Colossians 1:13-14

[God] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Paul was absolutely clear that when someone becomes a Christian, their whole life changes completely. We move to a new country! The kingdom of darkness is now behind us and we have entered the kingdom of light with Jesus Christ standing at the centre of it. In that new country, we experience freedom for the first time in our life, having been set free from all those things that conspire to enslave us.

Slavery was an everyday part of Roman society. Paul often spoke of life before becoming a Christian as being like a form of spiritual slavery. Without Christ, we are slaves to our own selfish and ultimately destructive will, but through Christ, we can be set free.

Under Roman law, it was possible for a slave to be freed. It was a process called manumission, and one of the ways of achieving it was for the slave to pay his master compensation. This was obviously rarely possible for a slave, but in our case, God himself has set us free by paying the price we could never afford when Jesus died on the cross.

Everyone wants freedom. If you have ever had your freedom limited by illness, addiction or imprisonment, you will know what it means to have a deep longing to be free. I have visited people in prison on many occasions and I’ve always been amazed by the numbers of locked doors I had to pass through. Every prisoner I have ever met longs for freedom and is eager to talk about what they will do when they are released. We all want freedom, and that is what Jesus came to do. He came to set us free from our slavery to sin so we can enjoy the sweet taste of freedom.

Question

In what way has Jesus set you free?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you came into this world to give me freedom. I confess that I have often gone my own way and ask you to forgive me and set me free. Amen