The Truth
Series: Let's be Reasonable
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 18th January 2026
Passages:
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Well, good morning, everyone. My name's Steve. I've met you before. I'll leave past here at St. Paul's.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:14 And if you've just joined into amongst us right now, just checked in for the first time in 2026,
00:00:14 --> 00:00:29 we are really beginning this year asking the question, is it still reasonable and desirable or good to be Christian in 2026?
00:00:29 --> 00:00:37 Given that 45% of our neighbourhood declare that they are not religious people at all, they are secularists,
00:00:38 --> 00:00:47 and that in our neighbourhood, we are, in fact, significantly lower than the state and national average on people who claim to be Christians.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:55 So, you know, working on the assumption that we are the minority here, is it still reasonable to be Christian in 2026?
00:00:55 --> 00:01:03 And that's kind of what we're doing. And our main focus as we do that is the bold claim of Jesus in John 14, 6,
00:01:04 --> 00:01:15 to be the way, the truth and the life, exclusively the way to God, exclusively the truth for all of humanity and the life for all of humanity.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:26 And so my focus today, as we unpack those three statements over three weeks, is the claim for Jesus to be the truth,
00:01:26 --> 00:01:36 that is exclusive truth, authority of truth for all people, all times, all cultures that exist outside of the world in which we live.
00:01:36 --> 00:02:06 So that's what we're looking at.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:17 And that is, something is regarded as being true, being truthful, if it matches external facts and reality.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:19 It corresponds with.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:26 That is, a statement is true, a proposition is true when it matches reality.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:45 Linked with the correspondence theory is the coherence theory, and that is, a statement or proposition is true if it fits logically and consistently with a whole system of other statements and propositions that fit with reality and facts.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:54 So combined together, it corresponds with, and it's internally coherent, and therefore it's true.
00:02:56 --> 00:03:06 In both cases, facts and reality are things which are external from us.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:16 In a postmodern world, which we're being marinating in for many decades now, truth is viewed as being constructed.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:34 It's constructed by beliefs, by language, by cultures, and therefore truth is not aligned to an independent reality which has authority over all people of all times.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:42 So every individual group or culture can come up with its own version of truth.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:48 We now, however, live in a time called the post-truth era.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:58 And in 2016, Oxford Dictionary selected post-truth as its word of the year.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:13 It defines post-truth as an adjective relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:14 Post-truth.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 So post-truth as a concept exploded.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:29 It really began in 1992 with a judgment which was passed down by a Supreme Court judge in the US,
00:04:29 --> 00:04:43 but has exploded in 2016 linked to the US presidential election that saw Donald Trump elected as the president of the US.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 That is the concept of fake news.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:53 And post-truth exploded 2% in the latter stages of 2016.
00:04:54 --> 00:05:03 And I think you'd search in vain to find a more apt description of our age of expressive individualism
00:05:03 --> 00:05:16 where all forms of universal truth, any claim to universal truth, to exclusive truth, like Jesus does here in John 14, is rejected.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:31 The irony of that is to declare that there is no such thing as a universal truth is itself a claim to universal truth.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:34 That's the irony of it.
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 It's a universal truth claim.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:46 And expressive individualism suggests that truth lies, which is the post-truth era,
00:05:46 --> 00:05:50 that truth lies within each individual.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:59 And to find true liberty, true freedom as an individual,
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 you must discover that truth that is within you.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 Within you.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:08 And live it.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:15 In all its forms, regardless of any other person's opinion.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:22 Because personal liberty is the highest value,
00:06:23 --> 00:06:30 then any truth that constrains my view of myself
00:06:30 --> 00:06:36 is regarded as oppressive and therefore must be rejected.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:46 In a post-truth world, answers to life's big questions no longer need to correspond to reality,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 to fact at all.
00:06:49 --> 00:06:56 They just simply need to cater to my desires and my perceptions of the world.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 So what is it here that Jesus is saying?
00:07:03 --> 00:07:08 What is he claiming when he claims to be the truth?
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 To answer that question, what we need to do is to step back
00:07:12 --> 00:07:16 and have a really broad sweep of the Christian worldview, if you like.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:28 The Bible begins by declaring that there was no reality except God at the very beginning.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 And that in that sense, God is ultimate reality.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 God stands outside of all things that are created.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 He's beyond all things that exist.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 Now the earth was formless and empty.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:48 That is, before anything was made, anything could be measured,
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 before anything could be measured, there was God.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:51 God was.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:56 And then this God speaks.
00:07:57 --> 00:07:58 He communicates.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:03 And when he speaks, he creates physical reality.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 He creates reality.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 He creates the physical universe.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:07 He creates history.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:13 Crucially, in the Christian worldview, God does not interpret history.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 He creates history.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:25 And that statement, that view, is a massive hurdle for people in our world,
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 modern world today.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:33 I spoke about this two weeks ago when we kicked off this season.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:41 One of the interesting things is, with the remarkable growth in scientific discovery,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:54 science itself is increasingly and powerfully pointing to a designer behind the world,
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 to a creator behind everything that exists.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:07 In actual fact, it is more reasonable to be a person of faith, to believe in a God,
00:09:07 --> 00:09:14 than it is to be a person to not believe in a God, based purely on scientific fact.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:22 So if you want to trust science as the arbiter for you, as to what's true and what's reality,
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 then your science is pointing you to a creator.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:38 And so the Christian worldview, quite reasonably, begins with a God who creates all things,
00:09:38 --> 00:09:43 and therefore defines all things, because he is the one who is ultimate reality.
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 Reality is determined.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:52 It is created, determined, and defined by God.
00:09:54 --> 00:10:02 This Christian worldview also declares that the only way that we can know what is true,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:08 what is reality and reasonable, the only way that we can know the way things actually are,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:13 is if this God was to reveal it to us.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:21 As Ash mentioned in his prayers just a moment ago, first of all, in the created order,
00:10:22 --> 00:10:29 the created order points to a design in some way, but more specifically, in very specific revelation,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 this created God speaks.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:40 And so the Christian worldview, Psalm 119, 160, says this about God when he speaks.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:44 All your words are true.
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 All your righteous laws are eternal.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:54 They're true because they come from an eternal God, the ultimate reality.
