He Sets The Captive Free
When we read this headline, on the surface we may apply this to someone who is in jail, serving a sentence for some crime or action or default, but on closer examination of God’s Word we will find that anyone can be a captive if they are not in Christ. We may be captivated by pleasure, wealth, selfishness, greed, anxiety, arrogance, pride, envy, and the likes. Christ wants to set us free from the prison that keeps you bound and subjected to its demands. Let us take a closer examination of our lives and pinpoint the thing that has become a strong-hold in your life – that is your prison and Christ wants to set you free from it!
John 8:36 “Who the Son sets free is free indeed.”
After calming a storm that physically threatened the lives of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus arrives at a coastal town of the Gerasenes. [Mark 5]. As Jesus stepped out of the boat, he soon met a man who lived in the tombs who was possessed with unclean spirits. The people of the local town were unable to constrain him. He always broken loose and damaged everything around him. He lived in the mountains and could be heard crying out and cutting himself with stones because of the torment he felt from the evil spirits. Everything changed when this man met Jesus. Scripture says that he ran and fell before Jesus and asked: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Please do not torment me.” Jesus then casts the evil spirits out of the man, and he was set free!
In Matthew 19:16-22, we are introduced to a “Rich Young Ruler.” His question to Jesus is: “What must I do to have eternal life?” [Matthew 19:16]. After a short conversation with this man, Jesus gives him the way that he would be able to have everlasting life. Jesus shows this man that he is possessed with his possessions. His wealth dictated who he was, what he did and how he would live out his life. Jesus shows him that all that he had was not enough to acquire eternal life. Jesus’ advice to him is to go, sell all that he has, give the proceeds to the poor and then come and follow Him. Verse 22 says: “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
We need to realize that nothing in this life is worth more than eternal life. Matthew 16:26 tells us: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their souls?” This text tells us that nothing we own or possess will be able to be exchanged for eternal life. That is not how we will attain eternal life. Eternal life only comes when we receive Christ, follow His instructions, and live a life that goes about doing the will of God. Our righteousness and good works without Christ are of no consequence. It does not help us in anyway. The material has no place in the spiritual, it is only useful in the natural. Unfortunately, too many people sacrifice eternal life for the present temporal life that we have on the earth here and now. Don’t make that eternal mistake, one cannot afford to make an eternal mistake – its consequences never come to an end!