Egypt, out of slavery and into freedom. He has done the same for us.

Jesus came to set us free. It's part of His mission statement, one of the main objectives of His time on earth.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

that the blind will see,

that the oppressed will be set free,

and that the time of the Lord's favor has come.

(Luke 4:18-19, NLT, emphasis added)

In fact, freedom is such an integral part of Jesus' ministry that it gets mentioned twice! We can't truly have a relationship with God until we've been set free, until the chains are broken and the prison door is opened.

So how do we get freedom? By believing we can have it through Jesus. When we spend time in His Word, we come to know the truth and the truth sets us free. The truth is this: through His death and resurrection, Jesus bought our freedom. All we have to do is ask and He will break our chains and unlock our prison doors. 

After that, it's up to us to choose to live in our freedom by getting up and walking away from the sin and the false gods and the things that control us (Galatians 5:1 and 5:13). We won't be perfect at it. We won't be slaves to sin anymore (Romans 6:22), but we will still sin. There will be a lot of stumbling and falling. But there will always be grace because freedom does not require our perfection; Jesus' perfection is enough. And because of that grace we can continue to put one foot in front of the other, walking in freedom toward God and away from sin.

That is the Good News: No matter what sins created the links in the chains that have kept you in bondage, Jesus is still extending to you the opportunity to be free. Take it. And make Satan afraid of you once more.

What do you need Jesus to set you free from?

The Beauty of a Daring Rescue

SPOILER ALERT: If you're a fan of the TV show "Castle" and haven't yet watched the episodes "Target" and "Hunt" (Season 5, Episodes 15 & 16), consider this your spoiler alert. If you don't care about knowing what happens before you see it, read on. Otherwise, get caught up first and then come back and read on.

Back in February, I joined millions of other "Castle" fans to watch the annual "two parter" episode with baited breath. Because I follow the show and some of its stars on Twitter, I knew that the episode would center around something happening to Alexis, but I didn't know how emotional I'd become while watching the story unfold.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, let me fill you in. Castle is a TV show about Richard Castle, a mystery novelist who shadows an NYPD detective (Kate Beckett) and her team in order to get inspiration for his books. Turns out he's actually a fairly good detective, and 5 seasons (and quite a bit of comedy and drama) later, he's still around and finally dating Beckett. Alexis is Castle's daughter (and only child), and in this season she's in her freshman year of college.

During this episode, Alexis and one of her college classmates get kidnapped. At first, Beckett & Castle think the classmate was the target (her father's an Egyptian businessman who has some enemies). But when the kidnappers release the friend and not Alexis, their thinking takes another turn. They eventually discover that she's being held in Paris, and Castle takes matters into his own hands by flying there himself to try and get her back. The guy he hires sells him out... but Castle is rescued by a mysterious man who turns about to be his father- a spy with dangerous enemies. Together they mount a rescue attempt and manage to free Alexis.

I've been watching this show from the beginning, so I'm pretty emotionally invested in the characters. But as I watched Castle and Alexis run through the streets of Paris to freedom (the US Embassy), I found myself tearing up for another reason. I couldn't help but see the similarities between this rescue and my own. Just like Alexis, I needed to be rescued- not from scary Russian spies, but from the clutches of sin and Satan. And just like Castle, Jesus rescued me- not with explosive walkie talkies, but His body and blood. But Jesus' rescue mission was meant to save more than just me. He came to rescue you, too.

As I've been thinking about it in the weeks since, I think there are three specific ways that these episodes mirror our own situation.