00:10:54 --> 00:11:01 When God speaks, because he's ultimate reality, he reveals things the way they actually are.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:08 Regardless of whether we think it corresponds to the world as we see it,
00:11:09 --> 00:11:13 he speaks truth because it is him revealing reality.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:19 And so what truth is, which is linked to the philosophical view of correspondence,
00:11:19 --> 00:11:30 but also the cohesion view, is that truth is when reality and the communication of that reality
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 are aligned to one another.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 They make sense.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 And the opposite of that is a lie.
00:11:39 --> 00:11:47 Lies are when reality and when the communication of that reality don't correspond.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:57 You know, like the fridge is open, the ice cream tub is empty on the floor,
00:11:58 --> 00:12:02 and you've got three kids with ice cream all on their faces,
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 and you say, who ate the ice cream?
00:12:05 --> 00:12:06 Don't know.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:08 The dog did it.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 You know, there's a...
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 The facts don't correspond to reality of what you're observing there in that moment.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:26 The unique claim of Christianity is...
00:12:27 --> 00:12:32 Because what that leaves you with is, well, how do we know then reality?
00:12:32 --> 00:12:39 And the unique claim of Christianity is that the God who made reality known,
00:12:40 --> 00:12:46 the one who has communicated, who created all things, has communicated that reality.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 He has communicated the unknowable.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:54 The claim of Christianity is that God did not just simply write a book,
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 like an instruction manual, like you would get with your car,
00:12:57 --> 00:13:01 on how to, you know, best look after the design of the car.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:07 It's not that he just gave us an instruction manual to tell us the way things actually are,
00:13:07 --> 00:13:13 but that this God who created reality wrote himself into the storyline.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 He put himself into the reality.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:23 And that's what our world has just finished celebrating.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 The world's biggest festival called Christmas.
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 That is what we celebrate.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:36 And it's what the beginning of John's gospel,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 just chapters earlier than what Mel read out to us,
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 actually confirms.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 In the beginning was the Word.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 That is, he existed before anything was made.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 And the Word was with God.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 And the Word was God.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 He was with God in the beginning.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 And through him, that is through the Word,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 all things were made.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:02 And then down in verse 14, you read something startling.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 The Word, who is God, who's made all things,
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:10 And we have seen.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:15 In other words, we have seen, we have understood,
00:14:16 --> 00:14:20 the facts are there, the reality is in front of us.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:27 The glory, the glory of the God who has made all things.
00:14:27 --> 00:14:31 Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 And so the question is, well then, who is this one,
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 this Word who is God, who existed before creation,
00:14:39 --> 00:14:43 who made everything and is full of grace and truth?
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 A couple of verses later, grace and truth
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 came through Jesus Christ.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:54 So what John claims here at the very beginning
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 of his biography of Jesus,
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 which the rest of his biography explains
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 and defends and supports,
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 the claim here is that the Word that was in the beginning
00:15:05 --> 00:15:09 became flesh and lived amongst us
00:15:09 --> 00:15:13 so that we could see reality.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:20 We could witness reality.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:26 And we are told five things about this Word in those verses.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 The Word is a person.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 The Word is a divine person.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 The Word is an eternal divine person.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 The Word is the eternal divine person,
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 is the source of all things.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 And this Word is Jesus Christ.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 Now, John uses a word here that's very specific.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:50 When he says, instead of just saying, look, Jesus,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 he says the Word.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 And the Word in the original Greek language,
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 which is what the New Testament is written in,
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 is the word logos.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:03 And the word logos in the first century
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 had an enormous amount of meaning
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 in the Greco-Roman world.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 An enormous.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 It was a very loaded word.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:18 Greek philosophers, when they looked at the world,
00:16:18 --> 00:16:22 they saw balance, they saw harmony,
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 they saw design, they saw order,
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 they saw all of those things,
00:16:27 --> 00:16:31 and they concluded that what they observed
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 from the reality and the facts of the world,
00:16:34 --> 00:16:41 that there is order and there is a principle,
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 there's a design, there's a principle
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 that sits behind the world,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 and they called that principle the logos,
00:16:50 --> 00:16:54 the logic that sits behind the created order.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 But for Greek philosophers,
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 the logos was an impersonal,
00:17:02 --> 00:17:06 it was a divine, but it was impersonal structure
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 behind the natural order of the universe.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:15 The logos was the purpose of the universe.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 It was the reason, the logic behind all things
00:17:19 --> 00:17:23 that make sense to all the individual parts.
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 And they concluded,
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 in order to live life well,
00:17:30 --> 00:17:34 you must align yourself to the logos,
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 to that order, to that principle.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 In the same way, you want your car
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 to not be void of warranty,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 you want it to work well,
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 then you follow the instruction manual.
00:17:46 --> 00:17:51 You don't put diesel in a petrol car,
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 for instance,
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 and you don't try to plug electricity
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 into a petrol car.
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 Those things are not going to go well for you.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 That's the idea of the logos for them.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 And if you did not align yourself
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 to the principle of the universe,
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 then life would go badly for you.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:15 Either you would experience this sense of lack
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 of contentment in life,
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 at the very least,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 or at the very worst,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 you'll entirely destroy your life.
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 You see what John is saying here?
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 John comes along
00:18:28 --> 00:18:33 with an earth-shattering category.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 The logos is not a principle.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 The logos is a person.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 A person that you can know.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 That is, what he's saying here
00:18:45 --> 00:18:50 is that Jesus Christ is the designer.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 He's the source of all life
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 and the one, therefore,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 that we must align our lives to
00:18:58 --> 00:19:03 in order to flourish well in life.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 And that is the radical claim of Christianity.
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 Jesus is not just ultimate reality
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 as the one behind all things,
00:19:12 --> 00:19:16 but that he comes into the reality
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 that he has created
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 to reveal the existence
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 of ultimate reality,
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 of truth.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 That's why he claims to be the truth.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 That's the Christian worldview.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:32 Now,
00:19:32 --> 00:19:35 there's a paradox here.
