From Bondage to Liberty...the Wayfarer 7/4/17

From Bondage to Liberty
7/4/17

Romans 8:21King James Version (KJV)²¹ Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Bondage and liberty are much discussed in the context of a physical world, the one holding a negative connotation the other a positive, both holding meanings to those discussing them that differ greatly from others whose concepts vary in accordance with circumstance.

Corruption is also widely discussed, with varying definitions of the word as accepted by those attempting to define it.

All three  are discussed, in most part, in the context of nations and their laws as instituted among men, by men, for men.

All three are important concepts, worthy of that discussion and rumination among those pondering their validity, and, the means of correction of the negatives being discussed to a positive that is so longed for among them.

The bondage and liberty spoken of by Paul transcends the concepts most often in the minds of men, addressing a far greater concept of each of the three subjects linked in this single verse chosen for the opening today.

The bondage of corruption first mentioned within these words are in reference to an ongoing bondage of decay and death.

Many references are made throughout our scriptures in both Old and New testament to the ongoing and necessary decay of all living things that occurs continually  as the seasons change, as the young becomes old, both plant and animal as well as this creature called man, eventually to meet a predetermined end of life as the next cycle ensues.

Isaiah 40:1-8

King James Version (KJV)

40 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

² Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

³ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

⁶ The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

⁷ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

⁸ The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

There is a need to comprehend the temporary nature of the natural man, and the eternal nature of the soul of that man. If liberty is ever to be obtained from the bondage of the corruption that is inherent within that creature, a corruption far exceeding that of governments of men, and the concepts most discussed in reference to them that are, and will always be a natural offshoot of the greater corruption within man himself, a deeper understanding of that corruption must first be found.

Matthew 6:19-21

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Liberty is prized and treasured by a large majority of men, again often failing to comprehend the true value and meaning of the word as referenced by Paul.

True liberty is a liberty from the corruption existing within the natural state of this creature that comes only through the rejection of that corruption, and the bondage that accompanies it when lives are lived only in the moment, priority placed only on the things of  a corrupt world as  the very concept of eternity is rejected, assuring the continuance of a bondage throughout that eternity.

True liberty is the liberty that comes only through Christ Jesus, an eternal liberty that must be obtained before the corruption that precludes its existence may be overcome.

Revelation 1:17-18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

¹⁸ I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Christ alone may make the statement made in these two verses, that are assurance of a liberty that cannot be experienced  without having first put off the bondage of corruption existing in man, but overcome by Him for man.

Those keys remain in the hand of the Savior sent to preach the Gospel of an uncorrupt and incorruptible Kingdom to the few willing to accept the means of entering that Kingdom through Him.

He remains the WAY, TRUTH and Life , without Whom it is impossible to enter that Kingdom.

The message preached from the Jordan River to the cross still resounds for any desiring to break the bondage of corruption and obtain the liberty so readily available to those hearing and heeding that message.

"REPENT! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand"

Galatians 5:1

King James Version (KJV)

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer