Without Jesus, we are slaves. We have no power over our own lives. In the ancient world, many people sold themselves into slavery. When they had debts which they could not pay, they sold themselves. We are like that. We are bankrupt. We cannot please God simply trying to do good. We need to be saved. Slaves had no power over their own lives. Without Jesus we are slaves to the basic spiritual powers of the world. This means that we can’t help sinning. Our nature pushes us to sin. The devil pushes us to sin. Even our society pushes us to sin. We are far from God. We have been enslaved by dark forces. We can only be free when we meet God. Perhaps you feel as if this is true for you. Perhaps, on the other hand, you feel as if you are successful. God doesn’t see things the same way that people see things. God sees our hearts. He knows our spiritual condition. Without Jesus, we are in slavery. We need to be set free.
God prepared the way for Jesus. At just the right time in history, 2000 years ago, Jesus came into the world. Jesus was the Son of God. That means that he comes from heaven with God’s authority to set us free. Our saviour has come. He was the son of a woman. We all have mothers: why is this worth mentioning? Jesus is like us. He shared out human nature. But he was not a slave to sin. He was under the law. We have not kept God’s rules. Jesus did. Jesus can save us. Only Jesus can save us. Prophets warn us. The advise us. But they cannot save us. Jesus is different. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. Jesus came from heaven to save us.
We were slaves. We disobeyed the law. Jesus came to break that power. When Jesus dies on the cross, he took away all of our debt. Jesus took away the penalty of sin and the power of sin. But there’s more. God has a plan for you. In fact, this plan was his purpose in creating you. We wanted you to be his child. God didn’t just want good people. His plan wasn’t to create religious people. His plan was always to create a people who knew his love. God wants you to live with him for eternity. He wants to you to be free of guilt, fear, worry and even free from death. He wants you to know him. So he took away the power of everything which enslaved you. God loves you deeply. Jesus is his gift to you so that you can be free.
And God did even more than this. He didn’t just make us children of God legally. He gave us the heart of a true child of God. His Holy Spirit means that we become like Jesus. Of course, unlike Jesus, we did not come from heaven. We are not God. But God is our father. The Holy Spirit helps us to love God, just as Jesus loved his Father. We are free to love God. Sometimes when people are emotionally hurt, they cannot love God. Their minds are full of fearful or selfish thoughts. But God changes our hearts so that we are full of the love of God.
In summary – we were slaves. We had a debt we could not pay and we lived under a power which ruled us. At just the right time, God sent his Son, the One from heaven, Jesus, into this world. He came from heaven to take our nature, but he did not sin. He was under the law, but he did not break it. Jesus died on the cross for us to set us free. Not only did he set us free, but he made us children of God, if we believe in him. This is God’s purpose in creating you. Not only did he make us children of God, but he changed our hearts. SO the question is: do you believe? Without faith in Jesus, none of his work will benefit you. Do you believe that Jesus came to this earth to save you? Do you believe that he died on the cross for you and came to life? Do you believe that you can become a child of God? If you do, that is wonderful. But if you understand something new today, then, it is important to accept God’s gift in prayer. God gives us this freedom when we believe, and it is good to accept this freedom in prayer.