00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 Paradox of truth and freedom.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:39 You see,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 because the modern Westerner,
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 ever since the,
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 particularly the postmodern age,
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 the modern Westerner
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 is repelled by such an exclusive claim.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 And the reason is that,
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 the view is that any claim to exclusive truth
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 that is external from the individual
00:19:59 --> 00:20:03 is regarded as oppression.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:07 It is regarded as a constraint upon my freedom.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 So,
00:20:12 --> 00:20:12 in other words,
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 we must get rid of God
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 in order to enjoy life.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 The British Humanist Society,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 a couple of weeks ago,
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 I mentioned this.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 British Humanist Society
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 put an advertisement
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 on the side of buses in London
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 a number of years ago now
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 where they said,
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 God doesn't exist,
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 so enjoy life.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 You see,
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 there's two things there,
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 two statements
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 that are being made there.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:34 Number one,
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 God doesn't exist.
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 That's a statement of belief.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 But secondly,
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 that it is the existence of God,
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 the existence of ultimate reality,
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 that is putting a constraint
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 on your enjoyment of life.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 And that is exact opposite
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 of what Jesus claims here.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 Jesus makes that connection.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 Absolutely right.
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 Truth and freedom go together.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:04 But Jesus couldn't disagree with you more
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 than the British Humanist Society.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 John 8, 31,
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 if you hold to my teaching,
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 you are really my disciples
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 and then you will know the truth
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 and the truth will set you free.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 You see,
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 verse 22 there promises freedom.
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 But,
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 Jesus says in the verse,
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 it's only if you hold to his teaching,
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 then you will experience freedom.
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 To hold to his teaching here
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 is to embrace it,
00:21:33 --> 00:21:33 to obey it,
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 to live it.
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 Much stronger than just simply agreeing with it.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 Jesus says
00:21:41 --> 00:21:43 that we can only be free,
00:21:44 --> 00:21:44 truly free,
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 if we accept his constraints.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 That's the paradox of freedom.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 In his book,
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 Two Concepts of Liberty,
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 philosopher Isaiah Berlin
00:22:00 --> 00:22:05 distinguishes between negative liberty
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 and positive liberty.
00:22:08 --> 00:22:13 Negative liberty describes personal freedom
00:22:13 --> 00:22:17 as from all constraints,
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 all external constraint,
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 and anything that's an outside interference.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 That is negative freedom.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 In other words,
00:22:26 --> 00:22:27 negative freedom
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 is the absence
00:22:28 --> 00:22:30 of all obstacles,
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 the absence of all constraints
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 to live any way
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 I see fit
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 for my personal fulfillment.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 That's,
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 in its ultimate form,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 is expressive individualism.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 Positive liberty
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 means freedom
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 to do,
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 not freedom from,
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 it's freedom to do.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 It's the freedom
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 to make choices,
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 to make the right choices
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 for,
00:22:59 --> 00:23:01 not just myself,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 but for a common good,
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 for the advancement of others.
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 Because as others advance,
00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 so do I.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 Negative freedom
00:23:13 --> 00:23:19 basically rules out
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 personal relationships
00:23:21 --> 00:23:24 as central to my flourishing.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 Positive freedom
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 says personal relationships
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 are essential to my flourishing.
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 That's the difference.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 And so therefore,
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 for any sort of liberty,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 what Isaiah says here
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 is that you need
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 to take on certain constraints
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 in order to be truly free.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46 For example,
00:23:47 --> 00:23:49 I'm a diabetic.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 I've got this
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 insulin pump
00:23:52 --> 00:23:52 attached to me
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 all the time.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 It's not a pager.
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 Those things are gone.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 And sometimes I tell kids
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 it's my battery charger
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 to keep my heart going.
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 But, you know,
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 that just confuses them.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 I'm a diabetic.
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08 What if I chose
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 to exercise my freedom
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 by accepting no constraints
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 on my diet whatsoever?
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 No, you know,
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 like expressive individualism.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 I'm going to eat
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 whatever I want.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 I'm going to, you know,
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 chocolate cake
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 and Tim Tams
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 and rice.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 Rice is evil, by the way.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 Rice and burgers
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 and Coke.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:28 You know,
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 I can do whatever I want.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 I'm free.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 However,
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 if I did that
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 as a diabetic,
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 it won't be long
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 before my body
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 will put constraints
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 on me.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 I might not be free
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 to eat.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 Sorry,
00:24:45 --> 00:24:45 I might be free
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 to eat whatever I want
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 but I won't be free
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 to see for very long.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 I won't be free
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 to run.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:52 I won't be free
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 to walk.
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 I won't be free
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 to have both limbs
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 or fingers
00:24:56 --> 00:24:56 or toes.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 I won't be free
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 to live
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 before much longer.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:02 Also,
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 think about,
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 forget about that.
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 What if
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 you've got
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 two passions
00:25:09 --> 00:25:09 in life
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 and you want
00:25:11 --> 00:25:11 to be free
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 to pursue
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 both passions
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 and what if
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 those passions
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 contradict one another?
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 What if
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 I want to eat
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 those foods
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 on one hand
00:25:24 --> 00:25:26 but on the other hand
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 another passion
00:25:27 --> 00:25:27 is,
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 one of my great passions
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 in life
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 might be chocolate cake
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 but what if
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 the other passion
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 in my life
00:25:33 --> 00:25:33 is to run
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 half marathons?
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 What if
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 I want both
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 of those things?
00:25:39 --> 00:25:39 They are both
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 deeply embedded values.
00:25:42 --> 00:25:43 The only option
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43 for me
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 is to constrain
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 one freedom
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 in order to pursue
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 the other freedom.
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 I can't have both.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 You see,
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 true freedom
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 is not the absence
00:25:56 --> 00:25:56 of constraints
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 in life,
00:25:57 --> 00:25:59 it is choosing
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 the liberating
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 constraints
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 in life.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 It's the strategic
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 loss
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 of some constraints,
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 sorry,
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 of some freedoms
00:26:10 --> 00:26:12 in order to gain
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 the more
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 liberating
00:26:14 --> 00:26:16 freedoms.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 The constraint
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 of relational
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 fatality
00:26:21 --> 00:26:22 grows
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 into the freedom
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 of intimacy
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 and companionship
00:26:26 --> 00:26:26 and love.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30 but
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 how do we
00:26:32 --> 00:26:32 make those
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 right choices?
