Free To Go

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” II Corinthians 5:17-21

The message of reconciliation to God is the message that has been passed down from generation to generation ever since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ came down to this earth and was crucified to death on a cross and three days later rose again from the dead. Thus making it possible for all to have new life in Him for in His death we all have died and in His life we all might live. This is the message that ought to give us the necessary love and motivation to go out and tell others about the sweet love of God.

Read the above Scripture again and let the good news of what is says sink deep, deep into your spirit. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation. The OLD has PASSED away; behold the NEW has COME.” If you are in Christ today you are a new creation. You are no longer dead in your trespasses and sin but have been made alive unto God and been brought into a right relationship with Him. No longer are you destined for Hell and damnation but you are destined for Heaven and glorious living. You have been brought out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Colossians 3 sheds some more light on this subject of being brought out of darkness and into the light very well. Verses 13-14 say, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We have been given the righteousness of Christ and stand justified before God.

Just the other night I was watching the movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” and if you have seen the movie you will understand what I am talking about, if you have not, here is a brief synopsis. A priest has been charged with negligent homicide for the death of a nineteen year old girl named Emily who was demonically possessed and died under his care the day after he had performed an exorcism on her. Throughout the course of the movie we learn bits and pieces of Emily’s story during different stages of the trial. At the end of the movie the jury finds the priest guilty of negligent homicide, and this is where things begin to get really good. Not because of the greatness of the movie, but simply because of the very accurate portrayal of a truth of the Gospel message. After the jury has announced the verdict and the judge is about to pronounce his sentence a head of the jury stands and asks permission to give a recommendation for the sentence. The judge agrees to hear the recommendation and the jury asks that the sentence be “time served.” The judge agrees to the terms and turns to the priest and says, “YOU ARE GUILTY, AND YOU ARE FREE TO GO.” That is what Christ has done for us. We are guilty of breaking the laws of God but because Christ came and took our punishment for us, we are, as the priest was, free to go out and live as God intended for us to do.

by Justin Kantonen
originally posted June 2008