Freedom is a tough word to define. Sometimes we view it as the absence of constraints, but as creatures who have a sinful nature we often do poorly when unconstrained. Many people, exercising “freedom”, become helplessly enslaved to addictions. It would seem that our natural, sinful self is almost set up for an addiction of some kind. If it isn’t drugs and alcohol, then it is sex, gambling or even video games. Anything that is too rewarding becomes addicting.
Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
These famous words of Jesus prove to be too true in life. Everyone does sin, so everyone is a slave to sin. We are not free. Not yet.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Jesus sets us free from the condemnation by the Law of our sin, and the mandatory sentencing that would damn us forever. That is the most important way Jesus sets us free. But there are others. Jesus’ victory on the cross also was a death blow to the control Satan exercises over God’s people. In Heaven and the New Earth, Satan will be completely absent. He will exercise no influence over us at all. That too is a huge new freedom. The miracles of Jesus’ during His earthly ministry foreshadow such a freedom as Jesus cast out demons.
There will also be freedom from our sinful nature. A freedom from a biology that just can’t seem to handle pleasure without eventual problems. I believe the sinful nature that the Bible describes is actually genetic mutations that inflicted our common parents (Adam and Eve) and have been passed on to us all (Psalm 51:5, Romans 7:14-25, Genesis 3:6-7). These mutations do not represent how God created us nor are they what God wants for us. Sinful nature produces a brain structure that is prone to addiction and resistant to God. Even if we don’t have an “addictive personality”, we can become addicted with the right exposures.
Imagine life where this is no longer possible. Imagine a new biology where we can experience every good thing and still be free. Imagine joy, exhilaration, ecstasy, love, happiness, satisfaction without a crash, without an uncontrollable urge for more. Freedom combined with all good things.
Far from the boredom that some people attribute to eternity with God, Heaven and the New Earth will be characterized glorious freedom.
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