True freedom will never be achieved in this world until we are under the Almighty Rule of the Eternal Godhead. What we experience on this earth will always be but a shadow because it will always be tainted by the sins of mankind, the prejudices, the hatred, the arrogance, the greed.
Jesus says, however, that He has come that we might have freedom. In John 8, He was being questioned by the Pharisees following an incident when He was teaching on the Mount of Olives. They brought to Him a woman caught in adultery, hoping to catch Him in an offense that could be used against Him.
Before His revelation as the “Great I AM” at the end of the chapter, Jesus and the Pharisees discussed freedom. He reminded them in verse 36, “If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.”
I like the way the Holman Christian Standard Version translates that familiar verse. “Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” [John 8:36 CSB]
We have been set free by the Son of God. It is a done deal, since only the Son of God can set us free from the bondage and guilt of sin. However, like all freedom, it must be defended because there is always someone out there ready to reduce freedom to enslavement, to impose oppression over freedom, and to vanquish the freedom of others.
We have to fight to maintain our freedoms in this natural world, and with the power of God’s Holy Spirit, we must fight to maintain our freedom in the spiritual world … looking forward to that day when we shall see our LORD face-to-face and experience the everlasting freedom which we know in part now..
“For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” [1 Corinthians 13:12 CSB]
