Jesus sets us free!
Another image: hot air balloon, tied down by strong ropes and weighed down by large sand bags draped over its side. Even though the ropes are cut by someone outside of the hot air balloon and the balloon rises a little off the ground now freed, it can’t soar higher without some of the sand bags being jettison overboard. The more this is done the higher the balloon rises.

What is the message? The ransom has been paid! That’s the reality! That’s the truth! That’s the Good News!  “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, Himself, human, who gave Himself as ransom for all.” (1 Tim 2:5-6)

But there is another reality! In spite of this undeniable truth, we are still bound by sin of choice and we are still bound by the lies around us. We are bound by our guilt and shame, our fears from the past and for the future and we are bound by our insecurities. We are bound by the perceived or real hurts and scared memories from the past. We are bound by the isolation from peers. We are bound by additions–sexual, alcohol, drug, overeating. We are bound by the demands and fads of our environment and society. We are bound by the music we listen to, the TV programs we watch, the movies and dvd’s we view, by the conversations we have. 

Who is setting the standards of our lives? Who is setting the moral agenda of right and wrong?  Who tells us that there is nothing wrong with premarital sex, with pornography, with overdrinking? Who encourages us to abuse  our bodies to look more sexy, more attractive, more acceptable, more in? Who tells us if it feels good it is alright; if everybody is doing it, it is cool? Who feeds our darkest feelings and sinful desires for their own profit? Who tells us there is no hell, no consequences for our actions? (To be continued)