The gospel promises freedom from the fear of powerlessness and a lack of autonomy.
These two fears seemed to be behind Adam’s and Eve’s choice to rebel against God. Satan promised our first parents that they could become autonomous beings who were like God, knowing good and evil for themselves. They would no longer need to depend on God. They would be able to figure life out for themselves. Pride was behind this desire, but so was the fear that they were going to miss out on something really good if they kept obeying God. Pride wants us to be in control. It wants to be “good enough,” or even better than, maybe even the best there is. Pride wants to be self-sufficient and self-directed – autonomous. It fears losing these things. The opposite of autonomy is slavery, which is rooted in powerlessness. We generally fear and resent being unable to defend ourselves or make our own choices. This fear drives a lot of our choices and decisions in life.
The fear of losing our freedom inhibits some of us from responding positively to the gospel.
When presented with the gospel, many people say they are not yet ready because they still want to have fun. We are not ready to “give up” all the things that bring us pleasure because we are afraid God will take them away. We are afraid of losing our autonomy. We do not want to submit our wills to someone else, whose name is Jesus. This reveals that we believe we know what is best for us and that God is a “kill joy,” who wants to deprive us of what brings joy and fulfillment. Isn’t this exactly the same lie believed by Adam and Eve? Didn’t Satan tell them that God knew that eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil would bring them delight of which God wished to deprive them?
"God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. Genesis 3:5-6 (NLT)
The fruit they ate did open their eyes, but not the way they expected. Instead of making them “like God,” they became like Satan.
Autonomy proved to be a very bad road that took them off a cliff into the abyss of sin, death, and separation from God.
This is where the gospel comes to the rescue. The prophet Isaiah wrote centuries before our Lord Jesus was born.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
Jesus, the eternal Word of God who became a human being (John 1:14), demonstrated what it looked like to live as God originally intended.
So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 (NLT)
He was a new “Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45), the progenitor of a new race of humans through the new birth, who would be able to experience the freedom of living in subjection to God’s will and authority, rather than going the autonomous route.
God created us to be dependent beings who would experience the freedom of a shared life with him.
Jesus taught us that if we “lose our lives” in surrender to God, we will actually “find them” and experience what he called the “abundant life.”
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Luke 9:23-24 (NLT) The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)
It takes faith to believe that, if we surrender our lives to Jesus, we will actually preserve them. It takes faith to believe that God’s will for our lives will bring more fulfillment and joy than doing it “our way.”
The fundamental sin of mankind is rebellion against God’s rule. The gospel calls us to surrender to the King and in so doing find freedom and joy.
Repentance is the act of turning away from our self-directed autonomous lifestyle and trusting that serving the Lord will fulfill us and bring him glory. In fact, if we prioritize bringing glory to God, joy will will always follow. The two are inseparable.
We can properly respond to the gospel if we overcome the fear of the loss of autonomy. We can abandon the illusion of having power over our lives and submit to the one who is truly sovereign. When we embrace our weakness, then we will be strong.
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT)
The gospel is counterintuitive. Everything in us wants to cling to being in control and strong. The gospel reveals that all this is a deadly lie.
The only way to experience abundant life is by relinquishing control and embracing our need for God.
By faith we surrender to the one who loves us beyond comprehension, who only wants the best for us, who gives us abundant life, and who makes us strong in the power of his might.
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (NLT)
Prayer
Jesus, like Adam and Eve, I fell for the lie that I could be best served by living a self-directed life. Please forgive my rebellion against your rule. I now surrender my life to you, Jesus. You are my Lord. Thank you for dying for my sins and rising again as Lord and King. Come, Holy Spirit, fill me to overflowing. Live through me. Help me to devote the rest of my days to experiencing the shared life you promise. I am tired of going it alone. I need you every moment. Help me to tell others about this great invitation to true happiness and fulfillment called the gospel. Amen