1. Who we are and whose we are matters: Alexis became a target because of who she was. Her classmate got taken because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But as far as Alexis was concerned, this was not a random act of violence. The kidnappers' ultimate goal was to get to Jackson Hunt (Castle's father), and they knew they could do that by threatening something that belonged to him. If Alexis had been anyone else, related to anyone else, she would have been fine. The same is true of us. As human beings, we're created to bear God's image in this world. Satan hates that. So in an attempt to wound God, Satan does his best to keep us from being what we were created to be. We may not be in a visible cage like Alexis, but we're still trapped by sin, addictions, fear, shame. Why is it important for us to know this? Because if we don't, we're looking for the wrong enemy in the wrong places. We'll chase down leads, but we'll never be any closer to rescue until we recognize our enemy for who he is.
2. Our Father will do anything to get us back: Castle vows to do whatever it takes to find Alexis. God is no different. For Castle this meant paying any price to those who could help him (no matter how unsavory those characters might be) or to the kidnappers. He takes matters into his own hands, knowing it's going to take action to get his daughter back. For God this meant giving up His Son as a sacrifice, paying the ultimate price to rescue us from sin and death. It was a plan that only He could think of and execute, and it was the only way to get His children back.
3. Rescue means going behind enemy lines: Castle and his father hatch a plan in which Castle will navigate the sewers of Paris (sounds a little like Les Miserables!) to shut off power to the building the kidnappers are in. To the viewers' dismay, the kidnappers find Castle and drag him back to their hideout. He surrenders his walkie talkie to Volkov (the ringleader) who begins to taunt Jackson; it would seem the plan has failed. As they talk, though, we begin to get hints that Castle's abduction was actually part of the plan. Eventually, the walkie talkie blows up, and in the chaos, Castle frees Alexis and they run to freedom. In the same way, Jesus comes to earth as a human being and allows Himself to be caught and even killed. In that moment, it would seem the rescue attempt has failed. Much like Volkov, Satan was probably confident in his victory... right up to the moment Jesus dealt him the final blow by rising from the dead. Our cage is open; our shackles are broken. Rescue has come, and we are free.

So that is why I sat with tears running down my face as the credits rolled at the end of this heart-wrenching episode. Happy tears for the well-being of some of my favorite characters. But most of all, grateful tears and tears of awe as I remembered my spiritual kidnapping and the God who loved me enough to do whatever it took to rescue me.

How does the truth of God's daring rescue impact your life? Leave your comments below.

There's a reason we call it GOOD Friday (or, The Beauty of the Cross)

I'm finding it hard to believe that it's Easter weekend already. Time is going so quickly! Seems like Lent just began, and yet here we are at Good Friday.

Over the last 6 weeks, I've been using John Piper's book Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die as a way to prepare my heart for Easter. Each day, I read one of the reasons and reflect on its truth in my own life. Today I want to share the reasons with you in the hope that they might help focus your heart on the beauty of this day, the beauty of Christ on the cross, the beauty of what He accomplished there. And I pray that this beauty will fill your heart even fuller as we celebrate His resurrection on Sunday-- the truth that what He accomplished is complete!

1. To absorb the wrath of God (Galatians 3:13; Romans 3:25; 1 John 4:10)- "God is both just and loving. Therefore his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice."

2. To please His Heavenly Father (Isaiah 53:10; Ephesians 5:2)- How stunning to know that this rescue plan was God's idea!

3. To learn obedience and be perfected (Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 2:10)- "... he was gradually fulfilling the perfect righteousness that he had to have in order to save us." He was obedient because of His love for God and His love for us.

4. To achieve His own resurrection from the dead (Hebrews 13:20-21)- "... the resurrection proves that the death of Jesus is an all-sufficient price. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then his death was a failure, God did not vindicate his sin-bearing achievement, and we are still in our sins." I cannot wait to celebrate this truth on Sunday!

5. To show the wealth of God's love and grace for sinners (Romans 5:7-8; John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7)- "Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it." And He did pay it by making an infinite sacrifice. That's how much He loves us!

6. To show His (Jesus) own love for us (Ephesians 5:2; Ephesians 5:25; Galatians 2:20)- "Surely this is the way we should understand the sufferings and death of Christ. They have to do with me. They are about Christ's love for me personally." Do you believe that Christ loves you enough to die for you?

7. To cancel the legal demands of the law against us (Colossians 2:13)- "There is no salvation by balancing the records [doing enough good deeds to cancel your bad deeds]. There is only salvation by canceling records." Do you realize that you don't need to prove yourself worthy of salvation by doing good things? Christ is your only hope. Just put your faith in Him.

8. To become a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)- Jesus willingly paid the price to release us from God's condemnation if we will only choose His payment plan.

9. For the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1:7; Matthew 26:28)- "Oh, how precious is the news that God does not hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made it right for God to do this." Have you sought forgiveness? All you have to do is ask!

10. To provide the basis for our justification (Romans 5:9; Romans 3:24; Romans 3:28)- "Justification... is a declaration that happens in a moment. A verdict: Just! Righteous!" We are declared innocent because of what Jesus did, not what we have done.

11. To complete the obedience that becomes our righteousness (Philippians 2:8; Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9)- If you have placed your faith in Jesus, when God looks at your life, He sees Jesus' perfect obedience instead of your sin!

12. To take away our condemnation (Romans 8:34)- "Christ has died once for our sins. We will not be condemned for them. Condemnation is gone not because there isn't any, but because it has already happened." Look to the cross and see there Jesus bearing the condemnation that should have been yours.

13. To abolish circumcision and all rituals as the basis of salvation (Galatians 5:11; Galatians 6:12)- Nothing we do saves us. Faith in Christ is enough to put us right with God.

14. To bring us to faith and keep us faithful (Mark 14:24; Jeremiah 32:40)- "When Christ died, he secured for his people not only new hearts but new security. He will not let them turn from him. He will keep them. They will persevere. The blood of the covenant guarantees it." What does it mean to know that your faithfulness is not dependent on your strength alone?

15. To make us holy, blameless, and perfect (Hebrews 10:14; Colossians 1:22; 1 Corinthians 5:7)- "The suffering of Christ secures our perfection so firmly that it is already now a reality. Therefore, we fight against our sin not simply to become perfect, but because we are. The death of Jesus is the key to battling our imperfections on the firm foundation of our perfection." This truth became the foundation for my battle against addiction and the only way to find freedom. Do you believe it?

16. To give us a clear conscience (Hebrews 9:14)- "When our conscience rises up and condemns us, where will we turn? ... the blood of Christ. This is the only cleansing agent in the universe that can give the conscience relief in life and peace in death."

17. To obtain for us all things that are good for us (Romans 8:32)- "The suffering and death of Christ guarantee that God will give us all things that we need to do his will and to give him glory and to attain everlasting joy."

18. To heal us from moral and physical sickness (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:16-17)- "The horrible blows to the back of Jesus bought a world without disease." Whether or not you experience physical healing in this life, you will experience it in the next. That is a guarantee!

19. To give eternal life to all who believe on Him (John 3:16)

20. To deliver us from the present evil age (Galatians 1:4)- On the cross, Jesus defeated Satan. You are no longer captive to "the evil one" so follow the Victorious One!

21. To reconcile us to God (Romans 5:10)- God took the steps to make us His friends while we were still His enemies!! Receive what He has already done and be reconciled to Him.

22. To bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 2:13)- Our fullest experience of joy comes from "seeing and savoring the glory of God". Jesus made that possible through His death on the cross. "Hear then the invitation: Turn from the 'fleeting pleasures of sin' (Hebrews 11:25) and come to 'pleasures forevermore.'"

23. So that we might belong to Him (Romans 7:4; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Acts 20:28)- You can belong to Christ or you can belong to sin; which will you choose?

24. To give us confident access to the Holiest Place (Hebrews 10:19)- Come into God's presence through Christ. You are welcome there!

25. To become for us the place where we meet God (John 2:19-21)- "When Christ died and rose again, the old temple was replaced by the globally accessible Christ. You may come to him without moving a muscle. He is as close as faith."

26. To bring the Old Testament priesthood to an end and become the eternal High Priest (Hebrews 7:23-27; Hebrews 9:24-26; Hebrews 10:11-12)

27. To become a sympathetic and helpful priest (Hebrews 4:15-16)- Jesus knows our struggle with temptation; even when we fail, He is with us, not against us!

28. To free us from the futility of our ancestry (1 Peter 1:18-19)- No matter what issues live in your family history, you can be free of them through Christ!

29. To free us from the slavery of sin (Revelation 1:5-6; Hebrews 13:12)- "Sin is such a powerful influence in our lives that we must be liberated by God's power, not by our willpower." What do you need God's power to set you free from?

30. That we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24)- "The old self that loved sin died with Jesus. ... My new life is now swayed by righteousness. ... The beauty of Christ, who loved me and gave himself for me, is the desire of my soul."

31. So that we would die to the law and bear fruit for God (Romans 7:4)- God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us produce fruit instead of striving to keep the law.

32. To enable us to live for Christ and not ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:15)

33. To make His cross the ground of all our boasting (Galatians 6:14)- "We are not as Christ-centered and cross-cherishing as we should be, because we do not ponder the truth that everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good, was purchased by the sufferings of Christ."

34. To enable us to live by faith in Him (Galatians 2:20)- "... the new self is defined by Christ's presence and help at all times. He is always imparting life to me. He is always strengthening me for what he calls me to do." How would your life be different if you lived rooted in this truth?

35. To give marriage its deepest meaning (Ephesians 5:25)- "... marriage is meant to make Christ's love for his people more visible in the world."

