Christ brought in the Year of Jubilee: Release from Slavery of Sin and Return to God

The year of jubilee in Lev. 25 is recorded as a prophecy in Isa. 61 and fulfilled in reality in Luke 4; today we are in the year of jubilee, for through the gospel we’re released from bondage and slavery, we returned to God as our possession and we returned to the church as our divine family. Hallelujah!

This week we come to one amazing gem seen in the Gospel of Luke, and the topic for this week is, Enjoying Christ as the Reality of the New Testament Jubilee.

In the Old Testament, the Lord desired all His people to have a portion of the good land for their possession and enjoyment, even for them to labour on so that they would have a rich produce for themselves and for the worship of God and supply of those serving God.

When they entered into the good land, each tribe and family in Israel were allotted a portion of the good land.

However, God foresaw that some of them would fall into poverty due to their lack of willingness to labour on the land, and they may lose their possession, even selling themselves into slavery, for they were so poor.

So He made a provision in Lev. 25:8-17, the year of jubilee, the fiftieth year, when the silver trumpet is sound throughout the land and everyone returns to their possession of the inheritance, their family, and is released from slavery.

Praise the Lord, what a freedom this is! Just imagine losing all you have, including your own freedom, and then one year you are released from slavery and you return to your possession; how glorious this is!

This was set by the Lord as a principle in Lev. 25, and it was recorded as a prophecy in Isa. 61:1-3, where it was prophecied concerning the Lord Jesus.

Then, in Luke 4:16-22 the Lord Jesus read this portion from Isaiah in the synagogue, and He declared that this is the year of jubilee, for these words are fulfilled to them right at that time.

Wow, when Christ came, the year of jubilee came! He is our jubilee, He came to proclaim the jubilee, and by believing into Him we enter into the year of jubilee! Praise the Lord!

We believers in Christ need to have the gospel preached to us again and again, for it is so easy to fall into slavery under Satan, sin, and the world.

Without even realizing it, we are enslaved by things in the world, the besetting sin, or activities that are necessary for our human existence.

Almost everything around us seeks to get our attention, become our enjoyment, and then enslave us, taking us into captivity away from the enjoyment of Christ.

So we need to return to the jubilee Jesus, the Jesus Christ who is our jubilee, and enjoy Him in the year of jubilee with all the saints!

The Year of Jubilee Prophesied in Isa. 61 is Fulfilled by the Lord’s Coming in Luke 4

In the Old Testament type, the year of jubilee was the fiftieth year, after seven sets of seven years, when the trumpet is sounded in the land and everyone who was enslaved could be freed and return to his possession and to his family (Lev. 25:10).

This was prophesied by Isaiah in Isa. 61:1-2, where he spoke concerning Christ who will come to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah, the year of jubilee.

Then in Luke 4 the Lord Jesus came and entered into the synagogue, and it was given to Him to read from Isaiah, and He read this portion; then He sat down, and He said, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:16-22).

The year of jubilee spoken of in Lev. 25 and prophesied in Isa. 61 was fulfilled when the Lord Jesus came; the Lord’s coming brought in the year of jubilee.

The year of jubilee is not just one year – it is the entire age of grace! Hallelujah!

Today we are in the age of grace, when God accepts the returned captives of sin (Isa. 49:8; Luke 15:17-24; 2 Cor. 6:2) and all those who are oppressed under the bondage of sin enjoy the release of God’s salvation (Rom. 7:14-8:2). Hallelujah!

In the Old Testament, the year of jubilee was full of joy and rejoicing, for everyone who had sold his possession – his allotted portion of the good land – was returned to it without paying anything to redeem it (see Lev. 25:10, 13, 28).

Furthermore, everyone who sold himself into slavery regained his freedom and returned to his family (vv. 39-41).

Some of the children of Israel who were not diligent to labour on their allotted portion of the good land became poor and sold their portion of the land; thus, they lost their possession, their inheritance.

Even worse, some of them had to sell themselves into slavery, and therefore were deprived of their freedom and were separated from their family.

But when the year of jubilee came, they returned to their possession and their family, and they were freed from slavery. Praise the Lord!

This year of jubilee was decreed throughout the land every fifty years, and it was prophesied in Isa. 61 and fulfilled by the Lord’s coming in Luke 4.

When Christ came, He brought in the year of jubilee.