00:26:34 --> 00:26:35 And that's
00:26:35 --> 00:26:35 the point
00:26:35 --> 00:26:37 Jesus is making
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 here in John 8
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 because what he's
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 saying here is
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 there is a barrier.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:42 There's a barrier
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 to us making
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 those right choices
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 about what
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 are the things
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 that I should
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 pursue
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 that will
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 result in
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 greater and
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 greater freedom.
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 amazing
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 what Jesus
00:26:56 --> 00:26:56 says here
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 is again
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 the exact
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 opposite
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 of our
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 post-truth
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 world.
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 The barriers
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 that exist
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 for our liberty
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 are not
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 external barriers
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 although I
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 acknowledge that
00:27:10 --> 00:27:10 there are
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 external barriers
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 in our world
00:27:12 --> 00:27:12 that we ought
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 to be working
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 against for
00:27:14 --> 00:27:14 the liberty
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 of all people.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:18 but for all
00:27:18 --> 00:27:18 people
00:27:18 --> 00:27:19 the external
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 barriers are not
00:27:20 --> 00:27:20 laws,
00:27:21 --> 00:27:21 institutions
00:27:21 --> 00:27:23 or exclusive
00:27:23 --> 00:27:23 claims to
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 truth
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 it's an
00:27:25 --> 00:27:25 internal
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 barrier.
00:27:27 --> 00:27:27 There's an
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 internal
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 barrier
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 that gets
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 in the way
00:27:31 --> 00:27:31 of our
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 freedom
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 and we
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 don't know
00:27:35 --> 00:27:35 it.
00:27:35 --> 00:27:39 in verses
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 33 and
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 34
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 the people
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 Jesus
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 speaking to
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 push back
00:27:43 --> 00:27:43 on him
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 suggesting
00:27:44 --> 00:27:44 that they're
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 not free
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 and they
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 say we
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 have
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 a
00:27:47 --> 00:27:47 hand
00:27:47 --> 00:27:47 of
00:27:47 --> 00:27:47 standards
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 and we
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 have
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 been
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 slaves
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 to
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 anyone
00:27:49 --> 00:27:49 how can
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 you say
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 that we
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 shall be
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 free
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 Jesus
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 replied
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 truly I
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 tell you
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 everyone
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 who sins
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 is a
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 slave to
00:27:58 --> 00:27:58 sin
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 so Jesus
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 says
00:28:01 --> 00:28:01 everyone's
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 biggest
00:28:02 --> 00:28:02 problem
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 is that
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 we are
00:28:04 --> 00:28:04 slaves
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 that's
00:28:05 --> 00:28:05 why he
00:28:05 --> 00:28:05 uses the
00:28:05 --> 00:28:05 word
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 everyone
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 they say
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 here we
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 are
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 Abraham's
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 descendants
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 we have
00:28:11 --> 00:28:11 not been
00:28:11 --> 00:28:11 slaves of
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 anyone
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 now these
00:28:13 --> 00:28:13 are Jewish
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 people that
00:28:14 --> 00:28:14 he's speaking
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 to here
00:28:15 --> 00:28:15 right
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 and they
00:28:17 --> 00:28:17 knew
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 that he
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 wasn't
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 talking
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 about
00:28:21 --> 00:28:21 external
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 constraints
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 they knew
00:28:23 --> 00:28:23 Jesus wasn't
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 talking about
00:28:24 --> 00:28:24 external
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 constraints
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 they knew
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 that he
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 was talking
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 about
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 inner
00:28:29 --> 00:28:29 freedom
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 the reason
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 they knew
00:28:32 --> 00:28:32 that
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 is because
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 you just
00:28:35 --> 00:28:35 look around
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 you got
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 the
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 occupying
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 Romans
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 right
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 there
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 they're
00:28:38 --> 00:28:38 all
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 there
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 what
00:28:42 --> 00:28:42 they
00:28:42 --> 00:28:42 were
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 blamed
00:28:43 --> 00:28:43 to
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 is an
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 inner
00:28:45 --> 00:28:45 slavery
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 an
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 inner
00:28:47 --> 00:28:47 slavery
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 to
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48 wrong
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 decisions
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 wrong
00:28:51 --> 00:28:51 choices
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 you see
00:28:53 --> 00:28:53 these people
00:28:53 --> 00:28:53 thought they
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 were right
00:28:54 --> 00:28:54 with God
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 and that
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 they were
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 in fact
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 true to
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 themselves
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 but inwardly
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 they were
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 slaves to
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 sin
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 that's why
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 Jesus
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 includes
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 us
00:29:02 --> 00:29:02 in verse
00:29:02 --> 00:29:03 34
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 with the
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 words
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 everyone
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 he's
00:29:06 --> 00:29:06 saying
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 what
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 Jesus
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 is
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 saying
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 is
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 that
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 sin
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 is a
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 power
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 in our
00:29:10 --> 00:29:10 hearts
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 and over
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 our lives
00:29:13 --> 00:29:13 that
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 makes
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 us
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 that
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 results
00:29:17 --> 00:29:17 in us
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 doing
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 bad
00:29:19 --> 00:29:19 making
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 bad
00:29:20 --> 00:29:20 choices
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 and doing
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 bad
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 things
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 sin
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 sets
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 us
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 up
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 against
00:29:24 --> 00:29:24 not
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 just
00:29:25 --> 00:29:25 God
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 but
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 also
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 against
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 other
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 people
00:29:28 --> 00:29:28 every
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 person
00:29:29 --> 00:29:29 is
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 enslaved
00:29:30 --> 00:29:30 to
00:29:30 --> 00:29:30 sin
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 but
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 every
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 person
00:29:33 --> 00:29:33 is
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 blinded
00:29:34 --> 00:29:34 to
00:29:34 --> 00:29:34 the
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 deepest
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 reality
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 of
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 that
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 sin
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 in
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 our
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 life
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 our
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 deepest
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 deepest
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 deepest
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 desire
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 in the
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 heart
00:29:44 --> 00:29:44 is what
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 Martin
00:29:45 --> 00:29:45 Luther
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 called
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 I
00:29:48 --> 00:29:48 just
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 couldn't
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 remember
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 the
