34. Sent as Liberty

© Daniel Yordy – 2021

Defining Liberty
The larger side of liberty is a negative – thou shalt not take what belongs to another. But this negative then releases the most important single positive inside each individual person.

The negative that allows for liberty is the ten commandments, not as obligation, but as restraint. Nine of these commandments are summed up in one, thou shalt not steal, that is, do not take from another what belongs to them, whether life, property, or honor, and the tenth is, thou shalt not want to steal.

Liberty, then, is the freedom from all external obligation or restraint. Nonetheless, humans are social beings. Thus, liberty has no meaning to someone on an isolated island all by themselves, for no one is around them to impose or not to impose obligation or restraint. For this reason, defining liberty as “rugged individualism” has no meaning. Liberty is entirely a social proposition; it is found only inside a human society. It is something taking place in the interaction of people with each other.

Again, the “negative” of liberty is sometimes called the “non-aggression principle,” which means a condition of no violence towards anyone except for a measured self-defense. Nonetheless, if liberty were only this negative, then life would be a constant war against those who love to steal and control.

In and of themselves, the ten commandments, that is, the non-aggression principle, cannot work as human history so readily proves. Even in a world where no psychopaths might exist, there are always people who imagine themselves entitled to manipulate and control others, to “gain the upper hand,” or to benefit from a transaction at the forced expense of the other rather than in a mutually agreeable manner.

For this reason, inside a “free” society, something positive must be taking place, coming out from each to each. Only one word captures the positive of liberty, and that is the word “respect.”

The positive of liberty, then, is my extension of full respect to you. I regard you as better than myself and treat with your concerns as equal to my own. And the vital human quality that my respect for you releases and strengthens inside of you is self-respect. No human can be whole without possessing a full and unassailable sense of quiet self-respect.

Now, this quality of self-respect does not come from others, but rather, out from knowing from whence you come, out from God’s thoughts concerning you through the good-speaking of Jesus. Nonetheless, we are created as symmorphic beings and as social beings. And so, even though I respect myself because of the Source out from Whom I come, I still need your positive respect for me as a confirmation and a strengthening of my own regard for God.

To respect yourself is to respect God, that His intentions inside every moment of your life are good. And to respect God is to respect others, that they also are coming out from Him.

And thus our primary task as humans, to synergeo with God in turning all things towards goodness, operates only out from the highest regard and respect for all things, even before they are turned towards the knowledge of God.

We see, then, that full human liberty, that is, holding one another in the highest respect and regard, comes out from the full knowledge of the Pro-Knowing of God from whence all things come. – For out from God and through God and to God ARE ALL THINGS (Romans 11).

Let’s bring in the defining gospel verses regarding liberty.

I am meek and lowly of heart, which is, by definition, regarding others as better.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. – Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. – Owe no man anything except to love one another.

And thus we see that the limited conceptions of liberty, found only in the former Christian thinking of northwest Europe, is a gift from Paul.

To be led by the Spirit of God MEANS not to be led by any other means than from that Spirit arising inside each individual person. If I impose control over you, then I am imposing control over God. As I treat you, so I treat Jesus, and through Jesus, the Father.

Whatever you do to the least of these My brethren, you ARE doing it to Me.

Those who regard God, regard all other humans the same. Those who do not treat with all humans with the highest regard know only contempt for God.

For this reason, we define liberty as theocracy, allowing God to be that One out from whom all things flow, allowing this one individual to be as Jesus to me. Theocracy, the rule of God, without any “help” from other humans, is liberty. Liberty is theocracy.

Defining Bondage
Bondage, then, is the opposite of liberty, in both the negative and the positive. The negative of liberty becomes the positive of bondage, and that is the human lust for power. And the positive of liberty becomes the negative of bondage, and that is the fear of loss.

We must understand the source of evil in the universe and in the human experience. – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9).

Satan is not the source of evil, for he is only a servant and does only as his masters bid him to do. The human heart is the master over all created things, and, according to Paul, the source of that river that brings death to all.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth; subdue and have dominion over… (Genesis 1:27-28).

The implications in these words are STAGGERING.

Notice also the change of connecting words. The writer of Hebrews asserts that “subdue” means all things inside heaven-earth, that it means all authority given to mankind.

Basically, the first words spoken by God into His likeness and image were – “Have lots of sex and take control of everything.” From our present understanding of human reality, that sounds like total disaster – and, of truth, it is.

You see, this is God’s problem. – The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). – Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Nothing created can be good in and of itself (without form and void); that’s one side of the equation. Then, God, by nature, sets all free of Himself. God, by nature, holds no thought in His mind of placing obligation upon others.

