Slavish Liberty or Freeman’s Service?
To be free, or to become free, is the desire of all human beings. Whether we are young or old, we desire to have freedom and to be at liberty. Sometimes the question arises, “What is freedom?” It is worthwhile to search for the right answer to this, because we so easily deceive ourselves regarding it. We may think that we are free and at liberty, and yet be more under bondage than ever before; or we may be directed to freedom and liberty but do not dare to go in that direction, thinking that it may be no more than bondage and slavery.
To portray true liberty and freedom, we may point to the Garden of Eden. There our first parents experienced a freedom and liberty so extensive, that it is even difficult to comprehend it. In Genesis 1:28 it is recorded that they received dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moved upon the earth. To them were given every herb bearing seed and every tree yielding seed and bearing fruit. There was no sin within man and no evil without. In one word, it was a perfect liberty, worthy to be desired. And the most desirable part of this liberty was that they belonged to God their Creator, possessing His image and likeness. Their heart’s desire was to serve God and Him only. It was not a serving in slavery, but a freeman’s voluntary service; it was not a burdensome task, but a pleasant performance.
C. Feyter serves as elder in the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Fort McLeod, Alberta.
However great and desirable this God-given liberty was, it was lost in a moment of time. As soon as the first sin, that sin of pride, was committed, all God-given liberty and freedom was lost. Man had desired to become as God, or even to stand above that Holy Being. The result was that he became a slave of Satan, the great deceiver. Although we blame Satan, we should rather blame ourselves for this fall, because man in his perfect state knew what his Creator had promised and also what He had threatened.
Even worse is the fact that by nature we are so ignorant and blind that we do not see or know that we have become blind slaves to sin. We are so foolish that we even think that we have much liberty and freedom. In John 8, after Christ had explained that the truth would make them free, the Jews said, “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?” A few verses later Christ made it clear, saying, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
As long as this liberty is not given, we may think ourselves to be free, but it is nothing more than slavish liberty. If you cannot find this picture in yourself, then look around you and it can be seen everywhere. All who are travelling upon the broad way of this world are walking as slaves of the styles and modes of the world, or as slaves of worldly customs and sinful habits too numerous to mention.
Is there then no true liberty and freedom possible for fallen Adam’s descendants? Yes, there is. In God’s Word it is called the liberty of the children of God. Paul calls them “the Lord’s freemen” (I Corinthians 7:22). Their souls are made free from the bondage of Satan and the power of sin, although their bodies in this life are yet polluted with many sins.
The service of God’s people can be called the freeman’s service.
Is that liberty then desired by many people? No! The majority of men, including many who carry the name of Christian, do not desire it because they cannot view it as liberty. And why not? They say, “What is burdensome and tiresome for me must be the same for God’s people; what I only do out of compulsion, must also be done out of compulsion by them.” Here the great mistake and blindness of the natural man is revealed. That which before was burdensome and considered only a duty, through grace became delightful and a voluntary service. The service of God’s people can then be called the freeman’s service. Oh, that we were or would become occupied with this freeman’s service! This only is true liberty.
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Bekijk de hele uitgave van dinsdag 1 oktober 1985
The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's
Bekijk de hele uitgave van dinsdag 1 oktober 1985
The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's