A Birthday Wrap Up
“It was for freedom that
Christ has set us free.”
Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
Last weekend our nation celebrated America’s 250th birthday. For many July 4th is a day for family, food, and fireworks. It is also a day for remembering our forefathers’ vision, courage, and sacrifice as they signed the the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. Their signatures represented an act of high treason against the British Crown punishable by torture or death.
Historians agree that the United States’ legal separation from Great Britain actually occurred on July 2 when the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to approve Richard Henry Lee’s resolution of independence. John Adams was convinced that July 2 would be the day that history would remember as the beginning of our new nation. Writing to his wife Abigail, Adams said:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. “
Thomas Jefferson was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence. Congress debated and revised the document over the next two days before finally approving its passage on July 4, 1776. The opening words of the Declaration have been called “one of the best-known sentences in the English language” containing what could be argued are “the most powerful and significant words in American history.”
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
When the Liberty Bell rang out from the tower of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776 summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, it was “a chime that changed the world.” The Liberty Bell's inscription comes from Leviticus 25:10 (KJV) "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof.” Initially the Liberty Bell served as an audible signal for calling people together. Over time, it became an iconic symbol to let freedom ring as our nation dealt with the issues of slavery and civil rights.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used the phrase “let freedom ring” twice in the last paragraph of his famous “I have a Dream” civil rights speech. The author of My Country Tis of Thee penned the words:
Land where my fathers died.
Land of the pilgrims’ pride
From ev’ry mountainside
Let freedom ring!
After the 9/11 terrorist attack on the New York World Trade Center in 2001, the Gaither Vocal Band performed a live concert at Carnegie Hall. Let Freedom Ring, written by Bill and Gloria Gaither, is a song that moves beyond patriotism to the spiritual freedom that is available to all who are in Christ.
God built freedom into every fiber of creation
And He meant for us to all be free and whole
When my Lord bought freedom with the blood of His redemption
His cross stamped pardon on my very soul.
Let freedom ring down through the ages from a hill called Calvary
Let freedom ring where hearts know pain
Let freedom echo through the lonely streets where prisons have no key
You can be free and you can sing let freedom ring.
Seven hundred years before Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah spoke of the One who would come and proclaim freedom for the captives of sin (Isaiah 61:1). During his earthly ministry Jesus taught his disciples, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) On the other side of Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection, the New Testament writers spoke frequently about forgiveness and a Christian’s freedom from the law of sin and death (Romans 6:18, 22; 8:2, 21).
We are not guaranteed that the freedom our country has enjoyed for the last 250 years will last forever, but those united to Christ are eternally promised the freedom and forgiveness that was blood-bought by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.
As we wrap up our nation’s 250th birthday celebration, may the words “Let Freedom Ring!” echo in our minds and hearts. May we never take for granted the freedom that has been purchased for us, both by those who came before us to birth, build, and protect our nation and the One who willingly bought our freedom with the blood of His redemption.