What Does Freedom Look Like?
Guest Speaker: Pastor Luciano Lombardi
Objective: The practical expressions of faith that come from putting our trust in Jesus.
This practical expression is a result of looking through the lens of the cross and:
1. SEEING WHAT GOD SEES
a. The need for a proper filter
“Even though Christ had come, at the time, not knowing God, you were enslaved to idols. But now that you know God, or I should say that God knows you, why do you turn back again to weak and empty systems? Do you want to be in slavery all over again? You’re back to your meticulous tracking of the calendar.” Galatians 4:9-10
b. Jesus as the proper filter
“But there is no way that I will boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision gives anyone an advantage. [What matters] is a new creation.” Galatians 6:14-15
c. Paul experienced the shift in perspective
“We no longer know anyone from a fallen human point of view. Even though we viewed Christ that way in the past, we don’t view him this way any longer. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Everything from before is gone away. Everything has now become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Jesus is like that first pair of glasses that corrected my eyesight. When we see Jesus for who he is and look out onto the world through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we see the world in a whole new light – the way that God sees it. That causes us to live in a very different way.
2. EXAMPLES OF FAITH EXPRESSING ITSELF THROUGH LOVE
a. The Galatian believers inspired Paul
“Be like me as I am [what I saw] in you. You caused me no harm knowing that the first time I preached to you I was weak in body. And being tempted [to turn me away] because of my condition, you didn’t think less of me nor reject me, but you received me as a messenger of God, even as Christ Jesus. And what was your blessing? What I witnessed in you was that if you were able, you would have donated your eyes and given them to me.” Galatians 4:12-15
b. Picking each other up
“Family members, if anyone is caught off guard by any moral slip up, you who are Spirit people should restore them [back to community again] in a spirit of humility. [While you’re doing this] be careful so you too aren’t tempted. Help each other with the load you carry and [by doing so] fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2
c. Tireless at doing good
“So, let’s not get tired of doing good, for in time we will benefit if we don’t give up. In every chance we get, let’s do good to everyone, and especially to those in our faith community.” Galatians 5:9-10
Faith expressing itself through love needs to become our favorite – our focus. Acceptance of humanity at both its best and it’s worst. Picking each other up when we fall – learning more about how to do good and live in trust. God’s community is a beautiful community when it is loving others. This should be our aim and focus continually.
The kicker here is that this is who God is:
“By the Spirit’s perspective, every human being is a creation of the Trinity and destined to live in the new humanity Christ has brought to all. This is the focus of the Trinity, whose desire is for the affections of humanity to be aligned with theirs and be expressed in the life-giving way that has existed between the Father, Son, and Spirit for eternity.” A Free Humanity pages 144-145.
What does Freedom look like?
- Seeing the world like God sees it – putting on the lens and filter of Jesus’ life.
- Expressing our faith through love – modelling the Father, Son, and Spirit in both their desire for relationship with us and relationship with each other.