The good land signifies the Triune God embodied in Christ (Col. 2:9) and realized as the all-inclusive Spirit (Gal. 3:14) as the allotted portion of all the saints in the light (Col. 1:12).

God created man in His image and according to His likeness, and His intention was to give Himself to man as man’s enjoyment and possession.

But due to the fall of man, he lost God as his possession and sold himself into slavery under sin, Satan, and the world. Oh, Lord!

But praise the Lord, Christ came to accomplish His wonderful salvation!

God’s New Testament salvation is accomplished by God’s grace based on His redemption to bring fallen man back to God as his divine possession, to release man from slavery under sin, Satan, and the world, and to restore man to his divine family, the church as the house of God.

By believing into the Lord Jesus we are freed from the bondage of sin, delivered from the slavery under Satan and the world, and returned to God as our possession and to the church as our divine family. Hallelujah!

We are now in the age of grace, the acceptable year of the Lord, which is the year of jubilee. God is our enjoyment.

We are being delivered from the bondage of sin, the world, and Satan. And we are returned to our family, our divine family, the church. Praise the Lord!

We believers in Christ enjoy the reality of the year of jubilee spoken of in Lev. 25, prophesied in Isa. 61, and fulfilled by the Lord at His coming in Luke 4!

Our enjoyment in the year of the jubilee in the age of grace today will issue in the full enjoyment of the jubilee in the millennium and in the fullest enjoyment in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth! Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord, we are in the year of jubilee today! Praise the Lord, Jesus Christ came to fulfil and bring in the year of jubilee! Amen, Lord, we thank and praise You for coming to be our jubilee. You came to redeem us from the bondage of sin, the world, and Satan, and You are bringing us back to the enjoyment of God as our rightful possession! Hallelujah, by repenting and believing into the Lord Jesus we enjoy freedom from the slavery of sin and we are returned to God as our enjoyment. Amen, Lord, we believe into You. We come forward to You to enjoy You as our possession. We open to You: deliver us from any bondage of sin, the world, and Satan. Free us fully from any slavery and bondage. We want to enjoy Your wonderful salvation today. We exercise our spirit to enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit as the reality of our inheritance and possession. We want to enjoy You with all the saints in the church life, our divine family! Praise the Lord for the year of jubilee!

Christ brought in the Year of Jubilee: Release from Slavery of Sin and Return to God

In the year of jubilee there were two main blessings: the returning of every man to his lost possession and the liberation from slavery (see Lev. 25:8-17).

How does this apply to us in our Christian experience?

Returning to one’s possession signifies that we believers in Christ have returned to God as our lost divine possession.

Being released from slavery signifies that we have been released from all bondage and we have returned to the church as our divine family (Eph. 1:13-14; John 8:32, 35; Psa. 68:5-6). Hallelujah!

In the Old Testament, we see the picture and in the New Testament, we see the reality.

The people of Israel entered into the good land under the leadership of Joshua and were allotted a portion from this good land flowing with milk and honey.

At that time there were no landlords and no beggars, no rich and no poor people: each had their own portion of the land.

However, God foresaw in His wisdom that some of His people would be lazy, even gluttonous, and they would lose their portion and sell it; some would even sell themselves as slaves.

God foresaw this and made a way for them to be returned to their possession and be released from slavery.

In the fiftieth year, there was the blowing of the trumpet and there was a great reset: everyone who lost their possession would return to it, and everyone in slavery was released. Wow!

We human beings were created in God’s image to enjoy God as our possession, but we lost this possession and sold ourselves as slaves under sin to Satan through the fall.

Today all the people in the world are slaves in sin, without God in the world.

Whether rich or poor, whether presidents or beggars on the street, whether prime ministers or taxi drivers, everyone is sold under sin.

Everyone is poor, for they lost God, and everyone is bound by sin, sold as slaves under sin.

People don’t just commit sins; they are slaves under sin.

Some people commit sins such as addictions, sexual indulgences, gambling, drugs, crime, theft, and many such things.

Others, however, are more refined and hide their sins, covering them; they are not so reckless in sinning for they want to hold a proper job and maintain a status in society, but they are full of sin.

Many people today decide not to sin, but it does not work.

We cannot stop sinning, for we are sold under sin; we are slaves to sin.

We may not sin big sins outwardly, but we still have secret sins in our heart, even secret and hidden faults (Psa. 19:12).

