Already Free
Read Time: 7 mins
So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.” Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”
Mark 5:1-9 NLT
Elephants are the largest land animals in the world and one of the most powerful. These mammoth mastodons can reach heights of up to 20 ft and grow as long as 30ft. They can weigh up to 16,000lbs and some can even lift their own body weight. For some, that would be the equivalent of lifting more than two Ford F-150s. There are over 100,000 muscles in their trunks alone. Yet with their phenomenal size, power, and strength, the men who contain them are said to not need heavy artillery, overwheming chains or unbreakable bars. These bodacious beasts are contained by exploiting their belief.
It has been said that when an elephant is young, captures will tie it to a rope that is just strong enough to contain the animal while it is at its weakest stage. The elephant grows up believing that the rope that held them in their youth has the same restrictive power over them in adulthood. The elephant's superior memory works against it in this case because no matter how big or powerful it gets, it still believes it can be bound by a rope. It's not that the elephant doesn't possess the potential for freedom. It's not that the necessary power has not been provided. It's not that outside sources are too strong for the elephant or that the elephant doesn't have all it needs for a way of escape. Everything the elephant needs for freedom has already been put inside of it, but its belief stops it from reaping the benefits.
The Bible says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. I believe the Spirit is present with and in us and in us, so we should have freedom. Jesus says that His mission was to set the captives free. Denying your freedom is a denial of His ability to do what He said. Paul reminds us that Christ came through on His promise and set us free for freedom's sake, and If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Denying your freedom is actually denying the accuracy of His word. Look through the Bible and you will continually see past tense messaging of your salvation. It has already been done. It has already been paid. It has already been accomplished. The decision to allot freedom to you was made before you so that you could walk in liberty.
Many question this. We know that God will never give a temptation that is too great or without a way of escape. We know that chains are supposed to break in the presence of God. We know that demons flee when hearing the name of Jesus. However, many of us are wondering if this is true for our lives. We wonder what we may be missing. We cannot seem to shake the weights that so easily beset us. We feel tangled in fear, guilt, and sin. We keep finding ourselves feeling helpless against the issues Jesus says He defeated. We are tired of asking for forgiveness after falling into the same trap after trap, we want to experience freedom. We are tired of falling victim to the same vices. We want victory.
Maybe this is hard for you to stomach because you don't see the signs of your freedom. You like the elephant still feel bound to sin. You still feel like a slave to sin. You may still feel crushed under the weight of shame and fear. You may still feel like you have no option but to succumb to the sinful ways you know you should not indulge in. You know you shouldn't be at his house but you crack every time he texts you. You keep praying that you'll stop wasting your money on weed but as soon as you get stressed, you don't know what else to do but call the plug. You hate how you feel after a blackout but you can't imagine life without a bottle to numb the pain and anxiety you feel. It has been over a decade since this addiction started and you still can't break through. You can't seem to shake the cycles that you know aren't good for you. I understand.
For some of you, it's not even directly based on your actions. You can’t seem to find freedom from the way the actions of others have affected you. Your parent's divorce seems to have forever changed how you view men. What your high school bully said still rings in your ears. Your dad's failures seem to consistently affect your feelings of safety and belonging. Your mom's lack of support keeps pushing you to seek outside approval and accomplishment. The insecurity and lack of accountability in those who were supposed to be protectors and providors seem to have permanently affected how you view your place in the world. The abuse has you constantly wondering if you are truly lovable. Those who were supposed to love you couldn't find it in their heart to slow down enough to selflessly listen to you and now you wonder if your voice even matters. There are immense weights we all feel that seem to affect every second of our lives. I feel them. You feel them. We see them in play throughout every culture, age group, and socioeconomic class. We all feel a sense of slavery to something. So if this freedom is real, how do we go about walking in it?
It's clear in the Greek that Jesus is expressing an ongoing action that started in the past when it says He was already calling for this man's liberation. The Bible says that like in our lives, Jesus had already declared this man free, but where are the results? For years, he was known as the guy in the tombs who was bound by his condition. For years he was known for his screams of agony and open wounds from failed escape attempts. For years he used his own power to do everything he could to break free from the chains around him, but nothing seemed to work. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find break through. If Jesus had already declared him free, what was stopping him from walking it in? If Jesus has already declared us free, what is stopping us from the same?
How do we walk in this freedom? How do we experience all God has for us? I believe the key is honesty about God's identity and yours. In this story, we see an internal conflict that many of us can identify with. There seems to be a block. This man desires freedom but at the same time, he is apprehensive towards the God who can offer that freedom. He runs to Jesus, bows before Him, and calls Him the Son of God. But at the same time, he shrieked and screamed and asked Jesus to leave him alone. We are attracted to Jesus but also agitated by Him. This man is drawn to Jesus and greatly desires the freedom He offers, yet he believes torture is also what Jesus wants to bring.
