“It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” (Galatians 5:1)
All three of my children have a gift of producing amazing art work and my older daughter created an incredible sketch recently. It showed an octopus flailing both behind and in front of ruled lines. The perspective was challenging because the creature seemed to be imprisoned but at the same time the tentacles floated freely. On the balance of probabilities, the octopus was free but didn’t realise it. All it needed to do was squeeze through the gaps and embrace the reality that the lines were spaces not barriers.
I wonder if the Christian life is sometimes like that. We cry that we are free in Jesus but live like prisoners. Our minds are too conditioned to slavery to sin, and slavery to the world, to understand just how free Christ has made us.
Imagine though, if we did. If we really plumbed the depths of God’s love and somehow scooped it up. Yet the Bible implies it’s almost impossible to measure it. Ephesians 3:17 speaks of a prayerful hope that believers may be rooted in his love, to have the power, as noted in verse 18, “together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” And even more (v19), “to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Psalm 103 reassures us that “he does not treat us as our sins deserve” and that his love for those who fear him is “as high as the heavens are above the earth” and our evil has been removed in the same way as geographically “the east is from the west.”
That is why we have every reason to embrace and live in joy. It is also why daily ‘quiet times’ and meetings as Christian communities are so important. To confess our struggles and be reminded of His grace, of the freedom won for us by the Victorious Christ.
I have often wondered why the Scriptures say Jesus wept but don’t say He laughed. Surely laughter is the hallmark of joy and freedom? Perhaps it’s because of the seriousness of the sacrifice He knew he needed to make. Even so, He embodied freedom to the utmost measure. And it’s reasonable to think He laughed although the gospels don’t record that. I came across this informative comment recently by the late Selwyn Hughes, the master of Christian devotionals, in his Everyday with Jesus series, titled, “Did Jesus laugh?” It sums up the point perfectly.
“The Bible is silent on the subject, but in view of the fact that He was the Creator of laughter, it is inconceivable that He did not enter into the emotion He created… Laughter is a gift from God, and a wonderful gift at that. It has been described as ‘the shock absorber of life’, ‘the music of the soul’, and ‘the tranquiliser with no side effects’. Whatever description we give it, one thing is sure – it is a vital ingredient for a healthy and effective life.”
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