The Burning Bush Church

Freedom Through the Blood of Christ

By Sharon Vlacich

If you were to ask people what the definition of freedom is, I think most would say that it means to be able to do whatever you want. According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the actual definition of freedom is "the quality or state of being free; independence". Freedom is a great thing but it can be dangerous when it comes to being independent of God, or being as what the world calls "free-thinkers", which is defined as those who form opinions INDEPENDENT from authority. The highest authority is God, Who created authority on earth for our benefit (Ro 13:1). When we form opinions apart from the Lord's expressed will in the written Word of God, that's when we get into trouble.

Jesus came to give us freedom from sin, sickness, addictions, and hell because of His shed blood on the cross. In John chapter 11 we read about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. In verse 43 Jesus called to Lazarus the same way He calls to us when we are dead in our sins. In Verse 44 Lazarus responds to the Lord's voice, just as we also respond to Him when He calls us to trust Him as our Saviour.

When Lazarus heard the Lord call to him I don't imagine he was able to walk out to Him because in that culture when a person died they wrapped them in what is called grave clothes, appearing much in the way of a mummy. Since he his face was covered with a grave cloth, he would not have been able to see. Nonetheless, Lazarus responded in the state that he was in- dead, bound and blind. In verse 44, Jesus said,"Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

In this same way, when Jesus calls us He doesn't call us only to get saved but to get free. The enemy knows that like Lazarus in the example given above, a bound Church cant move around very easily in response to the Lord's call. We have things that He has called us to do and one is to help others get free.