Oct 6, 2017
I Love My Shepherd 26 – Chasing Freedom 3: Freedom in Fresh Ink
We are marked people.
Maybe you have a tattoo, maybe you don't. Maybe you believe in tattoos, maybe you don't.
- Tattoos and the Bible = Levitical law (Leviticus 19:28)
- Bigger question is what are we marking ourselves with, what is worth marking ourselves with
- Consider our cultural context and heart, what is the purpose here, where is the glory going
Galatians 3:23-29
Humankind has a long and complicated history with marking one another. It's painful. Slavery has been alive in virtually every generation and I don't think you can think of marks on human skin without considering the past.
- Israel being delivered from slavery
- Brand of slaves, Amazing Grace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-4NFvI5U9w
- Canaan-ite religion and markings on the person
- Jefferson's Son - https://www.amazon.com/Jeffersons-Sons-Founding-Father%C2%92s-Children/dp/0142421847/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506966225&sr=8-1&keywords=jefferson%27s+sons
Marking ourselves, that's one thing. Marking another. That's another thing entirely.
- Bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, not our own
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
How are we marked? What is God's link over time and history to tattoos and marking, and freedom?
Ephesians 1:12-14 – sealed, Greek - sfrag-id'-zo
http://biblehub.com/greek/4972.htm
- signet ring, early religious markings (for audience understanding)
- mark of ownership
- free will, FREEDOM - we submit, offer ourselves v. slavery
- to the praise of His glory, hope
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – God establishes us, secure, guarantee, ratify (like Galatians 3)
http://biblehub.com/greek/950.htm - to walk where it is solid, seal gives us footing and freedom in our identity
- tattoos disturbing because they remind us of something darker, the history of it all
- God takes what we know and brings grace into all of it
Challenge: What tattoo would you get, or do you have, to proclaim a little Jesus? What other ways can we proclaim God’s seal on our lives?
ESV Bible translation - Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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