YOU ARE RELEASED!

Reflecting on Mark 2:1-12

“The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2:10)
As a Jesus follower, I am thankful for forgiveness.
But for me forgiveness means more than just being pardoned.
The word for forgiveness speaks of being released, set free.
Our problem is not just our guilt, it is our bondage.
Think about it, if you pardon a slave, they are still a slave.
To be a forgiven slave is fine, but what we want is freedom.

This man needed more than a pardon, he needed to be rescued.
He was in the grip of bondage to SIN as a force or power.
All humanity is caught in this situation, trapped by the evil one.
This involves our being bad, but it also means bad things happen to us.
If you read Romans 7, you get a sense of our problem.

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:14-20)

We tend to focus on guilt, and blame ourselves and others for sin.
But God sees us as prisoners, in desperate need of help.
Yes, that includes pardon, but even more it includes rescue.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

God does not just see us as guilty sinners, God sees us as oppressed strugglers.
God sees and knows our bondage, and our desperate need for help.
God knows our deeper problem is not guilt, but bondage to evil, to the serpent!
As humans (Adam) we were entrusted with authority on earth.
As humans we surrendered our authority to the serpent, and became slaves.
Therefore God promised a human seed (Son of Man) to set things right.
This Son of Man would be bruised, but would crush the serpent (Genesis 3:15).
Jesus (Adam) does what no other human could do: beat Satan.
By refusing to sin, and choosing to be “like God”, Jesus overcame evil.
In Jesus, God sets captive and oppressed humans free from the curse!
This is the good news Jesus brings, what Jesus proclaims to this man!

Being paralyzed is but one result of this bondage to sin.
All brokenness and suffering and sickness and violence is.
Think about all the ways you experience sin’s brokenness.
Not just your guilt (that too), but your struggle and suffering.
Then hear Jesus saying to you too: YOU ARE RELEASED, SET FREE!
We still experience the struggle, but we know it cannot beat us.
The symptoms of sin may persist, but the source of that sin is defeated.
The serpent is crushed, and I am restored as God’s child… period!

Knowing this changes everything!
All hell can break loose around me, but I know evil is beaten.
It cannot win, it will not last, and I will not be abandoned.
The curse is lifted, the chains are broken, the kingdom of God is restored.
Adam is on the throne, and we are on the throne with Him.
Adam once again has authority on earth, and we share that authority with Him.

Knowing this changes how we see others.
We need to stop looking down on others as guilty sinners.
They are desperate and needy slaves, trapped in the darkness.
They are not just guilty, they are victims to the sin committed against them.
Jesus anoints us with the good news too, to let people know what has happened!
We have the authority to proclaim freedom and release.
To let people know that the darkness is beaten, and will end.
That God does not see them as worms, but as much-loved children needing help.
We are authorized by Jesus to proclaim this good news, like He did (John 20:21-22).

And right now I am choosing to exercise this authority in Jesus:
YOU ARE RELEASED, the chains are broken, you are God’s much-loved child!!!

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, the good news of freedom is so much greater than just the message of forgiveness. Yes the penalty of sin is resolved, but more than that the power of sin is broken, are we are no longer trapped as slaves.

You are the Christus Victor, the anointed serpent crusher, the good news of salvation from all the results of sin. No matter what happens in this world and life, nothing can separate me from God's love in You. I AM SET FREE!