We all need the year of jubilee. We need a great reset.

By believing into the Lord Jesus through the gospel, we enter into the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of acceptance.

The Lord accomplished redemption, we believe into Him, and we enjoy jubilee!

We are like the prodigal son who has returned to his father in repentance and entered into the enjoyment of his rightful possession.

The enemy may still lie to us and may try to usurp us by holding us slaves to certain passions or sins, but we can return to the Lord by exercising our spirit to be released from slavery and brought back to God as our possession.

We as believers in Christ enjoy the year of jubilee today in the age of grace; we mainly enjoy two blessings: returning to God in Christ as the Spirit as our portion of inheritance and being freed from slavery under Satan, sin, and the world.

When we received the Lord Jesus as the real jubilee, we were truly freed from sin and we were brought back to God as our possession! Hallelujah!

The Lord Jesus has released us so that we may have God as our portion for our enjoyment and so that we may be delivered from the bondage of sin and Satan, thus enjoying real freedom! Hallelujah!

This happened not only at the time of our regeneration but even more, day by day we are living in the age of jubilee, the year of jubilee, so that we may continually be freed from any slavery under Satan, sin, and the world, and we may continually enjoy Christ as our possession! Praise the Lord!

We are daily heeding the Lord’s call in Matt. 11:28 to come to Him with all our toils and burdens, and we take Him as our rest for our souls.

May we experience Christ and enjoy Him as the year of jubilee today in our daily life, having real freedom, enjoying real rest, and being freed from any slavery and bondage.

May we realize that we are no longer poor but rather, we have God as our inheritance (Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:14; Col. 1:12). Amen!

As we enjoy the jubilee today in the age of grace – as we enjoy Christ as God’s grace to us – we will enter into the full enjoyment of the jubilee in the millennium and in the fullest enjoyment in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (see John 1:16-17; Rom. 5:17; Phil. 3:14; Rev. 22:1-2). Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, today is the acceptable year of the Lord! Hallelujah, Jesus is Lord and He has come to be our jubilee! Amen, Lord, we return to You. Deliver us from our sins. Free us from the bondage of sin, the world, and Satan. We come to You again and again throughout the day to be released from any slavery and bondage! Bring us into the full enjoyment of our possession – the Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit! Amen, Lord, You are our portion for our inheritance. Thank You for qualifying us to return to God as our possession and enjoy God as our portion. Praise the Lord, we are no longer slaves under sin – we are freed from the slavery of sin! Hallelujah, we are no longer poor – we have God as our inheritance! Hallelujah! Lord, we want to daily experience, enjoy, and express You as the jubilee! We bring You all our burdens, toils, and entanglements, and we take You as our rest and our enjoyment!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984, vol. 4, “The Jubilee,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2024 July Semiannual Training), week 5, Enjoying Christ as the Reality of the New Testament Jubilee.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Jubilee (3) – a portion from, Life-Study of Luke, Chapter 66.
  – Liberty Throughout the Land, via, Living to Him.
  – What is the Jubilee? More via, The Hearing of Faith.
  – A Christian’s Attitude toward Reforming Society, via, Shepherding words.
  – Characteristics of Luke, article via, Conversant faith.
  – 5 Names of Jesus in the New Testament and What They Mean, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – This Is the Year of Jubilee, a wonderful song via, Melody of Lilies.
  – From Sin to Grace for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Recommending the Life-study of Leviticus – on Radio Broadcast here.
  – Proclaim the Year of Jubilee! More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – What release the Savior gave me! / Christ indeed has set me free! / All the pow’r of sin is broken, / All death’s sting is passed from me! / Christ has made me more than conqu’ror, / By His mighty victory, / Now His resurrection power / From my spirit strengthens me! (Hymns #540 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – In this portion we have God, / Whom we lost thru Adam’s fall; / By the shedding of Thy blood, / God becomes our all in all. / In this portion all we have— / Life and peace, redemption sure; / All that God has planned and willed, / In this portion we secure. (Hymns #223 stanza 3)
  – The Savior can break sin’s dominion, / The vict’ry He won long ago; / In Him there is freedom from bondage, / He’s able to conquer the foe. / The Savior can satisfy fully / The heart that the world cannot fill; / His Spirit will sanctify wholly / The soul that is yielded and still. (Hymns #534 stanzas 4-5)