God - My Liberator

Psalm 45:1-2

Beautiful words stir my heart.

    I will recite a lovely poem about the king,

    for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet.

You are the most handsome of all.

    Gracious words stream from your lips.

What does work, being overloaded and overwhelmed by three M.Div classes, a book on preaching, three or four comments on Twitter, an early Saturday morning prayer walk in nature, a loving Father, a merciful Savior, and a living Spirit have to do with each other? A recipe for liberation!


Work is the one place where you can see yourself as you truly are if you look closely. The way you interact with others, what frustrates you, what you are seeking, all come out in words and actions. If used reflectively, it can show you what idols you are holding onto.


Overloaded and overwhelmed with school, and the thought of assignments, papers, tests, etc. can be a deep look into your soul. If you look close enough you can see what you are seeking, striving for. It can also show you your idols.

A book on preaching, taken from Keller and Clowney's class, Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World, that addresses preaching Christ, upholding his beauty and the way to preach to expose the idolatry that is in our hearts, that keeps us from the freedom that Christ has for us, is a great tool to actual expose you for what you are deep down.

Three or four comments on Twitter. They hit you like a brick, making you see your own covetousness, and show you what really lies behind that dark heart. It exposes you for who you really are, an idolater in bondage to others.

A Saturday morning prayer walk allows you to have all distractions gone. No Facebook, no Twitter, no electronics, no music, just you and God. There in a quiet place by a bubbling brook an open mind, open ears, and an open heart are ready for conviction.

A loving Father, a merciful Savior, and a living Spirit, God the Great Three in One came to meet me this morning. God, My Liberator, laid bear my heart right in front of me. He exposed my heart for what it was...a tangled mess held captive by idolatry. A desire for glory, an inherent pride, and a deep longing for beauty all amiss. All focused upon one person, me. Held captive by what others think, and what I am or am not.

As the Lord laid bear my heart, He also let me see the handsomeness of Christ, and hear the gracious words that stream from his lips. The beauty of the cross of Christ gripped me so deeply that my chains fell off and I was free! The sight of Christ, the Great Liberator, coming in His splendor, arrayed with clothes of white, scars in His hands and feet, and a countenance so gracious and wonderful, yet at the same time bloodied by my sins and hurt by my desire for things other than Him captured me. It caught me in my foolishness and drove me to repent and rest in Him.

I heard Him reading from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” and then say, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”(Luke 4:18-19, 21)


Christ came this morning and brought Good News to this poor man. He released me from my captivity and bondage to myself and others. He opened my eyes, and let me see His beauty and wonder. He set free this man who was oppressed by the world, flesh and Devil. He truly gave me His favor.


Freedom from the bondage to sin as a Christian when you are first saved is wonderful and liberating. Freedom from yourself and others after years of being held captive by these two tyrants is exhilarating, because it takes you back to that place of wonder and freedom of when you "first saw the light."


You see, Christ did not die to liberate us only from the slavery of our big sins before we were converted. Christ came to give us liberation for now and eternity.


The hymn by Charles Wesley best captures my thoughts on this matter.

Charles Wesley wrote this hymn (repeated lines omitted):

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.