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 Latin
00:29:50 --> 00:29:50 phrase
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 it would
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 just
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 sound
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 impressive
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 I
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 could
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 remember
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 it
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 but
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 anyway
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 it's
00:29:54 --> 00:29:54 curved
00:29:54 --> 00:29:54 in
00:29:54 --> 00:29:54 on
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 itself
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 that's
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 the
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 English
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 version
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 of
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 it
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 curved
00:29:58 --> 00:30:00 in
00:30:00 --> 00:30:00 on
00:30:00 --> 00:30:00 itself
00:30:00 --> 00:30:00 every
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 single
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 human
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 sin
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 means
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 expressive
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 individualism
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 is at
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 the deepest
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 sense
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 of my
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 life
00:30:07 --> 00:30:10 and
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 most
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 part
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 we go
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 about
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 our
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 daily
00:30:13 --> 00:30:13 lives
00:30:13 --> 00:30:13 thinking
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 that we
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 are
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 free
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 but
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 we
00:30:15 --> 00:30:15 are
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 not
00:30:16 --> 00:30:16 we're
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 enslaved
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 to
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 ourselves
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 enslaved
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 to
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 sin
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 and
00:30:22 --> 00:30:22 the
00:30:22 --> 00:30:22 Bible
00:30:22 --> 00:30:22 tells
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 us
00:30:23 --> 00:30:23 that
00:30:23 --> 00:30:23 the
00:30:23 --> 00:30:23 wages
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 of
00:30:24 --> 00:30:24 sin
00:30:24 --> 00:30:24 is
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 death
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 and
00:30:25 --> 00:30:25 unless
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 that
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 wage
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 is
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 paid
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 we
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 are
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 not
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 free
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 in
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 the
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 same
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 way
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 you
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 might
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 have
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 the
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 freedom
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 of
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 opening
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 up
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 the
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 own
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 door
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 to
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 your
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 home
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 but
00:30:34 --> 00:30:34 until
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 it
00:30:35 --> 00:30:35 is
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 entirely
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 yours
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 you're
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 enslaved
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 to
00:30:37 --> 00:30:37 the
00:30:37 --> 00:30:38 mortgage
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 even
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 though
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 you
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 feel
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 free
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 in
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 your
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 own
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 home
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 that
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 freedom
00:30:43 --> 00:30:43 happens
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 until
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 the
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 bank
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 comes
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 in
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 and
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 takes
00:30:48 --> 00:30:48 over
00:30:48 --> 00:30:48 the
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 mortgage
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 in
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 other
00:30:51 --> 00:30:51 words
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 all of
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 us
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 have
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 got
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 a
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 debt
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 and
00:30:53 --> 00:30:53 we're
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 enslaved
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 to
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 that
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 debt
00:30:54 --> 00:30:57 now
00:30:57 --> 00:30:57 Jesus
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 doesn't
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 unpack
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 here
00:30:59 --> 00:30:59 what
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 sin
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 is
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 but
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 the
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 rest
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 of
00:31:00 --> 00:31:00 the
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 Bible
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 does
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 sin
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 is
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 resisting
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 our
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 creator
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 deep
00:31:05 --> 00:31:05 inside
00:31:05 --> 00:31:05 the
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 human
00:31:06 --> 00:31:06 heart
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 is
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 an
00:31:07 --> 00:31:07 impulse
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 that
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 resists
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 anyone
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 telling
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 us
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 how to
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 live
00:31:12 --> 00:31:12 our
00:31:12 --> 00:31:12 lives
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 and
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 the
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 ultimate
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 trigger
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 for
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 that
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 impulse
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 is
00:31:16 --> 00:31:16 God
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 himself
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 Romans
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 1
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 puts
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 us
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 put
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 our
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 resisting
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 in
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 these
00:31:21 --> 00:31:21 terms
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 and
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 it's
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 in
00:31:22 --> 00:31:22 the
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 terms
00:31:23 --> 00:31:23 of
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 rejecting
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 truth
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 the
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 wrath
00:31:27 --> 00:31:27 of
00:31:27 --> 00:31:27 God
00:31:27 --> 00:31:27 is
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 being
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 revealed
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 from
00:31:28 --> 00:31:28 heaven
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 against
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 all
00:31:29 --> 00:31:29 the
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 godliness
00:31:30 --> 00:31:30 and
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 wickedness
00:31:31 --> 00:31:31 of
00:31:31 --> 00:31:31 people
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 who
00:31:32 --> 00:31:32 suppress
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 the
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 truth
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 by
00:31:35 --> 00:31:35 their
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 wickedness
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 since
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 what
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 may be
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 known
00:31:38 --> 00:31:38 about
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 God
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 is
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 plain
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 to
00:31:39 --> 00:31:39 them
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 because
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 God
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 has
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 made
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 it
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 plain
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 to
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 them
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 for
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 since
00:31:41 --> 00:31:41 the
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 creation
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 of
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 world
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 God's
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 invisible
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 qualities
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 his
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 eternal
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 !
00:31:48 --> 00:31:59 And so
00:31:59 --> 00:31:59 the
00:31:59 --> 00:31:59 question
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 that we
00:32:00 --> 00:32:00 are left
00:32:00 --> 00:32:00 with
00:32:00 --> 00:32:00 here
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 if
00:32:01 --> 00:32:01 that's
00:32:01 --> 00:32:01 the
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 problem
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 if
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 my
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 deepest
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 issue
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 is
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 sin
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 who
00:32:07 --> 00:32:07 is
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 going
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 to
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 set
00:32:08 --> 00:32:08 me
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 free?
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 Verses
00:32:12 --> 00:32:12 35
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 and 36
00:32:13 --> 00:32:13 in
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 John 8
00:32:14 --> 00:32:14 give us
00:32:14 --> 00:32:14 the
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 source
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 of
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 true
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 freedom
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 now
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 a
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 slave
00:32:17 --> 00:32:17 has
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 no
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 permanent
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 place
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 in
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 the
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 family
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 but
00:32:20 --> 00:32:20 a
00:32:20 --> 00:32:21 son
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 belongs
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 to
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 it
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 forever
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 so
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 if
00:32:24 --> 00:32:24 the
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25 son
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 sets
00:32:26 --> 00:32:26 you
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 free
00:32:27 --> 00:32:27 you'll
00:32:27 --> 00:32:27 be
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 free
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 indeed
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 the
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 image
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 here
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 that
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 Jesus
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 uses
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 is
00:32:32 --> 00:32:32 that
00:32:32 --> 00:32:32 a
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 servant
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 might
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 get
00:32:34 --> 00:32:35 to
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 imagine
00:32:36 --> 00:32:36 a
00:32:36 --> 00:32:36 servant
00:32:36 --> 00:32:37 in a
00:32:37 --> 00:32:37 rich
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 family
00:32:38 --> 00:32:39 they're
00:32:39 --> 00:32:39 the
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 butler
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 or
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 something
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 like
00:32:41 --> 00:32:41 that
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 they
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 might
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 get
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 to
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 live
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 in
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 the
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 mansion
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 they
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 might
00:32:44 --> 00:32:44 get
00:32:44 --> 00:32:44 their
00:32:44 --> 00:32:44 little
00:32:44 --> 00:32:44 section
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 in
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 the
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 mansion
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 they
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 might
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 in
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 fact
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 get
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 to
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 drive
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 around
00:32:47 --> 00:32:47 in
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 the
00:32:48 --> 00:32:48 family's
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 limousine
00:32:49 --> 00:32:49 they
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 might
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 even
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 get
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 to
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 accompany
00:32:51 --> 00:32:51 them
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 on
00:32:52 --> 00:32:52 overseas
00:32:52 --> 00:32:53 trips
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 in
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 the
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 private
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 jet
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 they
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 might
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 even
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 have
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 a
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 great
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 relationship
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 with
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 them
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 over
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 many
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 many
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 years
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00 but
00:33:00 --> 00:33:00 their
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 relationship
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 is a
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 relationship
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 with
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 the
00:33:05 --> 00:33:05 boss
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 purely
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 that
00:33:07 --> 00:33:07 it's
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 based
00:33:08 --> 00:33:08 on
00:33:08 --> 00:33:08 good
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 works
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 it's
00:33:10 --> 00:33:10 based
00:33:10 --> 00:33:10 on
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 the
00:33:11 --> 00:33:11 fact
00:33:11 --> 00:33:11 that
00:33:11 --> 00:33:11 they
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 perform
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 if
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 you
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 do
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 your
00:33:14 --> 00:33:14 job
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 you
00:33:15 --> 00:33:15 obey
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 the
00:33:16 --> 00:33:16 rules
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 you
00:33:17 --> 00:33:17 could
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 exist
00:33:18 --> 00:33:18 in
00:33:18 --> 00:33:18 that
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 environment
00:33:19 --> 00:33:19 and have
00:33:19 --> 00:33:19 all the
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 the
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 benefits
00:33:21 --> 00:33:21 of that
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 environment
00:33:22 --> 00:33:23 and if
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 you
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 don't
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 you're
00:33:25 --> 00:33:25 out
00:33:25 --> 00:33:27 you
00:33:27 --> 00:33:27 don't
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 get
00:33:28 --> 00:33:28 to do
00:33:28 --> 00:33:28 the
00:33:28 --> 00:33:28 private jet
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 limousine
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29 in the
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 mansion
00:33:30 --> 00:33:30 anymore
00:33:30 --> 00:33:33 but
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 Jesus
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34 says
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34 it's
00:33:34 --> 00:33:35 an
00:33:35 --> 00:33:35 entirely
00:33:35 --> 00:33:36 different
00:33:36 --> 00:33:36 relationship
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 with the
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 children
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 of the
00:33:38 --> 00:33:39 owner
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 one
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 relationship
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 is based
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 on
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 good
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 works
00:33:43 --> 00:33:43 the
00:33:43 --> 00:33:43 other
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 relationship
00:33:44 --> 00:33:45 is based
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 on
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 unconditional
00:33:46 --> 00:33:46 love
00:33:46 --> 00:33:49 the
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 son
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 the
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 daughter
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 of a
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 wealthy
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 person
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 may
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 disappoint
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 their
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 parents
00:33:54 --> 00:33:56 but
00:33:56 --> 00:33:56 they're
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 not
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 always
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 kicked
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 out
00:33:57 --> 00:34:02 only
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 unconditional
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 love
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06 sets us
00:34:06 --> 00:34:06 free
00:34:06 --> 00:34:08 the
00:34:08 --> 00:34:08 only
00:34:08 --> 00:34:08 way
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 that
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 sin
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 in
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 our
00:34:09 --> 00:34:10 life
00:34:10 --> 00:34:10 will
00:34:10 --> 00:34:10 be
00:34:10 --> 00:34:10 dealt
00:34:10 --> 00:34:10 with
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 is
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 if
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 Jesus
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 the
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 son
00:34:13 --> 00:34:13 is
00:34:13 --> 00:34:13 the
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 one
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 who
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 sets
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 us
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 free
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 the
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 only
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 one
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 who
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 can
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 change
00:34:17 --> 00:34:17 us
00:34:17 --> 00:34:17 from
00:34:17 --> 00:34:17 being
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 slaves
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 to
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 sin
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 to
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 children
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 of
00:34:20 --> 00:34:21 God
00:34:21 --> 00:34:21 is
00:34:21 --> 00:34:21 Jesus
00:34:21 --> 00:34:24 that's
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 what
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 John
00:34:25 --> 00:34:25 looked
00:34:25 --> 00:34:25 at
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 last
00:34:26 --> 00:34:26 week
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 in
00:34:27 --> 00:34:27 that
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 he
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 is
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 the
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 way
00:34:28 --> 00:34:30 sorry
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 Nick
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 looked
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 at
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 last
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 week
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 he
00:34:32 --> 00:34:32 is
00:34:32 --> 00:34:32 the
00:34:32 --> 00:34:32 way
00:34:32 --> 00:34:33 they're
00:34:33 --> 00:34:33 just
00:34:33 --> 00:34:33 your
00:34:33 --> 00:34:34 twins
00:34:34 --> 00:34:34 !
