A few weeks ago over winter break Alisha & I decided to surprise our kids with a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. We hadn’t been yet but have been wanting to go. So that Friday morning we jumped out of bed, ok, we crawled slowly out of bed, & began to get ready to take our kids to this incredible place known as the Georgia Aquarium. We get down there, find parking, walk up to this enormous building & the kids are just beaming with excitement. We get our tickets, make our way inside, & we’re all just amazed by our surroundings. Water is all around us. There are aquariums beside us in the walls. Above us in the ceilings. Fish & other sea creatures are everywhere. You can crawl in tunnels & pop your head up in enclosures & see penguins right beside you. There are dolphins & a 4D movie. There are sharks & whales & sting rays & more. And we were all amazed. But as we walked through the Georgia Aquarium I was captivated by one thought. All of these fish, these sea creatures, all of them are living with the illusion of freedom.
Their habitats have been carefully & thoughtfully developed & built. Their food has been carefully selected. The lights come on & go off at certain times just like the sun would. The temperature of the water is carefully balanced & monitored. Everything simulates as precisely as possible the ocean. But it’s not the ocean. It’s an aquarium. And I wonder if even one fish knows it’s not in the ocean? If even one creature realizes it’s not free.
And then I began to think, how many of us are also living within the illusion of freedom? We want to be free. But we aren’t free.
Of course, we’re called to live free. Jesus has invited us into His no condemnation Kingdom.
This is what Paul was telling us about in Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
This is what Jesus said in John 3:17, “God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
This is what Jesus should us in the story of the woman brought before Him in John 8:10-11, “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
It’s a no condemnation kind of Kingdom. We live so much of our lives under condemnation. Or at least under the fear of condemnation. Wouldn’t it be nice to step into believing this kind of no condemnation Kingdom really exists? To step out of condemnation & into freedom. Maybe like those fish at the Georgia Aquarium we’ve lived most of our lives as Christians in the illusion of freedom. But maybe it’s time for us to break out of the aquarium & dive into the ocean of God’s love.
These are the ideas behind my message last Sunday at Campus Church. Just click this link or the play button below if you would like to hear more. Maybe together we can continue to understand what it is to know this kind of love & this kind of freedom that Jesus has invited us into.
