There is a high price of freedom in a war-torn world. The fallen nature of man has always been to contradict and to be in competition with God. The world was created out of chaos, and before the order of this world was established, chaos ruled. The former disruptions must be examined unless they are repeated. The battle in the heavenlies for dominance took place whereby the ambition of Lucifer, an archangel created by God, refused to settle into his designed and assigned role. Human beings could not handle the pressure of the responsibilities to control his environment. What if God was to relent and give man the power and authority to rule independently of Him? The spirit of competition would not end with man against God, but the competition among men would lead him to self-destruction. Peace is the product of submission and not competition. To acknowledge God as God, the Creator of all things, would lead mankind to a place of asking a different set of questions. If He created all things, then what were His intentions? How can the synergy of all things work in perfect harmony? Somehow it has always been easy for creatures to forget their origin, and thus accept their roles. (I am speaking of the role of human beings in relation to other created things. Man was never intended to dominate his fellowmen, but to respect and honor the humanity of all human beings). The primary objective for living must be to glorify God and to reflect His glory through the positions that He has ordained for our lives.

Freedom is not free, neither is it cheap. Battles ensue when the purpose is not fully understood. Is freedom sought merely to do a thing or is it sought for a people that may become what they were intended to become? The Church is to steward the grace of God as managers of His Divine order. When (a) dominance and control become the new order within the Church; (b) when competition and self-promotion become the way to gain the advantage over fellow brethren within the Church; (c) when the standard of righteousness is being compromised for the favor of the masses and in the eyes of the secular and blinded world viewed as church growth, then the original battle continues on earth as it was in the heavenlies!

Nehemiah decreed, “And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire” (Nehemiah 2:13-14). He was crying out before the king and before God that our cities are unprotected, and the people are vulnerable to attacks from every hand. He was in fact saying, “We need watchmen on the walls who are spiritually aware of the entry points of the enemy and builders who would rebuild the walls of defense.” Merely fighting wars without walls would merely delay ultimate defeat. Freedom can only be won and preserved when the Godly standard is erected again. An eroding standard merely leads to changing oppressors and choosing the styles of bondage that are most suitable to one’s taste. True freedom can only come when the Son of God, the Prince of Peace sets us free. Then we will be free indeed.