Liberty
"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
This declaration from 2 Corinthians 3:17 is a proclamation that the kingdom of God is one of freedom, not oppression. Romans 14:17 states that "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." This statement describes the kingdom of God being in the Holy Spirit as seen in the righteousness, peace and joy of God's kingdom.
To those seeking power and control, people living in and moving by the Holy Spirit are a real threat, for the Spirit is like the wind, unpredictable. Man's oppressive governmental and religious systems ultimately break down when confronted by the freedom of the kingdom of God in the Holy Spirit. Thus the fierce opposition that people of the Spirit encounter from these systems is rooted in the initial rebellion of man's choice to function independently from God.
The Lord cannot be boxed in to a closed system. This is why Jesus gave the religious leaders fits. Moving in the Spirit, he wreaked havoc on their closed system, which was designed to label and categorize, maintaining control and position by and for those in power. But he shattered the boundaries that divided the "haves" from the "have nots", the "ins" from the "outs" by living from a kingdom that is not of this world, but when implemented in this world shatters the bondages of the systems of this world with the freedom only known through the Spirit.
Jesus is doing the same today as he did in the first century through people who are willing to step out of the confining chains of state and religious systems and embrace his invitation to follow him and live "freely, dangerously, and tenaciously" as the incarnation of him who will once again set captives free from oppression.
Though living in exile, we are to be a subversive people, undermining the politics of power and control by faith working through love. Jesus and his followers did it in the first century. Will we do it in the 21st century?
This declaration from 2 Corinthians 3:17 is a proclamation that the kingdom of God is one of freedom, not oppression. Romans 14:17 states that "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." This statement describes the kingdom of God being in the Holy Spirit as seen in the righteousness, peace and joy of God's kingdom.
To those seeking power and control, people living in and moving by the Holy Spirit are a real threat, for the Spirit is like the wind, unpredictable. Man's oppressive governmental and religious systems ultimately break down when confronted by the freedom of the kingdom of God in the Holy Spirit. Thus the fierce opposition that people of the Spirit encounter from these systems is rooted in the initial rebellion of man's choice to function independently from God.
The Lord cannot be boxed in to a closed system. This is why Jesus gave the religious leaders fits. Moving in the Spirit, he wreaked havoc on their closed system, which was designed to label and categorize, maintaining control and position by and for those in power. But he shattered the boundaries that divided the "haves" from the "have nots", the "ins" from the "outs" by living from a kingdom that is not of this world, but when implemented in this world shatters the bondages of the systems of this world with the freedom only known through the Spirit.
Jesus is doing the same today as he did in the first century through people who are willing to step out of the confining chains of state and religious systems and embrace his invitation to follow him and live "freely, dangerously, and tenaciously" as the incarnation of him who will once again set captives free from oppression.
Though living in exile, we are to be a subversive people, undermining the politics of power and control by faith working through love. Jesus and his followers did it in the first century. Will we do it in the 21st century?
As I read your posting Carm it becomes all the more obvious to me that life in the Spirit is akin to life in general. Our natural life unfolds with many unexpected joys as well as dilemma's rather spontaneously. This seems to be the DNA of God's creative design. There are authorities and physical laws that protect and enable us to be free but they do not constrain us or stymie our freedom of choice.
The life in the Spirit is exciting and challenging because we don't know how the Spirit will move from day to day. It's much like our own natural life that presents us with new opportunities and obstacles every day.
No wonder people hate to sit in church under that controlled atmosphere. Once a week in a controlled setting just seems to interfere with the liberty that we experience in everyday life. There really should be no difference from day to day. It seems kind of odd how we make Sunday our "Spiritual Day" and the other 6 days are just life in general. I'm willing to bet that you just might have a better chance of uniting with the Spirit of the Lord in those other 6 days rather than the Sunday box we have created for Him.
The Christian life in the Spirit is full of adventure. The mainstreamers hate the thought of being led by the Spirit because they can't manage the outcome from day to day.
What a radical I am becoming!
Great Post Carm!
Davey Buhl
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Davey, I wholeheartedly agree. The action is "out there" where the Holy Spirit can move freely, not so much, as you suggest, in the controlled environment of our orchestrated Sunday performances.
The unpredictability of the Holy Spirit doesn't fit in that controlled environment, but in the free flowing, freewheeling activities of everyday life. He is so practical that we often miss him because of our pseudo-spiritual mentality.
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Carm,
I find this to be quite inspiring because we all know as the scripture says in John 1:4 "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." If all life spiritual and natural is found in Jesus then Jesus is wherever real life takes place. It is impossible for Him live in a pseudo-religious setting because that is not life because it is not Him.
This is real revelation to those enslaved in a lifeless religious excercise. People can gravitate to the meaning of life and liberty because they fight for it all the time. Religion and Politics have us all bound up and so we now no longer live in the land of the "free".
It seems that all we want is to control our fellow man whether it be politically or through religion.I watch the news every day and it's become very obvious to me that we don't know how to fix our problems and that we are hell bent on dividing the nation. Maybe the thirst for real freedom will come after we lose what freedom we do have to government and religion.
Bring it on!
Davey Buhl
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