“…and has freed us from our sins by his blood”
Let me explain how I found this phrase unsterilized. When I first sat down to delve through this one it was stark and rigid in my mind. My heart and soul had been satisfied, pleased even, with the first phrase and what it meant about the love of Jesus. What could be done with this second phrase? It clearly had its doctrinal compartment. My thoughts were initially befuddled, but after prayer clarity came as the Holy Spirit directed me. The answer to that prayer, the directing was to consider this compartment like I just did with God loving us. John had witnessed God’s love and testifying to God’s grace used it as a backbone for worship.
How can I use an example of freedom as a candle to light up God’s glory?
The answer to this was to use one of my own experiences.
A particularly poignant event happened in the Augusta State Medical Prison eye clinic where I had been working the day before I wrote this part of the lesson. My tech called in a patient who began speaking before he sat down. He was edgy and defensive right from the get go declaring that he was going blind. He would say things like, “I cannot see and it is getting worse.” “You can’t help me, I just want to tell you that right now.”
During one part of the exam he was furtive making quick jerky movements on the lookout for everything. I said, “Man, you’re jumpy.” He replied, “Well, you would be too if someone had used a fan blade like a knife and cut your eye open.” He went on to say that others tell him the same thing, and maybe try to help, but he just stays in his cell. He just isolates and broods. I bet he was brought mentally kicking and squirming to the clinic that day.
My doctor brain was already beginning to divide the situation up thinking that he truly was losing vision in his remaining eye or maybe had just convinced himself that he was. I have seen such variety of things working in this prison that I usually just let it be until I can learn more about the reality of things. Some pretend and some look like they are.
I quickly found out that the right eye, he had a prosthetic on the left side, was normal. We moved on to glasses and started making progress. He was semi-submissive to the examination, but it was clear that he was fighting a battle in his mind. We would make a little progress, and then he would pull back and look to the left and drop an f-bomb or say something about having to “get the hell out of here.” My reply to that was sort of an engaging, “Hold on we gotta get the hell out of your eyes.”
Even so he could tell that I was not just discarding him, but working. Little by little we edged toward good things, edged toward proving that he was able to see things, see letters. His vision wasn’t perfect, but it was getting better. I told him, “this is already driving vision.” It was coaching and encouraging and beckoning him to literally see that he could see.
By the end we had had a useful engagement. He had dropped some quiet f-bombs and I had dropped some quiet Jesus can fix you bombs. As we drew to the end of our clinical engagement I broached the subject of follow up mentally expecting him to remain far, far away. I said we could see him again in a year. He just sat there half looking at the wall and half at me. I said, “Do you want to come back sooner?” “We gotta figure out what’s going on here doc.” I offered him 4 months and it seemed he was relieved and jumped at that opportunity.
I had figured out what was going on…a mind war. Possibly demonic. Possibly just a brooding, isolated, scared mind set. Probably some combination of these and a lot more.
We all need freed from our sins
This inmate needed freed from his sins, and probably still does. We took a step in that direction. What frees us? God’s involvement with our lives. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives to lead and comfort us. That is not possible until we are cleansed from our sins. When the blood of Christ comes it allows that purity, that cleansing and that indwelling.
We are saved from the bad effects of our sins into a relationship. It is not just a heaven or hell later thing, but a heaven or hell now thing.
I live much of my life in a “hurry up…get it done” style. When I am freed by Christ’s blood and enabled by the Holy Spirit I can put that style on hold and the love of Christ can flow through me. That was what happened with this prolonged encounter with a person needing freed. I think for this fellow the freedom probably did not arrive…yet. Even so I think freedom began to glimmer or gleam like a coming sunrise…it may not have been a thing yet bright nor yet warm, but the hint was there. Here was this middle aged, white, rich guy not behaving like he would expect. What he was really seeing was a middle aged, rich, white guy freed from his own terrible inner struggles and hopefully connecting that to Jesus.
He had been declaring himself f’d up and that was true. The blood of Christ is there to fix him up, to free him up, and that was a point gently hinted at, but probably more powerfully demonstrated.
So that was the answer God gave me to my prayer for help getting me out of the doctrine-only box. Now read the bolded phrase below…
“…to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Remember the nostalgic linkages John had between his experiences and Christ? That was what evoked from him a statement like the holding up of glory and power. Worship was derived from watching Jesus love others. In this second phrase we see worship being derived from the deliverance of others. Freedom is available. It is expensive having required the blood of God, but that price was paid. People can and are being changed. I initially wrote this is a thing “that should make us” give glory to God. Upon revisiting it the word should drops out. Recognition of God at work makes us give glory to God. It is not a thing we decide, but like stones crying out it just happens, it is evoked.
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