And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas. (Luke 23:18)
What happened to Barabbas is a picture of what happens when we are born again. Barabbas was guilty; Jesus was innocent. Jesus suffered the death that Barabbas deserved, and Barabbas went free. Likewise, we were guilty [simple_tooltip content=’for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’](Rom. 3:23)[/simple_tooltip] and condemned to death [simple_tooltip content=’For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’](Rom. 6:23)[/simple_tooltip], yet Jesus suffered our punishment so that we could go free [simple_tooltip content=’For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.’](2 Cor. 5:21)[/simple_tooltip]. Just as Barabbas didn’t ask for this substitution, so “God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)
Jesus’ death set Barabbas free, but he had to choose whether to accept this new freedom or to continue in his old selfish ways and come under the judgment of Rome again. In the same way, we have all been freed through the substitutionary death of Jesus, but we have to choose whether to accept our freedom by putting our faith in Him and surrendering our lives to Him.
As Christians, we need to develop a continual awareness that our lives are not our own. We do not have the liberty to do as we please; we have the liberty to love, serve, and worship God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We should present our bodies as living sacrifices unto God, recognizing that this is just our reasonable duty to the one who gave His life for us [simple_tooltip content=’I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.’](Rom. 12:1)[/simple_tooltip].
The lordship of Jesus should be the determining factor in every action of your life today [simple_tooltip content=’ 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.’](Rom. 14:7-10)[/simple_tooltip]. Every thought, word, and deed should pass the test, “Is this what Jesus wants?” This is the key to having a great day!
