MISSION
FREEDOM life
LIVING THE
How might our freedom in Christ lead to radical service to others, even amid the challenges? asks Fred Drummond, director of Evangelical Alliance Scotland.
I
sometimes picture an opening scene of an action movie. Perhaps something like Robin Hood. The protagonist is trapped, chained in a dungeon. He is in pitch darkness. Someone manages to break into the prison, snap the chains and carry the man out of the prison into the blinding light of day. The chains are broken. The darkness, which has held him for so long, no longer has a hold and is replaced by warmth and brightness. This is how I picture the freedom found in Jesus, to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and carried into the kingdom of God. The apostle Paul writes to the Colossians: “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (1:13-14). In Jesus, through His death, 04 MAY / JUN 2020
Our nations need us to share the good news of the freedom found in Christ. This is the time for big prayers and jaw-dropping action. resurrection and ascension, I have been set free from the chains of sin, from the darkness of hopelessness, from the despair of living an empty life, separated from God. This freedom is found in Jesus alone. When the Son sets us free, we are free indeed. We are then called to live in the freedom of the Spirit. Paul tells the church in Corinth: “The Lord is Spirit, and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Our freedom in Christ affects every part of our lives and allows us to live radically different lives. We live in a new power with a new identity. As the liberated children of God, we can now approach the Father with freedom and confidence, living in communion with Him, seeking to honour Him and see His kingdom come. But, what does living radically in the freedom we have in Christ look like, particularly in an ever-secularising society? The paradox of our freedom in Jesus is that we give it away in His service. We don’t live for ourselves or to the values or reputation of the world; we live in humble, radical service to others. In the grace and love of God we seek to live to a different culture. I believe it is impossible for us as Christians to read chapters five to seven of the gospel
