CHRISTIAN FINE ART GALLERY > BELIEVER’S ROAD SERIES 2 > Set Free to Worship
Print Code: BR48 | Original Artwork: SOLD, 50 cm x 50 cm (19.5″ x 19.5″), Watercolor Pencil, Inktense Pencil, Colored Pencil and Acrylic Paint on Matboard | Contact for prints
“Let my people go, so that they may worship me” (Exodus 8:1). The Lord sets us free from our sins so that we may worship him. He does not set us free so that we can become our own free agents who pursue our own pleasures. We exchange our slavery to sin so that we may become bondslaves of Christ, which is true freedom.
Artist’s Reflection:
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36)
“Set me free from my prison that I may praise your name.” (Psalm 142:7)
Jesus Christ has set us believers free from sin and its just penalty, death and hell (John 8:32-36, Romans 6)! Hallelujah!!!
(See “Message” to learn how Jesus can set you free from your sins, death and hell).
The exodus (Exodus 12-15) served as a symbol of the Christian’s emancipation from sin. The one reason God gave to Pharaoh as to why he must let the Israelites go is so that they may worship him (Exodus 3:18; 4:21-23; 8:1; 9:1).
“Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.” (Exodus 8:1)
Likewise, we believers have been set free from sin for the purpose of worshiping God.
We have not been set free to indulge our sinful nature (Romans 6) nor have been set free to do whatever we want (James 4:13-15). Jesus set us free so that we would worship him. Our reasonable act of worship is to completely offer ourselves–all that we are and all that we have–to him as living sacrifices:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)
Worship is one of the primary ways our new resurrection life in Jesus expresses itself. This abundant life overflows from within us like rivers of living water (John 4:13-14), and we cannot contain the praises that flow forth. Anyone who knows the bondage of slavery will sing for joy the moment he or she is set free. This is why we believers cry out in thanks and praise and worship to God for our salvation.
In fact, the very first thing the Israelites did after God brought them through the Red Sea and delivered them from the Egyptians was to cry out in praise and worship to God for their deliverance (Exodus 15). (***An interesting side note***: Scripture, however, also records that three days after their exodus the Israelites’ praise and worship turned into grumbling because they could not find any water to drink in the desert (Exodus 15:22-24). This is quite ironic considering God had originally commanded them to take a three-day journey into the desert to worship him (Exodus 3:18). This is specifically what Moses and Aaron petitioned Pharaoh for (Exodus 5:3; 8:27) and though the Israelites had finally been set free to worship, they chose to grumble on that third day instead of worship.)
Revelation 14:3 speaks of a new song that only the redeemed of the earth could learn. While I will not offer a specific interpretation of that verse, one thing this passage personally evokes for me is the sense that only those who have truly been set free by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) can truly worship the Lamb. Those who have not genuinely been set free from sin have nothing to sing about. They cannot worship the Lamb because they do not know the Lamb nor have they personally experienced his powerful workings in their lives.
Worship is the language of heaven, and all the true citizens of heaven speak it fluently. Spiritual worship (John 4:23-24) is a foreign tongue to those who are not its citizens. (Interestingly, when I was an unbeliever, it was being in the presence of spiritual worship that revealed to me that I was a foreigner and not a true born again child of God–even though I professed to be a Christian.) Only those who truly know God and belong to him can truly worship him.
My drawing depicts someone being set free from sin to worship. The atoning blood of Jesus Christ has come down to cleanse and free this person from the black shackles of his sin (Romans 3:23-25). All of this is done through the power and work of the Holy Spirit, who is depicted in the form of a dove (Luke 3:22). The person’s immediate response is to worship. The colors of praise and worship flow forth from the believer back up to God. It is true, spiritual worship (John 4:23-24), therefore the Holy Spirit is present in his praises.
I am fairly disappointed with how this piece of artwork turned out aesthetically. However, I don’t have time to do another rendition of it. Nevertheless, I have still decided to include it on my website in the hopes that people will be encouraged by its message despite what it looks like.
See also:
Set Free: Jesus, My Ransom (Believer’s Road Series 2)
Where We’re Meant to Be: Worshiping Jesus (Praise and Worship Series)