Possessions of Christ

Ephesians 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

It is of great value, in our society, to possess. To possess something of great worth and value – the bigger and more expensive, the better, it seems. But turn the tables and have us being possessed by someone or something else, and suddenly we come to a screeching halt. We will be possessed by no one! We are free, free to go and do as we please! To have someone possess us is to have someone who dictates our every move, and that’s not freedom.

Yet, God’s Word tells us that we are His possessions. Each and every one of us belongs to God – we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have been marked as His! The Word also tells us that Christ came that we would be free. They don’t quite seem to go together do they? I think the problem lies in our definition of "freedom." So often we see freedom as the ability to do whatever we want, especially as Americans. We have been so ingrained with our rights, our freedoms – freedom of speech, to say whatever we want; freedom of religion, to worship however/whomever we want; etc. However, that is not freedom, at least, not as God sees it.

Christ came to offer us not freedom to do something, but freedom from something. He offers us freedom from all of the bondage and junk that weighs us down in life. Freedom from addiction, from vanity, from greed, from guilt, from worry and fear, from hatred and anger – freedom from life’s blackness, to live under Him.

The flip side, of course, is that we belong to Him, and as His possessions, He has the right to tell us what to do and what not to do, where to go and where not to go. Here is where so many people get so offended and begin to back away, saying "I didn’t sign up for this! I just wanted to go to heaven!" But what we so often fail to realize is that God isn’t trying to be a spoil-sport. It’s not like He’s this big, mean parent in the sky Who’s just trying to ruin all our fun. On the contrary – He has set up these rules and guidelines, because He can see the big picture. He understands that when we begin to live outside His guidelines, we will become ensnared and trapped, chained to the very things Christ’s blood set us free from. He knows that they lead down a road of destruction, and He knows that the only way to truly live free is to live in Him.

Now, you might think, "How is my deciding what I’m going to wear today, or eat today, or whatever, going to affect my freedom in Christ?" Honestly, I think it comes down to simply listening to Him. We must train our ears to hear His voice, and learn the discipline of doing what He says. If we stop listening and obeying in the little things, then we will stop listening on bigger things, and even bigger things, until we are walking so far from Him we don’t know which way to turn. We must look to Him in all things, big or small, and let Him rule in our lives completely – that is the key to true freedom, and true peace.