Message Summary: If you are born again, washed in the blood of Jesus, why not declare aloud, with great joy and thanksgiving, "Hallelujah, I'm saved by God's wonderful grace!" And, if you're so inclined, you may even want to shout it out!

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"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood" (Revelation 1:5).


Saturday afternoon I was working up in the loft of our small utility barn when I encountered a bird in despair. Apparently she (a female cardinal) had managed to fly in but was now desperately trying to fly through a closed window. She flailed about and repeatedly banged up against the glass in a futile attempt to escape.

The window has long been painted shut and won't open so I considered how to set her free. She could have flown back out through the lower level and out the doors but every bit of instinctual sense was to try to fly out that closed window.

So I took a small cardboard box and managed to corral her up to the window and then carefully closed the flaps, trapping her in the box. I took the box down the stairs and outside the front doors to freedom. When I sat the box down and opened the flap initially the bird just huddled in the corner, perhaps in a state of shock. I jostled the box and the bird flew off. She was indeed "Like a bird out of prison that has taken its flight."

Now I would like to think that cardinal flew away with deepest appreciation for my act of kindness and testified to the other birds of her experience and the joy of being set free by a human. I'm not counting on it though! But what about those of us who have been set free?

This week we especially remember the work of Christ in setting His people free. Yesterday in our church service, like many of you, we considered the events of Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry in honor of the One who came to set His people free. In the great hymn, "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus", which is usually associated with Christmas, Charles Wesley wrote concerning Christ, "born to set thy people free."

In a powerful and often memorized teaching in John 8 Jesus declares, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

On the original Palm Sunday the people were looking for a political liberator. But that was not the liberation Christ primarily came for and, later that week as the events unfolded, some of the people were greatly disappointed. In fact you surely have considered how the same people who cried out "Hosanna" just days earlier joined another crowd in crying out "Crucify Him".

Actually I see a similar phenomenon in the present political situation. People are crying out (regardless of party) for a leader whom they feel will make things right. But the political world is full of promises that can never be met. Certainly Jesus could have liberated the people from Roman occupation and bondage. But His purpose was far greater and accomplished freedom from a far greater bondage, and not just for a generation but for all eternity. In the final book of the Bible the Apostle John powerfully states, "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood" (Revelation 1:5).

John wrote this verse sixty years after the great Event when Christ died on the cross and shed His blood. John had been an eyewitness to that Sacrifice and now wrote as the last surviving member of the 12 disciples who had walked with the Lord.

Just like the cardinal who sought freedom by darting toward what appeared to be an open window to freedom, people dart in and out of the web of sin that Satan has weaved for them, only to get more entangled. But the Bible teaches that the only way out is not through our own effort but through the blood of Jesus.


If you are born again, washed in the blood of Jesus, why not declare aloud, with great joy and thanksgiving, "Hallelujah, I'm saved by God's wonderful grace!" And, if you're so inclined, you may even want to shout it out!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, You have declared, through the words of Scripture, that there is no other name under heaven given unto men by which we must be saved. The apostles, full of the Holy Spirit, shared that message with the elders and chief priests, boldly asserting that it is by the name of Jesus Christ, that people are saved, healed, and delivered. Our singular focus must be on Jesus, whom You offered as the only way to have an eternal relationship with us. Thank You, God, that I am free thanks to Your marvelous grace, through the blood sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen.

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"Thank God, I Am Free"  Video   Homecoming Singers

"I'm Free!"  Video  Gaither Vocal Band

"Wonderful, Merciful, Savior"  Video  The Trinity Church

"Wonderful Merciful Savior"  Video  David Wesley  Acapella harmony using single voice and many overlays. This takes talent and patience creating a unique masterpiece!


An astounding 30 of the 89 accumulative chapters in the four gospels cover the period beginning with Christ's triumphal entry through His resurrection and post-resurrection appearances. Mathematically this means that approximately 33% of the written material in the Gospels deals with a mere .05% period of His life! In the providence of God we have a much greater proportion of Scriptural revelation dealing with God's greatest act of mercy in providing our redemption.

Here's an interesting chart from a Study Bible that may be helpful as you study the Bible this week. It sure helps me to have a sense of when the events took place and is inspiring to read these Scriptures in the daily sequence leading up to Easter.

Sunday    


Monday    


Tuesday/Wednesday


Thursday


Friday


Sunday


(This material is developed from an outline in the Life Application Bible)