INTERDEPENDENCE
Kingdom Kids devotions authorize Jesus’ LORDship over our lives.
John 8:31-36: “To the Jews who believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold onto My teaching, then you are really my disciples.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
“They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say that we shall be set free?’
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
“Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Most confuse independence with freedom. God never intended people to be totally independent.
Interdependence [in-ter-de-PEN-dense] is different.
Interdependence feeds this circle: Believers-in-Christ enjoy lives of faith; we acknowledge that independence (from God) never works. Only the Father awards the gift of faith. No one holds a “freed from sin” card apart from faith in Jesus. No one gets saved who does not believe in Jesus’ death on the cross. No one stops sinning on his own. No one can believe in God apart from His Spirit’s leading.
Interdependence means that one needs the others in order to make the whole true.
Sinners—like you and me—are totally dependent on God for salvation. While ‘dependence on God sets us free’ sounds like an oxymoron, only dependence on Jesus truly destroys our bondage to sin. Through Baptism, Believers die to our sinful nature and rise out reborn as a new person.
Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Only Jesus cleanses people from unrighteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
AND, only belief in Jesus restores our relationship with the Father.
Dependence on Christ sets people free. We’re free from the penalty of death and are free to hope for eternal life with Him! All Christians are free because we believe in and are dependent on God’s Son Jesus, who set us free.
Believers are never truly independent. We choose to be dependent on the One who sets us free!
Take Home Nugget
Independence Day in the USA is celebrated tomorrow. This marks independence from another country’s rule. The Revolutionary War, from April 19, 1775-September 3, 1783 freed what was to become the United States of America from Great Britain.
Check out the lesson linked below for how Gentiles (non-Hebrews) find interdependence as God’s adopted kids.
Holy Father, we celebrate dependence on Your Son Jesus this day of our country’s independence. Amen.
Adapted from “Depending on Mercy” by Rev. Dr. Paul A, Philip. January 19, 2018. Portals of Prayer devotional magazine. Missouri.
J.D. Griffith
For a personal, private lesson experience with our staff
Latest Christmas eBook by J.D. Griffith:
Here’s another eBook by J.D. Griffith:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment