FREE!

The infamous words Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Makes Free) are forged on its gates. This was what the prisoners first saw as they were marched in to Dachau, one of the most ignoble of the Nazi concentration camps. The model and prototype for all such other detention centers, Dachau, it is estimated, interned about a quarter of a million prisoners. About 30,000 of them did not survive.

Work makes free?

When the 42nd Infantry Division of the US Army liberated Dachau on 29 April, 1945, there were about 30,000 prisoners in the camp, packed into 20 barracks, not to mention 40 railroad cars, each with more than a 100 corpses.

It is said that when General Patton saw the conditions at Dachau, he vomited. Work makes free?

That year, the Orthodox Church’s Easter fell a few days after the liberation of Dachau. And so, in a cell block at the camp, priests wearing makeshift vestments fashioned from the towels of the SS guard, celebrated the Resurrection of Christ. It is said that in the entire history of the Orthodox Church, there has probably never been an Easter service like that one in 1945.

Today, quite appropriately, an Orthodox chapel at Dachau has an acclaimed icon: Christ leading the prisoners out of camp gates.

Word does not make free. Christ does!

The Spirit of the Lord GOD
is upon me [Christ],
because the LORD
has anointed me
to bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and freedom to prisoners.
Isaiah 61:1

Christ makes free!

So if the Son makes you free,
you will be free indeed.
John 8:36

When Christ took upon Himself our sin, we were liberated from the consequences of that heavy burden. No longer are believers enslaved to sin and under the sentence of eternal separation from God. Christ, having paid the penalty, had set us free. Free indeed!

For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God
is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

For the one who has placed his or her trust in Christ, freedom—eternal freedom—has been accomplished.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.
Charles Wesley, 1739

Death vanquished. Sin atoned. Burden lifted. Freed!

Therefore, since the children
share in flesh and blood,
He [Jesus Christ] Himself
likewise also partook of the same,
that through death
He might render powerless
him who had the power of death,
that is, the devil,
and might free those
who through fear of death
were subject to slavery
all their lives.
Hebrews 2:14–15

Slavery abolished; no longer are believers captive to the prince of sin, Satan, the instrument of sin, the flesh, and the system of sin in the world. Instead, the believer is now “enslaved” to live a life of righteousness.

… having been freed from sin,
you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:18

We have a calling and a responsibility to live unto God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, leading lives that are Christlike. For now we are citizens of a different kingdom, subjects of a different King, serfs in thrall to a different Lord ...

… Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler
of the kings of the earth.
To Him who loves us
and released us from our sins
by His blood …
to Him be the glory
and the dominion
forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 1:5–6

HOMEGOING!

I will miss him! Whether it was to help me with my constant car problems and computer troubles, or to organize the celebrations for my graduation from seminary, or to collect empty boxes to help me move, or to go out to eat Indian food on a whim, my servant-hearted friend, Ramesh, was always available. He went home to be with the Lord this week. He arrived. For death is …

… to be absent from the body
and to be at home with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:8

Free from the fetters of this physical body and its flaws; free from the ravages of disease; free from those IVs and drugs and monitors; free from travail and turmoil of life. But there is one more thing—more important than all of these—from which Ramesh is now free. The Bible calls it sin.

… for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23

And the result of sin is eternal separation from God who is holy. For God’s holiness is so absolute and so infinite and so perfect, that no fellowship with anything tainted with sin is possible for Him.

But your iniquities
have made a separation
between you and your God.
Isaiah 59:2

Not only is this a major problem for us, it was a “problem” for God, too. On the one hand God’s perfect justice demanded that the price of sin be paid—eternal separation from Him. On the other, His love sought to bring us to Him, to forgive and to have mercy. The Bible declares that God solved this dilemma: Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, paid the price of our sins by His death and resurrection.

For God so loved the world,
that He gave
His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Because Ramesh believed that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, died and was resurrected for his sins, as the Bible teaches, he now has fellowship with God eternally. He has arrived home! Home with Jesus Christ in heaven. Arrived home, to be with the Lord. Forever. At peace.

And [God] will wipe away
every tear from their eyes;
and there will no longer
be any death;
there will no longer
be any mourning, or crying, or pain.
Revelation 21:4

I had the privilege of visiting Ramesh in the hospital several times in these past two weeks. One of my joyous memories of those times is that of the giggles of his daughters, as they snuggled together with their Dad. Giggles and tears, and often together. Only believers can giggle and weep at the same time in the face of death. Only those with the hope of eternal life can cry “Hallelujah” through the gloom of death and the blur of grief. Giggles and tears. While we grieve our earthly loss, we rejoice over the certainty of an eternity together. Giggles through tears, laughter amidst weeping. Because we know where Ramesh is. He’s arrived home.

Let me ask you: Do you know for sure that you are going home to heaven when you die? The free gift of salvation is yours for the taking. As with all gifts, this, too, needs to be accepted. We need to respond:

Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be saved.
Acts 16:31

Have you accepted that free gift, believing in the privacy of your heart that Christ died for your sins and rose on the third day? If you have, you, too, will be headed home one day. Would you place your trust in Christ? Today?

PROTECTION!

