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Freedom, peace, and happiness in Christ

 

 

The United States Declaration of Independence states that human beings have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  It states that these rights are given to us by God, our Creator.  It further states that the purpose of government is to secure these rights for its citizens.  And as we know, most human beings desire to be alive, free, and happy.  They enjoy living in freedom and peace and pursuing happiness with their lives.  And as it turns out, our God in heaven definitely wants these things for His people.  God, in His great love, sent His Son into the world to die on a cross for our sins, so that when we have a right relationship with God, we can be free, at peace, and happy.  And when we have true freedom, inner peace, and happiness as we live our lives on this planet, we can feel as if we are on top of the world.

 

The Bible tells us that Jesus came to set us free.  Jesus said in John 8:31-32, “If you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  Jesus Christ came to tell us the truth.  He came to tell us the truth about God, the truth about life, the truth about sin and evil, and the truth about the afterlife; and everything that Jesus said is true.  Because Jesus is God’s only begotten Son, his authority and understanding is far above that of anyone else on earth.  And when we study and believe Jesus’ word and understand that everything he said is true, we will know the truth about matters related to God, which will liberate us.  Even if we are living in a world full of lies, we can still be free if we know and understand the truth of Jesus’ words.

 

Another way that Jesus sets us free is that he frees us from our sins.  Jesus told us that “everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).  In other words, when we sin, we are not free men and women, but rather, we are under the power of the devil.  The devil wants us to sin so that our lives will get all messed up, but God wants us to do what is right so that we can live a free and happy life.  For those who are enslaved to sin, it is usually very hard if not impossible to break the habit.  But fortunately, the remedy for sin is to turn to Jesus Christ and put our faith in him. Then the Holy Spirit of God can circumcise our spiritual heart and make us a child of God forever.  And when we have the Holy Spirit in our heart and at work in our life, it will be much easier to leave our past sins behind and to live a righteous life in the future.  And when Jesus frees us from our past sins and helps us to live a righteous life going forward, we can be free men and women of God even if the whole world around us is sinning.

 

Once we have been liberated by God’s Son, Jesus Christ, we should live as free people as much as possible for the rest of our lives.  Paul writes in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  Here we see that God is a God of freedom, and He wants His people to be the freest people on earth.

 

God also wants His people to be filled with inner peace.  Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”  If we have the Holy Spirit in our heart, we should allow that Spirit to rule in our heart and give us inner peace.  And we can theoretically have that inner peace even when we are going through great trials.  Paul calls it “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).  So even if the whole world around us is in chaos, we can still have inner peace if we let the peace of Christ rule in our heart.

 

Because God is such a wonderful God, He also generally would like for His people to be happy.  Ecclesiastes 2:26 says, “To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness.”  Here we see that true happiness is a gift from God.  God gives happiness to some people and not to others.  But if we please God with our life and maintain a clear conscience before God, He may give us the gift of happiness.  So if we want God to bless us and make us happy, we need to study the Bible, believe what it says, and put it into practice in our lives.  And if we do that, then we can have a clear conscience before God and maximize the chances that God will give us the gift of happiness.  God Almighty is in control of everything, and He is able to make a person happy if He wants to.

 

Faith in God, Jesus, and the Bible is the best faith in the world, not only because it is completely true, but because it leads to personal freedom, inner peace, and happiness.  And if everyone in the world were to become a Bible-believing Christian, all the world’s problems would soon disappear.  However, the Bible tells us that many people will not become Christians and that wars and problems will continue until the end.  But if we have personal freedom, peace, and happiness in Christ, then we can feel as if we are on top of the world.

 

Copyright 2024 Michael Fitzcharles

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