A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (September 12, 2016)
Jesus said, “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-21).
One reason I quote the above verse so often is because it typifies God’s will for you and I. God’s will is that we be set free. But, set free from what?
First of all, God wants us to have eternal, everlasting life. That’s why He sent Jesus to earth to live and die in the first place. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But everlasting life doesn’t mean just living forever. You will live forever anyway, whether you believe in Jesus or not. The question is where will you live? Will you live forever in His presence, in the glory of Heaven, or will you live for all eternity (in Hell) separated from Him and His love? It’s your choice. One choice is eternal life. The other choice is eternal death.
I can remember as a young lost person having a bad misconception about Hell and thinking it was going to be one big party for sinners. Wrong !!! The scriptures describe Hell as a place of torment; a place of complete darkness; a place of separation from all life and light; a place where God’s love and mercy does not exist; a furnace of fire; a place of no escape and eternal punishment. There is no partying in this place!!!
God sent His Son, Jesus, to set us free from eternal death and those of us who believe in Him have the assurance of everlasting life. However, when Jesus said that we would know the truth and be set free, He wasn’t just talking about being set free from eternal death. He was also talking about being set free from the bondages that are here, now, on earth.
Many Christians live their entire lives under the bondage of sickness, poverty, and the letter of the law. When Jesus came to set us free, He came to set us free completely.
Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” And in John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” If this is true, then why are so many Christians still under bondage? Why are they not set free?
Well, here’s the answer. God said in His Word, over and over again, that it is faith that causes His promises to take effect. In other words, when God promises something in His Word, we must believe that what He promised is the truth and that it will come to pass. But, we must not just believe that it can come to pass in someone else’s life, but we must believe that it will come to pass in our own life. Why? Because God said it would, and we believe God. When God’s promise gets from your head to your heart, faith is born.
Jesus came to set us free from everything that binds us. We can be set free, but first we must believe we will be set free. In the town of Nazareth, Jesus taught the good news of the kingdom; but unlike the other villages who received His teachings, Nazareth did not. Because they didn’t believe the words of Jesus, Jesus could not do any great miracles there. Mark 6:5-6 says, “Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief.”
We must not be like the people of Nazareth. Only when we believe God’s Word completely will we receive the fullness of abundant life. God’s will is for you to be set free, not just in eternity, but today.
