12.3 Glorious Liberty

Now, when He [Father God] shall have placed all under Him [Christ Jesus], then also the Son Himself will be placed under the One having placed all under Him, so that God may be all inside of all (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Creation is free only when God is free. It is God whom we have bound with chains; it is God whom we have refused to know. Thus the Doorway to freedom is the giving of thanks. What is the Glorious Liberty of the children birthed out from God? I do not actually know, for I consider this question for the first time in my life, and I have never experienced it. All we can do, then, is to place the Word God speaks before us in order to set out a framework of possible understanding.

Free From and Freed Into. The hope that creation itself will also be made free from the slavery of decay into the freedom of the glory [the glorious liberty] of the children birthed out from God (Romans 8:21).

First, “into the freedom” means “brought into,” an experience that happens over seasons of time, and is personal to each. God only moves through personal faith receiving a specific Word. Decay is the disintegration of form over time when the Source of Life is not acknowledged. And the “slavery” is an addiction, the desperate seeking for fulfillment from some other source because of the refusal to give thanks. Finally, notice that “the freedom of the glory” is a far greater wonder than the simple release from slavery. But God is never satisfied with any “in-between.” In the end all shall know Him.

The Liberty of the Father. God creates all things inside of Himself, and His attachment to every created particulate is immediate, close, and personal. Yet God’s attachment to sentient beings is beyond comprehension. God really wants to be involved, to touch and be touched, to love and be loved, to walk together in sweet Fellowship. Yet forcing Himself on anyone never enters His mind.

The “Glory” of the Father means that God is FREE to be Himself inside His creation through human hearts given wholly to Him inside of His own Devotion. No created thing yet knows what it means when God is FREE to be Himself through many walking together as one. The painting of Abundance, of Beauty, and of Goodness across everything will be Joy inexpressible and filled with Glory.

A Home for God. Father at Home in our hearts; children birthed out from God; many sons inside of Glory; a God who belongs. The “House” or “Body” of God is many moving together as one, as a “swarm,” one might say, ever moving together by the Spirit, ever giving favor to each other, showing the Father’s form in every situation, God speaking through their voices together. It is our movement together inside of Love that forms His image, that shows creation God Himself.

Yet here is the incredible thing about God. All are free of Him forever; God cannot impose Himself. We are devoted to God only out from God’s All-Devotion to us. Our devotion together is simply an expression of the Father’s Devotion to our togetherness. The Father’s Home is Liberty.

The Liberty of the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17). – Those who are led by the Spirit, these are sons birthed out from God (Romans 8:14). – For the one joined to the Lord is one Spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). 

God gives us His Devoted Spirit freely and without limitation. From that knowing, Paul implies that the Spirit is now part of the fabric of our own humanity. John places us into the Fellowship of Father and Son; the Devoted Spirit is on our side of that Fellowship. The Liberty of the Spirit is first towards God. We are free inside the Spirit to seize everything we find inside of God making it our own. Because our Source is always God, that is, because we always come out from Him, we cannot be bound to anything else.

Liberty Within. The liberty we will know inside is far more than the absence of all the voices of deceit and all the twisted feelings of demons, now GONE from the human experience. Just as Father is Free to be Himself inside of creation and together with us, so we are free to be ourselves, inside of and together with Him.

I had zero thought of being a teacher until I stepped into a classroom at age 27. I was unprepared for the wondrous singing of my heart, “This is me,” a singing that continues inside to this day, regardless of any outward loss. The JOY of expressing what you are out from the singing of your entire being – BEING ENJOYED by God and others, this is a Joy of liberty beyond all dreams.

Liberty Without. The rule of God, theocracy, is liberty, every individual person led only by that Spirit within themselves, out from the singing of their own hearts. No outward force of any kind can exist. Freedom is the mother of all orderliness and peace; control creates only chaos and conflict. What is a world wherein the Spirit of God is freely acknowledged as the movement of all?

What is a world wherein I respect the Devoted Spirit so much that I receive your movement even when I don’t like it, even when I must suffer loss? For you to be FREE, you must be free of me. And I always leave you free of me because of my great respect for your person, always coming out from God. You are as the Lord Jesus to me, in actuality.

The Liberty of the Word. In a world of liberty, it is the speaking of Christ as Word by which the Spirit orders everything. What is a world in which the ruling verses of the gospel are on everyone’s lips and are the rule over all human thought? What is a world in which every person is giving thanks inside of and for the sake of all things?

God spoke to me a few years ago, “Because you have honored My Word, I will honor you.” I know now that a huge part of honor is that Jesus has been ever freer to reveal the ever-increasing Glory and Beauty of His Bible Word to me. When the Word is FREE, the Word makes us just like Himself, causing us to know the Father. The increase of Word is without end, for God never stops talking.

Freedom from Decay. We have said that decay is the disintegration of form over time when the Source of Life is not acknowledged. Freedom from decay must then mean that all will acknowledge the good-speaking of Jesus in power as the Source of their lives. Freedom from decay includes the removal of every part of the curse from our lives, a liberty into which we will bring each in their season.

The problem with the words immortal or incorruptible is that they are negations – the false is gone. We are concerned, rather, with what takes the place of decay. When we speak Christ Jesus FREELY as every Word God speaks, then life springs forth abundantly, flourishing and vibrant, filled with growth and learning, joy and celebration.

Belonging and Encouraging. The need to belong is the deepest human need, for God made us like Himself. Yet belonging is a gift given to each by others. I belong with you only if you want me to be part of your life in two ways, first, in my person, that you value me as I am, regardless, and second, in the expression of my gifts, that you value what I give through my personal creative expression.

Yet belonging is the root of reciprocity, for I cannot belong with you except you also belong with me. Glorious liberty is knowing that I belong, that I am wanted, even if I contribute nothing in the moment. Yet liberty also means the joy of solitude in its season. And glorious liberty is knowing that my gifts, whatever they are, are received, valued, and encouraged, even as I receive and enjoy others.

The Liberty of Love. The root of Love is respect. That means that, while you belong to me and I to you, yet we never assume. I always ask you first, and you me. The liberty of Love, the liberty of God, means that I know that I am always welcome in your home. Yet it also means that I respect your privacy with honor.

Liberty is always personal, and Liberty is always a gift from one to the other. Liberty is the place where Love dwells, and Love is the place where Liberty dwells. If I love you, I am always setting you free of myself. You are free of me. Yet Love means just as much that you are always welcome with me and that I need you. Thus Glorious Liberty is the giving of Jesus.

The Glory of Liberty. Glory is the deepest value of the heart; glory is the celebration of a job well done. The giving of Jesus is the Father’s Glory; the giving of Jesus is our glory. It is the nature of the Lamb to give Himself to the Father for our sakes and to give Himself to us for the Father’s sake. This is the meaning of the costliness of Blood.

Union with Christ is an extraordinary proposition, for it means that Jesus is always giving Himself to me even while always setting me free of Himself just as much. Glorious Liberty is nothing other than our precious union with the Lord Jesus Christ, the joy of our lives forever. And Glorious Liberty is you and me being just like Him towards one another and towards all.