September 27, 2010
1 Timothy 2
Pastor Jeff Allen
Freedom: the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under restraint.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, approximately 653,000 people have given their lives during all of the wars in which the United States has participated while defending our freedom.
I am grateful for their sacrifice. I am grateful that my family and I don’t have to deal with the fear of living in conditions that are dictated by one individual’s opinion. I’m grateful that my views or my daughters’ views are not legislated by someone else’s concept of the world. I’m thankful for men and women who gave up their lives so that my family and I can live unrestricted lives. It has cost the lives of many, so that we can live in physical freedom.
Yet, it only cost One life so that we can live in spiritual freedom. “He [Jesus] gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone.” (1 Timothy 2:6, NLT)
Paul explained it further in Romans 5:17 (NLT): “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
If you want to do a new study, try looking up all the times that Paul mentions being “free” or “freedom,” and the context in which he says it.
Paul was a man bound by the law, restricted by so many rules and regulations that it must have been suffocating. There were so many things that he had to think about and couldn’t do that it must have made it virtually impossible to live. So when the time came that God freed him from the bondage, he couldn’t help but talk about it constantly.
There’s a saying that goes like this, “Every man dies, but not every man lives.” Jesus came so that we could live. Are you living in freedom or fear?
Pastor Jeff’s passion for creatively communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to kids has been evidenced in three years of ministry to 3rd-5th grade children (The Studio) and their families at Grace Covenant.