36. To create a people passionate for good works (Titus 2:14)- "Christ died to make us this kind of people-- passionate to help the poor and the perishing. It is the best life, no matter what it costs us in this world: They get help, we get joy, God gets glory."

37. To call us to follow His example of lowliness and costly love (1 Peter 2:19-21; Hebrews 12:3-4; Philippians 2:5-8)- "Jesus suffered for us uniquely, that we might suffer with him in the cause of love." How is God calling you to show costly love to the people around you?

38. To create a band of crucified followers (Luke 9:23; Matthew 10:38)- "... when I follow Jesus as my Savior and Lord, the old self-determining, self-absorbed me must be crucified."

39. To free us from bondage to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15)- "The fear of death enslaves. It makes us timid and dull. Jesus died to set us free. ... We are freed to love like Christ, even at the cost of our lives."

40. So that we would be with Him immediately after death (1 Thessalonians 5:10; Philippians 1:21,23; 2 Corinthians 5:8)

41. To secure our resurrection from the dead (Romans 6:5; Romans 8:11; 2 Timothy 2:11)

42. To disarm the rulers and authorities (Colossians 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8)- Satan is defeated. He has no power. Let us turn from him and walk in victory with Christ!

43. To unleash the power of God in the Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18; Romans 1:16)

44. To destroy the hostility between races (Ephesians 2:14-16)

45. To ransom people from every tribe and language and people and nation (Revelation 5:9)- "Christ died to save a great diversity of peoples. ... As the disease of sin is global, so the remedy is global."

46. To gather all His sheep from around the world (John 11:51-52; John 10:16)

47. To rescue us from final judgment (Hebrews 9:28)- "Sin was dealt with once for all. No new sacrifice is needed. Our shield from future wrath is as sure as the sufferings of Christ in our place. For the sake of the cross, then, exult in future grace."

48. To gain His joy and ours (Hebrews 12:2)- Feeling a lack of joy? Find it in Christ and the hope that comes through His suffering and death.

49. So that He would be crowned with glory and honor (Hebrews 2:9; Philippians 2:7-9; Revelation 5:12)

50. To show that the worst evil is meant by God for good (Acts 4:27-28)- "God meant to show the world that there is no sin and no evil too great that God cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy. The very suffering that we caused became the hope of our salvation."

Papa, thank you for Jesus' suffering and death and all that it accomplished. Help us to see how each of these things are true in our own lives. Help us also to see where we need to join you in making these things true in our lives by living out what Jesus completed on the cross and in His resurrection. May our hearts swell with love and praise as we celebrate the beauty of the cross. Amen.

The Wisdom of Foolishness

He asked a teenager to risk her life by saying "yes" to His plan.  He orchestrated events so she would have to travel on the back of a donkey while very pregnant.  He filled the inns of Bethlehem to overflowing so she would wind up hidden in a stable.  He timed it perfectly so she went through labor on the floor far away from the help and comfort of her mother.  Her husband and some animals were the only witnesses to the birth.  The son of a King was born in obscurity.  The birth was made known only to those on the outskirts of society (the shepherds) and to those who weren't even part of the faith system waiting for their Messiah (the magi).  Stranger still, the infinite God of the Universe wrapped himself in finite flesh and lay helpless in the arms of one He had created.  The sustainer of life and breath was now dependent on others for everything.  Perhaps strangest of all was the culmination of the plan: the One who lived a sinless life would bear the sin of the world.  His stripes would bring us healing.  His death would ensure our eternal life.

When you look at it from the world's perspective, the plan doesn't really make much sense.  But that's kinda the point.  "This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans" (1 Corinthians 1:25 NLT).  We look at it and say, "What the heck?"  God looks at it and says, "It's the perfect plan; trust me."  It's a plan in which "God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.  And he chose things that were powerless to shame those who are powerful.  God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.  As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NLT, emphasis added).  If the plan had been made according to the world's wisdom, the "unlovable" would still be unloved; the "invisible" would still be ignored; the lost and hurting would still be alone and unhealed; the poor would be poorer; the hopeless would have no hope; and sin would still enslave us all.  Instead, Christ loved the unlovable, spent time with the invisible, sought out the lost and brought them home again, healed the hurting, directed us to care for the poor, brought hope to the hopeless, and broke the chains of sin once and for all.

So when the plan doesn't seem to make sense, remember the Christmas story.  Remember that God is doing things His way... and it's the plan that results in the best for you.  There is wisdom in the seeming foolishness.