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 Can we
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 see how
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 Jesus
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 does
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 that
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 right
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 at the
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 very
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 end
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 of
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42 John
00:34:42 --> 00:34:42 8
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 58
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 very
00:34:44 --> 00:34:44 truly
00:34:44 --> 00:34:44 I
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 tell
00:34:45 --> 00:34:45 you
00:34:45 --> 00:34:45 Jesus
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 answered
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 before
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 Abraham
00:34:47 --> 00:34:47 was
00:34:47 --> 00:34:48 born
00:34:48 --> 00:34:49 I
00:34:49 --> 00:34:49 am
00:34:49 --> 00:34:51 this
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 is
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 this
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 is
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 where
00:34:51 --> 00:34:51 we
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 get
00:34:52 --> 00:34:52 a
00:34:52 --> 00:34:52 glimpse
00:34:52 --> 00:34:52 of
00:34:52 --> 00:34:52 how
00:34:52 --> 00:34:52 he
00:34:52 --> 00:34:53 does
00:34:53 --> 00:34:53 it
00:34:53 --> 00:34:53 how
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 he
00:34:54 --> 00:34:54 sets
00:34:54 --> 00:34:54 us
00:34:54 --> 00:34:54 free
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 now
00:34:55 --> 00:34:55 the
00:34:55 --> 00:34:55 way
00:34:55 --> 00:34:56 you
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 might
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 expect
00:34:56 --> 00:34:56 Jesus
00:34:56 --> 00:34:57 to
00:34:57 --> 00:34:57 say
00:34:57 --> 00:34:57 that
00:34:57 --> 00:34:57 is
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 something
00:34:58 --> 00:34:58 like
00:34:58 --> 00:34:58 before
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 Abraham
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 was
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 born
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 I
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 was
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 but
00:35:01 --> 00:35:01 he
00:35:01 --> 00:35:01 says
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 before
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 Abraham
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 born
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 I
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 am
00:35:03 --> 00:35:03 he
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 uses
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 the
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 word
00:35:04 --> 00:35:04 I
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 am
00:35:05 --> 00:35:05 very
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 specifically
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 because
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 it
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 is
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 the
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 personal
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 declaration
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 from
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 the
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 Old
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 Testament
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 in
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 Exodus
00:35:11 --> 00:35:12 3
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 when
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 God
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 reveals
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 himself
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 to
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 Moses
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 and
00:35:19 --> 00:35:23 is claiming to be the truth.
00:35:23 --> 00:35:26 He's claiming to be God himself.
00:35:26 --> 00:35:29 And so the people around him immediately pick up stones
00:35:29 --> 00:35:33 in order to stone Jesus' death for blasphemy.
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 Outrageous claim.
00:35:35 --> 00:35:39 Jesus claims to be the all-powerful, all-present, unrestricted,
00:35:39 --> 00:35:42 totally free God, the ultimate reality,
00:35:42 --> 00:35:45 the revelation of God himself right here.
00:35:45 --> 00:35:49 And so they pick up stones to kill him for blasphemy.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:56 And in that moment, we get a foreshadowing of how it is
00:35:56 --> 00:36:00 that Jesus actually sets us free from our sin.
00:36:03 --> 00:36:08 They will kill him, but it will be Jesus' plan
00:36:08 --> 00:36:12 in order to make us children of God, to set us free from sin.
00:36:12 --> 00:36:15 You see, Jesus Christ, God the Son,
00:36:16 --> 00:36:19 gives up his ultimate and infinite freedom
00:36:19 --> 00:36:23 as ultimate reality, comes into his creation,
00:36:23 --> 00:36:27 takes on all the constraints of being in a human body,
00:36:27 --> 00:36:29 being born of a woman.
00:36:30 --> 00:36:33 He descends further still in humility
00:36:33 --> 00:36:36 by eventually surrendering himself to a Roman cross.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:40 He gave power to those Romans in the first place.
00:36:40 --> 00:36:45 His liberty is taken away by nails through his wrists
00:36:45 --> 00:36:49 and in his feet, nailed to a cross.
00:36:50 --> 00:36:55 And then the author of life itself surrenders himself to death
00:36:55 --> 00:36:59 and faces the constraints of a tomb
00:36:59 --> 00:37:07 so that we, the slaves deserving of death,
00:37:08 --> 00:37:10 could have the freedom of being children of God forever.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:15 He was bound to a cross and death
00:37:15 --> 00:37:18 so that we could be free and live.
00:37:18 --> 00:37:23 As he died for us, he was plunged into the unimaginable darkness
00:37:23 --> 00:37:30 of sin and despair and rejection and loneliness
00:37:30 --> 00:37:36 so that we could see he is the light of life
00:37:36 --> 00:37:41 and in seeing, have life and have freedom and have acceptance.
00:37:41 --> 00:37:44 From the manger to the cross,
00:37:45 --> 00:37:48 Jesus Christ gives up his freedom consistently
00:37:48 --> 00:37:51 to set us free
00:37:51 --> 00:37:57 from the freedom that we cannot get,
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 set us free from ourselves,
00:37:59 --> 00:38:02 the deep slavery in the human heart of sin,
00:38:05 --> 00:38:08 the slavery because we have rejected the one true God
00:38:08 --> 00:38:11 and choose to live life our way.
00:38:11 --> 00:38:16 And we see, once we see what he has done for us,
00:38:17 --> 00:38:22 it transforms us from being slaves to a child of God.
00:38:23 --> 00:38:26 Jesus is truth that causes the blind to see,
00:38:26 --> 00:38:29 for darkness to be extinguished, death to be defeated,
00:38:29 --> 00:38:32 eternal life granted and freedom experienced.
00:38:33 --> 00:38:37 It is remarkable, earlier Ash on the screen
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 told us about Joni Erickson.
00:38:38 --> 00:38:44 Joni says now, having been a quadriplegic
00:38:44 --> 00:38:49 for virtually seven decades, I think,
00:38:50 --> 00:38:55 says she would again, willingly,
00:38:56 --> 00:38:59 live again another entire life
00:38:59 --> 00:39:03 constrained to a wheelchair with Jesus
00:39:03 --> 00:39:07 rather than having the full function of her legs
00:39:07 --> 00:39:09 and her arms without him.
00:39:09 --> 00:39:12 She feels freer in a wheelchair with Jesus
00:39:12 --> 00:39:15 than life without him
00:39:15 --> 00:39:21 because of the freedom and the peace inside.