Last month I had the chance to visit the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Among the highlights of that expedition was the chance to see the Benz S600 Guard armored car series. All of 500+ horsepower and packing a V12 engine, this is a vehicle marketed towards celebrities, dignitaries, and the obsessively paranoid. Its armor is sufficient to stop standard military small-arms fire, protect against grenade shrapnel and other unhealthy devices including Molotov cocktails. The S Guard’s tires can run even when flat; its fuel-tank can seal itself; it carries an integrated fire-extinguishing system. All the while looking no different from the mere mortal, garden-variety, non-reinforced V12 Benz S-class automobile.

The company’s boast is flagrant: Schutz hat einen Namen. The last word in protection. This slogan is inscribed proudly on the shield in the picture.

The “last word”? In protection? I beg to differ.

Of all the potential perils that could prevail upon us, perdition is the worst. Final and eternal separation from God, the result of sin. For as long as the question of sin persists in rearing its ugly head, every person separated from holy God. But the good news is that this ultimate catastrophe can be averted. For God incarnate, Jesus Christ, paid for our sins, fully and finally, taking the punishment we deserved. Sin, for the believer in Jesus Christ, is, now no longer an issue for salvation. To the one who has placed his or her trust in Christ, eternal life with God is guaranteed. Protection from perdition provided!

Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to His great mercy
has caused us to be born again
… through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to obtain an inheritance which is
imperishable and undefiled
and will not fade away,
reserved in heaven for you,
who are protected by
the power of God through faith ….
1 Peter 1:3–5

Jesus Christ, I beg to affirm, is the “last word” in protection—the ultimate protection, not some steel- and bulletproof glass-protected contraption that can run on flat tires!

The name of the LORD is a strong tower.
The righteous runs into it and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10

God—omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent—the believer’s only protection and refuge. Therefore the psalm-writer could exult …

I will lift up my eyes
to the mountains
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade
on your right hand.
The LORD will protect you
from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
Psalm 121:1–2, 5, 7

This, of course, is not to assert that earthly turmoil and tumult will fail to touch the believer. But it does claim that in the eternal scheme of things, in light of the full span of our existence—temporal and eternal—protection is promised, certified, warranted. All the wiles of the evil one, all his stratagems and schemes, cannot touch the believer.

But the Lord is faithful,
and He will strengthen and
protect you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3

Therefore we rejoice.

But let all who take refuge
in You be glad.
Let them ever sing for joy;
and may You shelter them
that those who love Your name
may exult in You.
For it is You who blesses
the righteous, O LORD.
You surround them with favor
as with a shield.
Psalm 5:11–12

The real shield. The real protection. Truly, THE last and final word in protection! In fact, the only word—God!

ROOTED!

It’s nice to be home—the temporary and earthly version thereof, I mean. I got back to Texas safely and soundly, but not necessarily in one piece. My luggage decided to dilly and dally in the environs of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, determining to dawdle and detour before making its way to Dallas a depressing 15 hours after me.

But it’s nice to be home. Familiar surroundings. Roots. Driving on the right (the right!) side of the road. In my car. The recognizable twang of Southern Americanese. Within reach of friends and family. My books. JIF. Familiarity. Rooted.

Roots are easily laid. With time, the idiosyncrasies of life in the U.K. became as unsurprising and commonplace to me as those of existence in the U.S.A. We are, by human nature, wont to become rooted. It is in the character of mankind to develop connections, networks. Roots.

I had thought—wrongly, I realize—that as a single person I was not particularly rooted anywhere. It took a transcontinental transplantation and the agonies that ensued that established, poignantly and piercingly, the fact that for far too long, I had been rooted in one place.

Roots. Good things. But not necessarily the best things to develop. At least not as long as we are citizens of another place. One can be too rooted.

For our citizenship
is in heaven, from which also
we eagerly wait for a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20

And as citizens rooted in another realm, living under the reign of Another, expecting the imminent return of that regent, Christians are called to be conscious of that impending kingdom always—its principles, its priorities, its purposes. We are to be rooted in the realm to come.

But seek first His kingdom ….

Matthew 6:33

That is what our primary concern ought to be, the establishment and realization of that kingdom on this earth. And in working wholeheartedly to that end, believers are enjoined not to fret about the fortunes of daily living or be perturbed about its pains. We are not to be rooted to this temporal existence.

Do not worry then, saying,
“What will we eat?” or
“What will we drink?” or
“What will we wear for clothing?”
For the unconverted
eagerly seek all these things;
for your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things.
But seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness,
and all these things
will be added to you

Matthew 6:31–33

As those who have placed their trust in Christ for salvation, as those who have thereby obtained eternal life, as those now in the family of God as His children, believers are, in a sense, already inhabitants of that kingdom. Uprooted from one kingdom, re-rooted in another.

For He rescued us
from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son.

Colossians 1:13–14

And so our focus must be where our citizenship is, where are roots are, where we are headed.

Therefore if you have been
raised up with Christ,
keep seeking the things above,
where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above,
not on the things that are on earth.

Colossians 3:1–4

So I tell myself, as I return to my “roots”, this, too, is temporary. Soon to peter out, fade away, run its course.

This world is not my home,
I'm just passing through.
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me
From Heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home
In this world anymore.
Albert E. Brumley, 1965