Poignant statement: Once Jesus frees you then you can never be slave of anyone
Subject:Freedom by the Gospel
Scripture: Luke 4: 14-30
This past month I read one of the most powerful and eye opening books on Hinduism and the evil of caste system. The title of the book is Debrahmanising History by Braj Ranjan Mani. I believe this book should be read by all Christian workers particularly those who work among the Hindus of India and Nepal. This book talks about the need to see history not from Aryan conquest or high castes viewpoint but from the eyes of those who are termed ‘Dalits and untouchables’ by the caste Hindus. Once again my understanding was illuminated and challenged to see the unfolding of history from down to up rather than from up to down. It also showed me once again what crime is being committed by high caste Hindus against their own people by always humiliating and not allowing them to aspire higher. The people were and are treated this way because religious books such as Manusmriti enjoined such treatments to low castes and even women. This book also gives us an idea as to why there are today unrelenting demands of the low castes to be treated as humans and give in society their rightful place. Today the society is changing fast and many upper castes are realizing the folly of caste system and treating all as human beings. We must support such endeavor of the Hindu community.
I am so happy to know that by and large among Nepali Christians there is hardly any caste discriminition and that is commendable. Those of us who have become a believer have now broken among us the most humiliating and debilitating system in the world. However we need to be aware of this evil system and not allowed it to raise its ugly head among us. When we believed in Jesus we abandoned this heinous system once for all. Now we are all bought by the precious blood of Jesus and become one family of God.
The message of the Bible is just a wonderful message of total freedom in Christ. Jesus said, “So if the son sets you free you will be free indeed” John 8:36. This concept is well presented in Luke from 4: 14-30 I want to share few thoughts based on particularly verses 18, 19.
The Lord has anointed His church by His Holy Spirit, with all the power to bring change in the world today. The church is not just a religious order or an institution but the very powerhouse of God bringing down all boasting and imagination of man and building a new community of believers. So every time we gather we must realize and affirm this wonderful faith.
This change can only be brought by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The good news is that Jesus came down from heaven, became a sacrifice on the cross, rose on the third day and then ascended to heaven and is coming back to take His saints and we will be with Him for ever. As I ponder on this message I begin to see the marvelous gift of God and how the message is so all encompassing touching every aspect of our lives. The Gospel brings changes in an individual then it touches family, society and even a whole nation. It has spiraling effects. Has not this been our own experience when we trusted in the Lord Jesus? Sure it took time and God is still working in us yet this truth is being seen increasingly and progressively among the saints of God.
The first change is that we become free from prison of our past world view such as caste system etc. He takes us out of prison and lets us move in total freedom to realize our potential. We are not stuck to one profession but can be anything provided we have the ability, support and the resources
Secondly, He opens our blind eyes and then we begin to see all things in all its beauty, perspective and splendor. In Colossians 1:13, Paul says “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves.
Thirdly, He came to release the depressed. In Jesus days too there were many people under great pain. The Romans occupation, heavy taxes, impossible religious demands and most unsympathetic leaders had given nothing but despair to the poor and needy. Indeed they were like sheep without shepherds. Then Jesus came and people began to listen and follow him. They came out of their life of misery and see a new liberation in Jesus.
No one who is a believer in Jesus should hang his head low just because he was born as low caste or as untouchables. Now he is given a new place and most glorious identity. In 1 Peter 2:9 it is written “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
One of my favorite Christian songs is composed by Daju Loknath Manen ‘Herana hera shristi ko sundarta’ and it talks about one ‘agaan’ where we all meet in Jesus. At the foot of the cross each person is a sinner, needing forgiveness of sin. The ground beneath the cross is flat and all are equal. It was Martin Luther King who said that he has a dream when a man will not be judged by color his skin but by strength of his character. His dream in now fulfilled because Mr. Barak Obama, the black man is now the President Elect of the United States of America. This was possible because the constitution of the USA is rooted in the teaching of the Bible particularly when it looks at the responsibility of the State to its people. We must realize that true spiritual freedom can only be possible when people believe in the Gospel and begin to look at each other with the compassionate eyes of Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus all become equal and so hate, acrimony and inequality must disappear among us and then only we can take the message of glorious freedom in Jesus Christ. So in Christ there is no difference between Bahun and Kami. All are His children and all are new creation of God. Now we belong to the family of God and in Him we find reason to love, respect and serve each other. We love and serve each other and this is wonderful.
Fourthly, there is jubilation. If you read Lev. 24 you will find that every fifty years the slaves were free, debts were written off and land kept untilled for a whole year. The Lord wanted to bring joy and rest to the people of God. In the same way when we believe in Jesus we become joyful because all our debts are paid by Jesus, we are at last given full and permanent freedom from being slaves to sin. Now we can dance and rejoice in God. God gives us hope for ever and so we rejoice with exceeding joy in our heart.
So the Lord came and since then nothing has remained the same. He changed the course of history and He still does. He is the only One who can give us true freedom. As we are nearing Christmas let us rejoice in our new and wonderful freedom.
Poignant statement: Once Jesus frees you then you can never be slave of anyone
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the freedom in Christ. We pray that we continue to not only be free but also declare the message of freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remove from among us any hint of discrimination because of caste, color anything that puts the body of Christ in poor light
Republished in new layout on 8/20/2013
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