143 of 365 - Free indeed

​The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Luke 4:18-19

What is the liberty Jesus is speaking of that He is fulfilling from the Isaiah passage He read? Liberty from sin and its devastating effects. But what are the effects of sin?
 
Sin impoverishes. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor. To share and to be the Gospel, an invitation to a glorious royal inheritance.

Sin breaks hearts. Jesus came to heal the broken-hearted. To right wrongs. To heal the deep-down hurts caused by sin.

Sin enslaves us…to evil desires, to coveting, to comparing, to envying, to striving, to self-glorification. Jesus came to give liberty to the captives. To set us free from all that sends us spiraling down a path of exhaustion, depression, hopelessness, frustration, loneliness, bitterness, joylessness.

Sin blinds us. We can’t see the truth. We fall for false prophets and promises. Jesus came to give us recovery of sight. To help us set our eyes and focus above, not behind, inside, in front of, or side to side.

Sin oppresses us. Suffocates us, bullies us, shames us, harms us, confines us. Jesus came to set at liberty the oppressed. To set us FREE.

Sin leaves us in a place that doesn’t quite feel like home. We’re not where we were created to be, and we long for things to be made right.

Jesus came to physically heal these things during His three-year ministry, but it is also a foreshadowing and sneak peek at the ultimate spiritual healing and freedom brought about by His death, resurrection, and promise to return to make all things new again.

Challenge: Examine each of these impacts of sin and think through examples you have experienced or seen.