The citizenry, including the Christian society, seems to have limited understanding of the larger meaning of freedom – the importance of it as a special gift from God. God is a purveyor of freedom, likely based on his own freedom, which, like love, is so magnificent he shares it with human creation – the human race. A large crime against freedom is mankind taking freedom from others of the race. When we do steal it, it is done in cahoots with whatever is evil in forces that influence us. Satan, whoever he is, is an enslaver. He will take the matter as far as he can. He is clever in the use of excesses, using man’s freedom to enslave. In mystery, God calls a halt to that infringement. Freedom, inherent to the image of God, was partly registered in the human model.
The denial of freedom is ugly enough in the story of slavery, but that is only a partial story. Sometimes the obvious part gets in the way of telling the whole story. The sorrows of the black people in America, before 1865 AD, as grievous as those sorrows were, make up only one chapter in the evil that denied freedom to segments of the human race. American slavery is permitted to distort the larger epic. Israel suffered under slavery, and was periodically reminded that God delivered them from the slavery of Egypt. On occasion they sold their children into slavery to make life better, for the remaining persons. They did not always hold the idea that it is better to die free than to live in slavery. Prophets would heap words of derision on the people for conduct leading to slavery. One of the consequences of sins by the returnees from Babylon was to fall into slavery as a way of life. Nehemiah was furious (9:37). Slavery violates God’s meaning for humanity.
The story is much more than the reduction of people to disrespect and labor – unrewarded. Sin slavery is far worse than slavery to owners. For many, freedom means belief they have a right to do anything they choose. Presumably the only limitation is that they do no harm to others. In such a prohibition is freedom defined? We resist similar excuse in other important matters in our lives. God’s freedom recognizes our limitations, so provides signs for direction and success. I am free on a large tableland, but if I insist on running off the side of the cliff, I will be destroyed in the fall. We confound liberty. God, who wills well for us, is presumed, because of his rules, to limit freedom by religious distortions. In fact, guidelines protect my freedom, freedom to become what I ought to become. Those guidelines have assisted me in my life, health, education, work and family. I learn to give up a freedom (to bad habits) for a better one (to healthier life). Limited by mortality for a while, I could not be freer in God’s redemptive gesture. Mortality requires some of immortality’s larger freedom. Freedom relates to some righteous limitations.
The words roll over: It is for freedom [immortality from death] that Christ has made us free. I believe that the greatest submission I ever made was to the guide of my freedom. He gave me eternal life, with energy in it to be free. Death does not end my freedom. I now have freedom to serve, to prepare for immortality’s freedom, to gain freedom from lesser circumstances to ideal ones. One cannot be truly free except under the author of freedom. Freedom is not exclusive as the only gift of God, but it is one of the primary gifts we ought to cherish. It is likely that the arrangement for mankind, by God, is to assure that whatever rebellion in freedom (occurring long ago) that would profane God’s creative gestures, so to introduce evil (enemy of God) cannot be permitted to occur again. God is warmed by a free fellowship, so will populate his kingdom with those who will be free in peace, in love, in holiness, in creativity. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020