“For he who has died has been freed from sin.” Romans 6:7
To have a relationship with God, we have to be born again, and being born again means we have decided to believe and receive what Jesus did for us at the cross and make Him the Lord of our life. What does it mean to make Jesus our Lord?
LORDSHIP: Simply put, it means we choose to let Jesus be the loving authority in our life by giving Him our full surrender.
CONTROL: Surrender means we let go of control. Until we belong Jesus, we belonged to Satan, and sin controlled us. When we come to God, we choose to shift masters. Jesus purchased us out of slavery to Satan by giving His life and His blood to remove the sin that was against us. He paid our debt! We now have the way to God, but it’s still our choice to turn away from sin and turn to Christ.
RELATIONSHIP: Once we’re born again, saved, we belong to God and to righteousness. The very nature of our heart is changed with the life of God. Our behavior isn’t a matter of performance; it’s a matter of continual surrender in a loving relationship with our Father through Jesus.
TRUST: In order for a person to willingly surrender their control to Jesus Christ, trust is required. In order for there to be trust, love has to be experienced.
LOVE: The Holy Spirit is the one who causes us to experience the love of God and to see our need for surrender. He gives us the initial experience where our hearts are made new, but He doesn’t stop there. The Holy Spirit continues to reveal God’s love and helps us to choose God’s ways over our ways and over a sinful way.
COMPLETE: When we know God in a relationship, He comes into our heart and makes us complete, full, whole. Another word to describe this experience is “peace” because when everything is complete, there is peace. Another word is “sound” because nothing is missing, we’re solid and sound.
FREEDOM: When we’re complete in Christ, we can rest in the freedom His wholeness provides. If we try to control an area of our life, it often ends up controlling us. The key to freedom is surrender.
Application: Is there an area of bondage in your life? Freedom is found in letting go of control and spending time with God.