We all are born into slavery of sin and death. A slave of Satan. But Jesus came to set the captives free. The bondage of our previous life is one of all man kind. But to the Christian, Jesus paid the price for our sin and is our ransom. We are a gift from God to His Son. We are Christ's possession but we have the freedom to choose daily who we will serve.
In Roman times the slave was one who was abused and used. Ownership by the Romans meant drudgery and pain and suffering in labor to no end. The slave had no freedom. They were beaten and abused and used with no benefit of their own. Then lived a hopeless, lifeless life. Day after day the same thing ended the same way. They spent their days only in labor for an evil master only to end in death. It was a place of humility and inhuman, of dread and complaint, crying out to their God to be set free.
Jesus came to set the captives free. Just as Hosea did Gomer, he bought her and made her his own. Hosea, also was a husband not a slave driver. Jesus said you no longer call me master but Husband. Gomer returned many times to her previous lovers only to be persistently loved and kept and taken care of and received again and again by her husband. Gomer became who she was loved to be. She was not who she was, but who she was beloved to be. She was free to leave but chose to stay with her husband and become his, her husbands. To be the beautiful wife Hosea believe her to be. With him there was no fear. She was safe and loved and cherished. She was continually pursued by her passionate husband.
We were bought to be set free to serve.
We are bondservants. It is a place of honor and respect. It is a choice we have to serve and adore our God. It is one of love and respect and a position of dignity, honor and value. We are set free from sin and death and have a life of joy and peace and life worth living. We are given treasures of heaven and are in ownership with our Lord. We share in His inheritance. We chose to dedicate our lives and our hearts to Him. He is our hearts desire above all else of this world.
At the cross Jesus paid the price for us and our sin in full. We were declared righteous and free. The death of the perfect God, man in exchange for sinful man. He defeated Satan and evil and made us His own. We are His prize, His joy.
We are His, Christ, most treasured creation. We are His wife. His delight, the apple of His eye who sings and dances over and with us. He has given us the gift of abundant life. We still suffer the effects of this fallen world as we still struggle with sin and suffering but we are free from its hold and control of our lives. No matter what our circumstances we can chose to give mercy, kindness and love even to those who treat us poorly and hurt us. We are not insignificant or inferior but are His humble servant spreading the love of the gospel to all. We speak the truth in love. We consider others more valuable than ourselves because we are valuable to Him. His life gives us our worth. We have a humble courage we have never had.
Anger is not the opposite of love but hate is and it is indifference.
Our minds are free, free to think on what is good and pure and lovely and praiseworthy. We can now think on Him. We have the mind of Christ and a new heart devoted to Him.
He died a horrible death to rescue us. As we surrender to our Husband, He leads us into the way of a joy filled life of trusting Him above ourselves. His care and protection of us unto His Kingdom, as we rely and depend on Him, for all our needs. He is a gracious and loving husband who cherishes His bride. We are the church, the bride of Christ. He is our means to a life of serving others and laying our lives down for others as our Husband did for us. We are empowered to do and to receive His gifts to us only by His life lived through us. We have His surrender, His perseverance, His love and grace, His life and peace that cannot be explained but displayed and enjoyed and shared. We are in Him and He is in us by His Spirit. He is our power to the weak and the needy heart who cries out for help, for freedom. We chose daily who we will be a slave to...to death, our selfish ambition or to life, life in Christ.
He is a jealous God
He is not a harsh, angry, unreasonable slave master but a compassionate, understanding, serving Husband. Our God fights and prays for us continually. He fights evil and our flesh and the world to continually make real what He has already done for us. His heart for ours fully devoted to Him. We daily die to our pride and selfishness to live and serve Him and others, as a bondservant to Him. His glory is revealed in us as we look to Him and not ourselves. He guides us and directs our ways. It is His kingdom come, His will be done is our passion and our hope. One day we will rejoice and celebrate in a grand wedding feast where we are joined with Him in complete freedom forevermore. The victory and our joy will be made complete in Him. He is our continued hope in this fallen world. May we keep our eyes on Him. May we enjoy this abundant life we have in Him through intimacy in true relationship with our Husband. We are His adorned bride, with glory all over our face and love overflowing in our hearts, when we remember by His Spirit and others, we are His free bondservant, not a harsh master but Husband. A daily free choice which is ours.
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