So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
I went down memory lane on Sunday when our pastor, Marty
preached about an old game I used to play when I was a child. I imagine most
people recognize the game called, Hide
and Seek.
The game is played in which one person is the searcher, and
the others are hiders. The searcher counts to a determined number with their
eyes shut, while the others hide. The searcher opens their eyes and says,
“Ready or not, here I come,” after which they try to find someone who is
hidden, and run back to base before the hidden person gets there, to no longer
be the searcher. If the searcher cannot find any hidden person, they can yell,
“Olly, Olly, in come free.” Then everyone can come out of their hiding places. Sometimes
the phrase is, “Olly, Olly, oxen free!” but where I lived we just said, “Olly,
Olly in free!”
Marty, then went on to weave this into the likeness of
Christ. One day, God came as a baby in flesh and blood, to be born in a cow
stall. He was laid in a manger. He came not as a priestly regal king, but in an
earthy humble, meager way. He was relatable to the average man. He came and
lived a perfect righteous life. He brought sight to the blind, living water for
the parched soul, life everlasting, abundant life, food for the hungry, riches
for the poor, and light to shine in the darkness. He gave us real hope for the first time,
since Adam hid in the garden. He had come to redeem us.
One day Christ Jesus climbed up the hill to Calvary, with a
cross on His back. He was bruised, battered, misused, spat upon, mocked, and
betrayed. He willingly allowed nails to be hammered through His hands and feet,
dying in dreadful agony, out of His love for us. The debt of sin was paid in
full that day.
As Adam, we once concealed ourselves in fear of our
condition, but because by Christ’s stripes on His back, we are healed from sin’s
sickness. We no longer need to hide in shame, because Jesus bore our shame. He
pleads with us, “Come out! Come out, wherever you are.” He stretched out His
arms of love on that cross that day, for you and me, and in His words, “It is
finished,” His message to us was, “Olly, Olly in Free!”
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