Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.
At church we've been hearing a sermon series called "breaking free." Each week at the Metro service (6pm smaller urban-professional service) during this series we've seen a video story from various staff members from the church. Each video starts with this introduction: "My name is ___, and I was a slave to ____." These stories feature stories of control, expectations, perfection - but Jesus is the main character in very story because, as each person shares, you hear about these chains that created bondage were broken by Jesus and made each person set free. Every video ends with "My name is ___, and I am a slave to Jesus Christ."
Similarly, in the verse above, Paul defines himself as a servant of Christ. I'm sure some people are confused when Christians share about the freedom we have because of Who we believe in... yet we all claim to be servants/slaves to that same freedom bringer. It's still a concept that I find baffling to hear, but completely assuring to wordlessly understand in my heart. This is the nature of Truth. This is the life of a Christ-follower. This is the description of grace. Believing in things unseen, things words can't define, the things that are the difference between bondage and freedom. As confusing as it sounds, just remember that God is a God of distinction and if you have eyes to see, the distinction is clear.
2 comments:
When I read your post today it made me think of a "conversation" I was reading in an online moms group that I'm a part of. The discussion was about atheism, and as a response to someone saying that without God you have a pretty hopeless existence, one of the moms (an atheist) wrote this:
"Christians believe it is unacceptable to think that “life on earth is all that we have.” To me, that sounds like someone who doesn’t take much joy out of their life. A person who truly enjoys and appreciates their life will take pleasure in it and enjoy it regardless of whether any sort of afterlife exists. They might believe in an afterlife and even in some sort of wonderful heaven, but they won’t depend upon the existence of such a heaven in order for their lives to have meaning or purpose."
So, when you say that people are confused about the freedom we have because of Christ, you are completely correct! To have Him who is true joy living within us, and to know that hope that we have for our future with Him gives life purpose. It may be confusing to some, yet it is one of those "mysteries" that you can only understand once you're a follower of Christ.
Thanks once again for your words, Katie!
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