Without belaboring the point, then, humans are God’s channel into being known inside His creation. Humans loving one another with pure hearts fervently are God-revealed; we are “what God looks like” inside all heaven-earth.

And, as we have seen, God has given all authority to mankind, but withheld all power. We have the authority; God has the power. Thus God and we must synergeo together to direct all things towards goodness.

For we have this treasure [all the fullness of God and all authority inside heaven-earth] in earthen vessels [we are created weak], that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:8).

And so God designed the human heart to contain all direction over power but with NO power of itself. Your heart is designed by God to RULE over all. Your human frame has NO power to accomplish any rule at all.

God’s design of humans REQUIRED Adam to eat of the tree of life; because he refused to do so, man on this earth can be described by one word, “frustrated.”

All ambition, all authority – no power, no ability. This is what Adam hated, and in hating himself, Adam hated God. And in hating God, Adam found contempt in his heart towards all other “weak” humans. Adam is the source of the expression, “the deplorables.”

The human heart, empty of Christ as the knowledge of God, is the source of all evil in the universe. For this reason, we do not think of bondage as that which is against the human from outside, but rather, that which is in the human against God.

Then, in order to obtain a false power over others, in utter contempt for God, humans resort to physical violence in order to exercise the ambition of their hearts to rule. Removing ambition is not the answer; the answer is a heart filled with God.

Then we see that bondage is, according to Paul, “the bondage of corruption,” as in, that which decays and declines into ruin, that is, the fear of loss. Cain’s sin was the fear of loss, that is, God is up to no good concerning me. ‘I’ will lose out.

The “fear of loss” is another way to say, “Unthankfulness.” – For having known God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but they became pointless in their thinking {a false story of self}, and their non-comprehending heart was darkened, asserting themselves to be wise, they became foolish. And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God {which they were – the likeness of God} for the likeness and image of dying man, and birds, and quadrupeds, and creeping things {the serpent as the image of God} (Romans 1:21-23 – rough JSV).

All theft of life, property, and honor is an inherent contempt for a God who reveals Himself through weakness, expressed as contempt for other humans.

The lust for power and the fear of loss combine to create an “air” of imprisonment. And a complete study of this topic would show us exactly how all bondage is self-built, all prison bars are carefully constructed and welded into place by the human, each one imprisoning their own selves in a cage of their own design.

When you reach out to set any human free, you are presenting yourself as a violent threat to the cage of “this is me” which they have so carefully constructed, all of which is entire and utter nonsense. All of which is simply not true.

The Source of Liberty
Air with Fire. There is no fire without air. “Our God is consuming Fire; let brotherly love continue” is always with “God is Spirit; those who worship God must worship in Spirit.”

The Source of Liberty is the source of all things, the Pro-Knowing of God. Thus, liberty exists where God is known and cannot exist where God is not known.

When I KNOW that YOU are found first inside of God as God’s thoughts concerning you, before you are ever spoken into existence and into the days of your life, then my attitude towards you is my attitude towards God. You see, those thoughts inside of God, an infinite set of thoughts regarding you, completely distinct from all of God’s other thoughts, those thoughts are not yet you, for they remain only God.

Yet when Jesus speaks those thoughts into creation – VOICE – you become, and the days of your life unfold out from God’s wondrous intentions. You are the unfolding of God becoming seen and known inside creation. Although you are NOT God, for the Father is also distinct in Himself, yet because you are first part of God, before you are ever spoken, you possess the same value as God Himself.

When I know that, I bow my head before you in all reverence and regard. Yet that honor contains nothing obsequious or self-serving, for I know myself as well, that I am coming out from the same God in the same way as you. And thus Paul did not actually say “seeing others as better” in Philippians 2, he said, “Seeing one another as better,” that is, a full reciprocity.

To put my hand out to manipulate and control you, to steal from you that which is yours proceeding out from God our Father, such an idea never enters my mind. It is far away from me; I do not know it, just as God does not know it.

And thus we see that this principle established first in England by the Quakers in the church and by the Levelers in general society was NOT that kings and nobility ought not to have rights and privilege, but rather that all, from the least to the greatest, ought to be regarded with the full right and privilege of any king.

The rule of Karl Marx, now sweeping our world today, is the opposite of liberty; it is bondage at its most extreme, for it institutionalizes the contempt of Adam. – If the lowest person in society is without regard, held in the deepest contempt, then ALL ought to be the same. No one shall be regarded with honor or respect.

Indeed, this contention between honoring all with the same honor given to God versus dishonoring all with the same dishonor given to the most loathsome, is central to the great battle in which we are now engaged. 

The Wealth of Liberty
Air with water – the outpoured blessings of God upon the earth.

I want to bring in two quotes from Deuteronomy 8 which have everything to do with the wealth of liberty. – And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant…

This declaration is preceded, however, by these words. – So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. [That is, God’s Pro-Knowing spoken by Jesus.]

God instituted as close to a libertarian governance through His covenant with Israel as He could, inside the constraints of the human lust to possess power as well as authority. In fact, one could define the choice of a “king” as being, “We want power, not liberty.”

This is the cry we see in our world today. “We want power over you, therefore, no freedom of speech.” This is screamed by the mob and implemented by those who empower the mob.

Nonetheless, the “power to get wealth” is NOT a positive power, but a negative “power.” This “power to get wealth” is not the power to steal, as many would interpret it. In complete contrast, when NO violence is found in the ordering of all human society, then human interaction is best described by the phrase “free-market capitalism.” On the other hand, using political power to “get wealth,” that is, socialism, requires all violence towards everyone.

These things are inherent inside of God. We are not talking about human political systems, but about God. My respect for you is found in my respect for everything that belongs to you inside your sphere, that is, your “property.”

And, of truth, when there are no human politics (defined as controlling and stealing), then human interaction is based entirely on mutually agreeable TRADE. You have something I need; I offer you something I created with my hands that you need in exchange. You benefit because you do not have what I create, and I benefit because I do not have what you create.

I am free to devote myself to creating that which I love to do, and you are free to devote yourself to creating that which you love to do (division of labor). For that reason, we move in our craft with no fear of loss other than the scarcity which is common to nature.

For this reason, a free society, based on full respect for one another, is a society that knows nothing about theft, including taxation. It is a society in which the growth of prosperity will always exceed any losses coming from scarcity. The prosperity of a free society creates wealth that increases perpetually.

The Land of Liberty
Air with earth. – The “liberty” side of the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is a society in which all respect is held by each towards all. And the foundation of a free society is giving thanks inside of and for the sake of all. Thus, we can say that the “atmosphere” of theocracy is a sense of profound and practical liberty. And this atmosphere of liberty arises from the giving of thanks out from hearts filled with God.

One who gives thanks inside of and for the sake of all is one who cannot suffer loss. This is the power of an endless life. – All things that belong to me, even if they depart momentarily, will return to me again in their season. I can lose nothing. It is the POWER to set all free of any need of mine to “control.”

My children are free of me, I do not seek to control them, especially as they came of age. Yet because they are free of me, they have no desire or need to “escape” from me, and thus continue as important parts of my life. You see, the first and most important “property” which they possess is their own “light” inside of them, the Spirit of God leading them from within. The thought of stealing from them that most precious treasure, knowing Jesus Himself inside their own hearts and as their own life, is more terrible to me than anything.

I will not expand further here on the “Land of Promise,” for we covered that in “Word as Earth” – “Sent as Kingdom.” Here we are simply placing the atmosphere of heaven upon that Land. – Receive one another in the same way that I receive you.

The Liberty of the Spirit
Air with itself. The pure environment of the Holy Spirit – in Him we live and move and have our beings (Acts 17).

I realize that I must expand on that concept “the atmosphere of heaven upon the land.” We know such a thing only out from – Receive one another in the same way that I receive you.

There is an evil definition of “heaven” that comes out from seeing God through the image of the serpent and out from hating the way God made us and from the Gnosticism of hating the earth. This evil definition claims that in “heaven” everything is outwardly “perfect.”

Out from this definition, some foolishly imagine that “heaven on earth,” that is, theocracy, then becomes the imposition of external “perfection,” something that has nothing to do with God. For that reason, they perceive “heaven on earth” as always seeming to result in hell on earth, forcing people to “obey” what “I” think they would do if they were like me (I mean, like Christ).

And from Augustine’s City of God to Calvin’s Geneva, so it has been, the imposition of religious political power, calling it “God.”

Liberty begins with accepting David’s claim for ourselves personally. – “It is God who has made us and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100). God made me human AND weak BECAUSE that is how God reveals Himself inside His creation – through my humanity. And love one another is forever. That means that forever, you and I will walk together AS HUMANS, that is, foolish and wise, happy and sad, doing well and doing not so well, LOVING ONE ANOTHER with pure hearts fervently.

God REVEALED is humans, regular folk, loving one another AS WE ARE!

It is good to be human; it is good to be different. It is good to give space to one another; it is good to love each other as we are. It is God.