This may be a key to many of our own apprehensions. We believe honesty with God is a sign up for torture. We don't believe God is safe so we hide our vulnerable parts. We believe getting close to Jesus means coming close to someone who wants to bring torture. So we run. The devil, like those who entrap elephants, wants your belief system to keep you bound. If you believe the bearer of freedom is unsafe, you will never walk in the freedom He has purchased. If you believe you must hide and protect yourself, you will never showcase the vulnerability necessary to be healed. This is the first lie we must break down. Jesus didn't come to hurt you. He came to heal you. I'm sorry for what you may have heard or what others may have taught you. The Bible says in John 3:16-17 that Jesus came not to condemn but to save. You can come out of hiding. There is no need to cover what He already sees. You don’t have to hide your scars and mistakes. He sees them and loves you even deeper. When we reconize that God is safe, it opens the door for the honesty that leds to liberation.
I want you to notice what action becomes the catalyst for this man's freedom. Are you ready? It may sound simple but this man opens the door to experiencing the full joy of his freedom when Jesus asks him his name. I always want to point out that if Jesus knows everything, His questions are more for us than they are for Him. Jesus knows what this man's mom named him, but asking what his name is was really an opportunity for this man to be honest about his situation. The man responds by saying, “I am Legion for we are many.”
A Roman legion was an army of about 5,000 trained and deadly soldiers. This man is essentially saying that his life has been overrun and he is in a fight he can’t win. He was honest about the fact that 5,000 life-sucking, mind-altering, perspective-damaging demons had overrun his life. This man didn't try to sugarcoat his words before letting them come out. He didn't try to create a facade or make it look like he was better than he was. He didn't try to puff himself up and convince Jesus that he was trying. He knew he was safe enough with Jesus to lay it all out on the table. He just said right now I feel like I can be characterized by the fact that my life is overrun and I'm overwhelmed with a foe that I have no idea how to defeat. He probably didn't even know if victory was even possible for him. I feel tears welling up in my eyes as I sympathize with him while writing this. Have you ever felt like there was no such thing as freedom? Have you ever felt like this must be a thorn you will always have to deal with? Have you ever felt like God abandoned you? Have you ever been so overwhelmed and helpless that you questioned if hope was even possible? This is what this man felt and many of you can identify.
However, I want to offer hope. This man's honesty was the catalyst for his healing. We say it all the time but do we actually believe it? God can only heal what you choose to reveal. That is to say that a doctor needs you to be honest about where it hurts in order to give the correct medicine. How honest have we been?
Some of you need to stop reading this right now and fall to your face and cry out about your addiction. Admit that you are jealous. Admit that you are overwhelmed. Some of you need to go outside and scream as you talk to God about the abuse. Admit that you are afraid. You need to face it. Face the monster of low self-esteem and suicidal ideations. Admit your helplessness. Cry your eyes out. Fall face down at the altar. Our toxic masculinity and arrogance are what keeps us in these toxic cycles. Admit how much the actions of others have impacted your everyday thinking. Admit that you have no idea how to move forward. Admit how scared you are. Some of us need to be honest about what our name is right now. Cry out to Him and say, “I am broken”, “I'm lost”, “I'm alone'', or “I'm desperate.” Cry out because your honesty is the only thing getting in the way of your healing. Tell Him how you feel. Cuss, scream, throw a chair. God can handle it. If He can handle David asking for Him to create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit after raping Bathsheeba, you can too. If Paul can repent of killing God’s anointed people, you can too. If Peter can turn back after abandoning Jesus, you can too. If this man can admit that thousands of demons seem to be controlling his life, you can too. Be vulnerable and believe that God will steward your honesty and not hurt you.
The Bible says that there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear. It goes on to say that fear has to do with a threat of punishment but because Jesus isn't here to condemn, we have nothing to worry about. If God is the embodiment of love, allowing Him into your space will melt away the fears. Don’t hide from Him. Give it to Him. Don't fix it on your own, give it to the mender of your heart.
The door to freedom is honesty and the key to that door is belief. Why do I say that? Because if you truly believe that God is good, He can be trusted with your brokenness. He can be trusted with our twisted, messy, perverted, brokenness. If you believe He is enough, you can believe that His promise is enough for you.
Your freedom has been purchased, but the benefits will only be applied to you if you can admit you need it. You will only have the faith to believe you can admit your brokenness if you know He is safe to be vulnerable with. You have to try and see for yourself. Taste and see and you'll be able to say for yourself that He is truly good, safe, and reliable.
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”
Romans 6:6-14 NLT
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