"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed"...(John 8:36)

As human beings, we know about being enslaved to an oppressive master called sin. We know the unseen, but humanly invincible, chains that constrain us in a host of self-destructive behaviors and desires! We know about the pride, the personal walls, the self-defense mechanisms, the crippling envy, the resentment, the greed, the discontentment, the burning lust. We know the powerlessness, the disobedience, the failure, the frustration, the depression. We know the loneliness, the isolation, the fear. We also know about the end of it all, the separation the Bible calls death. The Father God, who loves us, knows these things as well! That's the reason He sent His only begotten Son, who without sin, subjected Himself to the cruel and unrelenting environment of our sin-stained world. The love of God is why Jesus took our broken and defeated condition on Himself, yet without sin, traveled in our shoes and suffered, even to death! But for the Lord Jesus, death was not the end of the story! Praise God forevermore! And for those who put their trust in what He did on the cross, it's not the end of the story either! The Bible tells us that Jesus was raised to life, and through Him, we too, are raised to a bold and fresh and glorious new life. Apostle John puts it this way, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Notice that those who've placed their trust in what Jesus did on the cross are those who have passed out of death into life, has eternal life, and never will be condemned! This is true freedom! This allows us to begin living life the way life was meant to be lived! Freedom from slavery to sin to the awesome privilege of enjoying eternal life! It really does not get any better than that! Oh, by the way, don't limit your concept of eternal life to the future, because Jesus said we HAVE it now! Eternal life is our current possession! The focus of eternal life is not on the Christ follower's future, but on our present standing in Christ! Eternal life results from being free indeed. The Bible connects eternal life with the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent" (John 17:3). So, Jesus equates eternal life with a knowledge of the Father and of the Son! How wonderful is that? This life-giving knowledge of the Father and the Son is a true, personal knowledge that we can enjoy right now! Your move. Be encouraged!