Obtaining Freedom: Part 3 Walking in Our Roles

After my last post I still had a few thoughts burning inside of me. I was a little afraid that people would misunderstand what I was saying and think I was saying we just have to sit down and cross our legs and sip coke as life passes by. So hopeful, what I have to say today will help bring a little more clarity to what I am saying.

Just to review our goal is to walk in the complete freedom that Jesus purchased for us when He died on the cross. Part 1 was understanding that Jesus wants us to be released from walking under shame and guilt. Part 2 was relinquishing the control of our lives to the one who truly is in control. Today, I want to write about walking in the roles that God has prepared for us.

The first question I think we need to ask is what did God create us for? I think understanding the answers to this question will help us to walk in our roles. Before I give my "answers" to this question let me preface it by saying this is just my opinion. I understand that God's ways are way above ours and that His reasons for creating us go beyond our comprehension. However, I think with our finite minds we can comprehend some of the reasons why He created us. I have come up with 3 reasons for why God created us:

1. For fellowship with Him. In Genesis 3 we hear God coming to walk in the garden to walk with Adam and Eve. It appears that one of the reasons God created man was to have fellowship with Him. As I have stated in previous posts we can look throughout the Bible and see individuals who had the ability to walk with God in a very real way and I believe that is something God still wants to do with us today.
2. For fellowship with others. Genesis 2:18 says "The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Even though God was present and had a relationship with Adam, God felt the need for Adam to have relationship with other human beings. Relationship with others is vital to our lives by the original design of God.
3. Enjoy and explore creation ~ i.e. work. Genesis 2:19-20 "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field." I think these are intriguing verses. God wanted to "see what man would name them." He created man to enjoy and explore His creation and as we still see today His creation was so indepth and amazing that we still have a minimal understanding of it all.

In order for us to walk in complete freedom today I think it is vital that we understand what was God's intentional design when He created us. Since the fall of man and the curse of the law we had been turned away from the original design. Jesus died to redeem us from the curse of the law and therefore He purchased for us the redemption of the original design of God.

So I wanted to pull out some more verses from the Bible and show what I view as a beautiful picture of walking in the freedom of God's original design. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus' plan for our lives is that it should not be burdensome. If we are walking with Him our burdens will be light. Isaiah 30:20b-21 " He is your teacher; he will not continue to hide from you, but you will see your teacher with your own eyes. If you go the wrong way—to the right or to the left—you will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the right way. You should go this way." Again God wants to guide us in our decisions that we make.

The original design still applies today: We were created for fellowship with others. We need it by God's design. We also were created to enjoy and explore this world and it will mostly happen today in the realm of our work. In order for us to fulfill these "roles of our original design" it is vital that we have the 3rd component in place: to walk with God. Again the hope is that when we understand our design and roles we can walk in freedom. I think at least for me this is important to help me balance my life. If we see that we were designed to participate in all three arenas we can be released from some of the guilt we have when we are participating in one arena and not another.

So keep your eyes open. Invite Jesus to direct your steps and then walk in the enjoyment of your relationship with others and in the work He has for you.