00:39:21 --> 00:39:27 So let me just really quickly wrap up how we embrace.
00:39:28 --> 00:39:30 Verse 31, Jesus says,
00:39:30 --> 00:39:34 his true followers are those who hold to his teaching.
00:39:34 --> 00:39:35 The word hold there, as I mentioned,
00:39:36 --> 00:39:38 means to abide in, to align your life with.
00:39:39 --> 00:39:41 In other words, freedom comes
00:39:41 --> 00:39:45 by the constraints of obedience,
00:39:45 --> 00:39:49 living by Jesus, his teaching.
00:39:50 --> 00:39:52 It means accepting God's word
00:39:52 --> 00:39:55 and all that it reveals as supremely true for you in life.
00:39:56 --> 00:39:58 It has the final authority for you in life.
00:39:59 --> 00:40:02 And to take that truth into your life
00:40:02 --> 00:40:05 and live into how God has designed you.
00:40:05 --> 00:40:08 So even if it conflicts with your worldview,
00:40:09 --> 00:40:11 at several points,
00:40:11 --> 00:40:14 what we see is that Jesus, as the truth,
00:40:14 --> 00:40:16 confirms the historic Christian scriptures,
00:40:16 --> 00:40:19 the Bible as God revealing reality.
00:40:20 --> 00:40:22 He confirms the Bible as true,
00:40:23 --> 00:40:25 as reflecting ultimate reality,
00:40:27 --> 00:40:29 the revealing the way things actually are.
00:40:30 --> 00:40:33 And therefore the Bible is authoritative
00:40:33 --> 00:40:35 over all of life for all people
00:40:35 --> 00:40:36 and all times.
00:40:36 --> 00:40:39 And it's also by his Holy Spirit,
00:40:39 --> 00:40:41 as John tells us a little bit later
00:40:41 --> 00:40:42 in his biography,
00:40:43 --> 00:40:44 by his Holy Spirit,
00:40:44 --> 00:40:46 we are led into truth.
00:40:47 --> 00:40:48 It's where we meet God.
00:40:48 --> 00:40:49 It's where we meet him personally.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:51 It's where we engage with God.
00:40:52 --> 00:40:53 It is not a dead letter book.
00:40:54 --> 00:40:54 I mean, it's so intimate.
00:40:55 --> 00:40:57 2 Timothy 3 talks about like this,
00:40:57 --> 00:41:00 all scripture is God breathed.
00:41:00 --> 00:41:02 God's speaking to us.
00:41:02 --> 00:41:04 And he's useful for teaching,
00:41:04 --> 00:41:04 correcting,
00:41:04 --> 00:41:05 rebuking,
00:41:05 --> 00:41:06 training in righteousness.
00:41:06 --> 00:41:07 In other words,
00:41:07 --> 00:41:08 shaping our lives,
00:41:09 --> 00:41:10 conforming it to Jesus.
00:41:11 --> 00:41:12 In the Bible,
00:41:13 --> 00:41:15 God gives us knowledge of himself,
00:41:15 --> 00:41:15 his will,
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 his work in his world,
00:41:17 --> 00:41:17 wisdom,
00:41:17 --> 00:41:17 meaning,
00:41:17 --> 00:41:18 purpose,
00:41:18 --> 00:41:21 to navigate all the complexities of life.
00:41:21 --> 00:41:27 His word is a liberating constraint.
00:41:29 --> 00:41:31 And when we hold to it
00:41:31 --> 00:41:33 and align our lives to it repeatedly
00:41:33 --> 00:41:35 to do what it says,
00:41:35 --> 00:41:39 we will increasingly grow in freedom.
00:41:41 --> 00:41:41 Freer,
00:41:42 --> 00:41:44 like a Johnny Anderson.
00:41:45 --> 00:41:46 Free from sin,
00:41:47 --> 00:41:47 free from guilt,
00:41:48 --> 00:41:48 free from shame,
00:41:48 --> 00:41:50 free from condemnation,
00:41:50 --> 00:41:52 free from enslaving emotions and desires,
00:41:53 --> 00:41:54 free from what people think of us,
00:41:55 --> 00:41:57 free from needing to prove ourselves,
00:41:57 --> 00:41:58 free from fear,
00:41:58 --> 00:41:59 free from loneliness,
00:42:00 --> 00:42:01 free from the fear of failure,
00:42:01 --> 00:42:03 free from the fear of sickness,
00:42:03 --> 00:42:04 from the fear of insecurity,
00:42:05 --> 00:42:08 free from vulnerability,
00:42:08 --> 00:42:11 and free from the commitment to other people,
00:42:11 --> 00:42:14 free from the fear of death itself,
00:42:14 --> 00:42:17 and free to love,
00:42:18 --> 00:42:19 to sacrifice,
00:42:20 --> 00:42:21 to be generous,
00:42:22 --> 00:42:24 to celebrate the other people's wins,
00:42:24 --> 00:42:25 free to serve others,
00:42:25 --> 00:42:30 free to live within our design,
00:42:31 --> 00:42:33 free to forgive,
00:42:33 --> 00:42:36 and therefore set free to flourish.
00:42:38 --> 00:42:39 When Jesus sets us free,
00:42:40 --> 00:42:41 we are free indeed.
00:42:42 --> 00:42:44 But to grow into that freedom
00:42:44 --> 00:42:47 will mean constraints.
00:42:49 --> 00:42:50 It might mean, for instance,
00:42:50 --> 00:42:51 constraining your,
00:42:52 --> 00:42:54 picking up your Bible
00:42:54 --> 00:42:55 before you pick up your phone
00:42:55 --> 00:42:57 in the morning, for instance.
00:42:58 --> 00:43:00 Constraints on your time.
00:43:00 --> 00:43:02 It will result in things like that.
00:43:03 --> 00:43:04 Constraining on,
00:43:04 --> 00:43:06 fighting back fire with fire.
00:43:06 --> 00:43:07 There are all sorts of things.
00:43:07 --> 00:43:09 It will put constraints on you.
00:43:10 --> 00:43:12 But what you'll discover over time
00:43:12 --> 00:43:14 is that when the Son sets you free,
00:43:14 --> 00:43:16 you will be free indeed.