To hear the advertisements in the media, Easter is looking more and more like a commercial holiday that’s all about taking advantage of promotions in your favourite supermarkets! Rather than risk a liver attack from eating too much chocolate, let us look for this last week at the key verse of the Ministry of spiritual care Libérer !: ‘It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]’ Galatians 5:1 (Amplified version).
To conclude this cycle of Lenten meditations 2022, we pray that through this verse of Galatians 5: 1 we will take the full measure of Christ’s sacrifice on this Holy Thursday; let us remember together the promises of God of the last 6 weeks.
What is this freedom that God wants to offer us at Easter? What has His Son Jesus freed us from?
Through the assurance of His unconditional love, the Lord wants to free us from our fear of being rejected or abandoned; He manifests this love by helping us every time we call out to Him. But He also empowers us to fight ourselves when we pray with authority in the name of Jesus.
Through the gift of faith, He wants to heal us to begin with the feeling of despair but also as we have seen from all kinds of diseases, whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.
Our Eternal Father wants to free us from the paralyzing doubts about God, ourselves and others that Satan wants to sow through his lies, like the serpent in the account of Genesis. Our Creator left to humanity the Bible, His word where we can take refuge to find the Truth. As for Jesus, He left us the Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth (Jn 14). It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we remember the promises we read in the Bible and activate them in our spiritual battles.
Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross manifest God’s definitive forgiveness for our mistakes and sins. He forgives us instantly from the moment we repent. We are thus freed from shame and guilt as soon as we accept His forgiveness by changing our behaviors or our ways of thinking.
Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God is recognized as the King of kings by all spiritual powers. He dominates them and they obey Him. Through baptism in Christ, God adopts us as His children and transmits to us the same authority as His Son. We can in His name drive out evil spirits and be freed from the influence of evil powers.
In conclusion, the life of the Christian is a constant spiritual battle but we are victorious in Jesus every day. Our daily victories are guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ that we are going to celebrate this Sunday at Easter!
#Letusacttogether
If you want to know more and experience for yourself the promises that God has revealed to you through these Lenten meditations, register with your parish representatives for the next Libérer! sessions that will take place in a few weeks at the Jean Le Brun Center of the Presbyterian parish of St André (Rose-Hill).
#LetuspraytogetherEternal Father we thank You for these 7 weeks spent meditating on Your Word. We invoke Your Spirit so that these quiet times in Your presence may bear the fruits You intend in each of our lives. Thank You for Your Son Jesus who by agreeing to die for our sins freed us from the influence of evil. May this year the Easter celebrations resound outside the walls of our parishes and those of our sister churches as the most important calendar event of the Christian calendar in Mauritius. May Easter be recognized as the Holy day for the Liberation of Your people. In the name of Jesus. Amen.