Freedom in Christ

Through the Fall, human beings became slaves.

Slaves to sin
Slaves to death
Slaves to shame
Slaves to a life isolated from God
Slaves to broken relationships
Slaves to patriarchy

But we were not created for slavery. No, we were created for so much more than that. Sin may have damaged what God had intended, but Christ came to restore what sin had broken.

And to what end? Why did Christ seek to restore humanity?

In order to enslave us once again to something or someone else? To institute a hierarchy among people based on race, ethnicity, economic status, or gender? To make sure we still approached God under the spiritual authority of another – be it priest or spouse or father? Surely not! If that had been Christ’s purpose, he didn’t need to come at all, for those things already existed under the bondage of sin.

Why then did Christ come? What did he mean to restore?

I believe Galatians 5 leads us in the right direction: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Christ came to restore freedom among God’s people; freedom from everything institutionalized by the Fall.

Freedom from sin
Freedom from death
Freedom from shame
Freedom to restore human relationships
Freedom to know God personally and address God directly, through no one else but Christ
Freedom to re-imagine our identities in the image of Christ, apart from stereotypes and gender roles
Freedom to love God and love people
Freedom to be called children of God

This weekend, as The Junia Project Team celebrates freedom in our home country, let us all – The Junia Project Community – celebrate our true freedom in Christ.

Happy Independence Day

For further reading on how Jesus restored relationship between men and women, see Chapter 4 of Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian’s Beyond Sex Roles.