To be like God is to love one another. Loving one another is God among us.

This is heaven upon earth; this is the atmosphere of the Kingdom of God.

Commitment and Liberty
Commitment is of God; obligation is contrary to God. – Liberty is of God; no commitment is contrary to God.

This seems to be a paradox, as so many things seem to be regarding God and man together. Yet as we live only inside of Jesus through faith and by the Spirit, so we know just how true these two things are, and how they must always be together – commitment AND liberty.

Owe no man anything (liberty) except to love one another (commitment). Love cannot be forced; forced “love” is sickening and perverse.

Let me bring in some thoughts from “Word as Air.” – Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped (Psalm 124:7). An eagle landed upon the rock surveys all the joy of its domain, and it is upon the rock that the eagle kills the serpent. But it is hard to come up with a more tragic picture, a travesty, than that of an eagle chained to a rock or imprisoned in an iron cage.

The body is for God, that our Father might be free to reveal Himself through our gathering together, that Father might enter into His creation through us, to be seen and known by all as our love for one another. For this reason, if there is no bond of love among us, God is frozen out.

But in equal measure, the moment the slightest tentacle of obligation and duty extends out towards each other “you have to love me by doing – a, b, and c,” then God goes instantly quiet and vanishes from everyone’s sight.

No commitment to one another inside of life together, whatever expression that takes in any present moment, means no God seen and known, means no life, means DEATH. Any obligation placed on each other means no God seen and known, means no life, means a universe of death.

The converse, then, is even more true. Commitment to each other to walk together, whatever that means in any present expression, and to love one another, means God seen and known, means a universe of LIFE. And complete liberty, setting one another free from all obligation, even to moving elsewhere to pursue other interests, means God seen and known, means Father revealed, means all things turned into LIFE and goodness.

The Door of Liberty
He humbled Himself (Philippians 2).

When Jesus called an invisible God into visibility through His humanity (and I am not speaking of an “event in time,” but rather as the action of Jesus’ entire life), the Scriptures all testify of this quality concerning God revealed through Jesus. – He humbled Himself.

Then, when Paul said that for this reason God highly exalted Jesus, he did not mean that Jesus no longer shows us God through “He humbled Himself.” In complete contrast, God means that He has placed this quality of Jesus revealing the Father through “He humbled Himself,” as the greatest quality inside the Kingdom of God.

Jesus showed us the Father, that God carries us inside Himself, through a way we cannot go ourselves, all the way through the darkness and into LIFE.

Then, the ruling verse of God through us is this. – And we also are committed – to carrying our brothers and sisters in the same way (1 John 3:16).

The Pro-Knowing of God is the Source of Liberty, but the entrance of that Liberty into creation is through “He humbled Himself.” That is, at the core and center of a free society you will find the firstfruits of Christ, those who share heart with God, living for the sake of others, that all might be free.

Through the authority inside of these, sharing the Mercy Seat with God, the throne of heaven, all power will go forth, bringing liberty and blessing to all inside the knowledge of God, inside God among us.

Sent as Liberty Together
Here is our sending as Liberty together. – Brothers and sisters, if a man or woman should be caught in some offense, you who are spiritual RESTORE such a one inside of a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Carry one another’s great weight of value, and thus you shall complete the law of Christ to full measure (Galatians 6:1-2).

In the Kingdom, that is, in the Age of Tabernacles, we change one line. Instead of saying “Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted,” we say, “Considering yourself that apart from Him you do nothing.”

We are never apart from Jesus, for we share the same form together. Thus we do all things together with Him, Jesus Himself expressing Himself through all that we are.

What Paul is describing is the personal cost and action of energeoing with God to turn all things towards goodness, that is, towards the knowledge of God, which is Christ Jesus now your only life.

Paul did not say, “Carry one another’s burdens.” In the Greek he said, “Carry one another’s great weight of value.”

Creation is not free until every single individual person is coaxed out from their prison bars into knowing God-Love through them. And you CANNOT whack at those prison bars, for doing so results ONLY in strengthening and increasing the bars.

The only one who can step out of their own self-created prison is the person him or herself. And they will do so for one reason only – Jesus must win their hearts.

This is what it means to be sent as Liberty together, to win the heart of each individual person, not for ourselves, but to Jesus. Yet we are as Jesus to each one inside this winning, that is, we regard them as Jesus Himself to us.

Our regard for each one, for the great weight of value they are, is the cause of liberty, especially when it is accompanied by our willingness to suffer any loss needed for their sake.

We show them Jesus by treating them as Jesus.

Respect, that is, liberty.