CHRISTIAN FINE ART GALLERY > JOHN THE BAPTIST ARTWORKS SERIES > It’s Time to Fly, Church
PURCHASE GREETING CARDS – Print Code: JTBA32
Greeting Cards | Original Artwork: SOLD, Acrylic Painting on Watercolor Paper| Contact for prints
Jesus died to set us free from our sins so that we may soar in his loving presence. Jesus paid the highest price to give us this abundant life. Let us never fail to live in the fulness of it.
Artist’s Reflection:
“I [Jesus] tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…So if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36)
“…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)
Jesus is the only one who can set us free from sin and bondage. We may deceive ourselves into thinking we can overcome sin through our own willpower and efforts, but unless we have surrendered ourselves to Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we are still captive to it. The Bible says that we are all slaves: either slaves to sin or slaves to God (Romans 6).
Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
To learn how to be freed from your sins, to be forgiven by God and to enter into a personal relationship with him, please see Message.
The real meaning of this drawing, however, is for those of us who already believe in Christ:
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:1-4)
As born again Christians, Jesus has set us free from sin! We are no longer enslaved to it (Romans 6), and we are no longer under the power of the devil (Luke 10:18-20, Ephesians 2:1-10). As if that were not enough, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), we have been given everything we need to abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8) and we have been guaranteed an eternity with the Lord in paradise (Ephesians 1:13-14) just to name a few things!
Jesus said, “…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
Jesus suffered and died in order to purchase this new life for us. He purchased it for the purpose of giving it to us in its fullness. Therefore let us fully embrace Jesus and the gift of this new, abundant, victorious, powerful, joyful life. Let us fully receive him and everything that he’s done for us. Let us be fully confident in his love and his finished work for us.
When we do this, we will soar ever closer into his presence like eagles!
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32)
Although God intends us to soar with him as eagles, sometimes we still allow our unbelief to keep us earthbound and living as if we were still slaves to sin. Unbelief can gain a stranglehold on us if we are not diligent to spend time meditating upon the Word of God and putting it into practice (Romans 10:17, James 2:17).
May we never waste our lives by continuing to live in measures of unbelief!
The truth is that we have ALREADY been set free (Romans 6 and John 8:31-36 clearly teach this). Realizing that we ARE free is what manifests true freedom in our experience. (See: “The Lion of Judah Triumphant Over The Dragon” (The Lion of Judah Series)).
Unbelief, however, is not the only thing that keeps us away from soaring with God. Submitting to religious spirits and human traditions are also cages around the birds whom God has freed.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ….Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” (Colossians 2:8, 20-23)
The Lord never puts such religious cages over his people.
Men desire power and control, but the Lord came to give us life and freedom. Therefore, let us live in the fullness of our freedom on Christ! (See: “Freedom from A Religious Spirit” (John the Baptist Artworks Series).)
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief…” (Ezekiel 13:20-22) (In context, the Lord is speaking against false prophets, false teachings and false religion going on in the midst of his people and ensnaring them.)
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Living by the “Law” of human religiosity binds us in slavery to its regulations (Colossians 2:20-23). However, Christ has set us free from Religion that we may belong to him and enjoy a beautiful, lively, worshipful Relationship with him.
I originally wanted to title this piece “The Fellowship of the Saints” because I got the idea during a house church meeting. The Spirit began to move one person right after another into spontaneous praise, until each one of us was crying out the glories and praises of God. As the Spirit moved each individual to praise, it was as if each one of us was an eagle taking to flight, soaring in the Spirit up to God.
“But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired” (Isaiah 40:31 AMP).
This is true fellowship. This is true life. It’s time to fully embrace it.
It’s time to fly, Church!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles…Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Many months later, I came across a live recording of Jason Upton in prophetic worship singing a song called “Fly”. He sang the exact core of what resonates so strongly in my spirit in relation to this piece of artwork: soaring in the presence of God like an eagle, constantly maintaining that “aerial [heavenly] view” that we are indeed free, seeing things the way God sees them from his heavenly perspective rather than from our earthly perspective. This song always powerfully ministers to me and causes me to soar into God’s presence. I did much of the work on this piece of artwork while listening and worshiping to it. (*An interesting note: During the live recording, the sound engineers detected an unknown high-pitched voice singing in the background of Jason’s vocals for part of the song. They have attributed it to an angel as there was no other reasonable explanation as to how this voice was picked up on the recording. It is audible during this beautiful prophetic song. *Be careful about what you read or watch on the internet about it. Go straight to Jason’s own testimony.*)
See also:
Freedom from A Religious Spirit (John the Baptist Artworks Series)
Relationship, Not Religion (John the Baptist Artworks Series 2)