GENIUS: Freedom unleashes our human potential for good.
PERIL: Unbridled freedom unleashes our human potential for evil.
Freedom is never free.
According to history.com, “The Fourth of July — also known as Independence Day or July 4th — has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution.
“On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence …”
As we have been recently celebrating Independence Day, there is a bittersweet side to the story.
On the one hand, our forefathers eventually won freedom from the tyranny of Great Britain, creating a beacon of democracy that has illuminated the world ever since; On the other hand, it took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to pull it off.
The Revolutionary War started early in the year 1775, and it effectively ended in 1781 with the Battle of Yorktown. It cost untold thousands of lives on both sides to settle the matter.
Freedom is never free — it always costs somebody to obtain it and others to defend it.
We’ve had to defend those freedoms over the intervening centuries in bloody wars ever since, particularly against the iron grip of totalitarianism and communism.
There was a more ancient world-shaking event that had infinitely more far-reaching effects on human history …
Some 2,000 years ago, in the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ stood up and said, “Enough!” to the reign of sin in this world.
His heroic stand was no less bloody and no less critical to mankind’s freedom from the ultimate threat to their eternal lives: the tyranny of sin.
In John 8:31-36, Jesus defined the battle lines of that war in a discussion with some of His Jewish followers:
“’If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.’”
The ultimate enemy to mankind is sin — its presence, power and penalty.
Sin (singular) is a state as well as an act, propelled along by a sweeping transgenerational condition inherited by every human.
The original source of this spiritual malady was our forefather, Adam.
The result, as manifested to this very day, was foretold in Romans 3:23; 6:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” … “For the wages of sin is [eternal] death …”
No exceptions.
Fortunately for us, the above referenced verse in the Epistle to the Romans states unequivocally, victoriously, “… but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Yes, Jesus offers the gracious gift of citizenship in His glorious Kingdom, but at what terrible cost to Himself!
In 1 Peter 1:17-19, the Apostle Peter reminds us, “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
Spiritual peace was won through the Son of God’s personal sacrifice on the cross.
Freedom and responsibility are inseparable.
Galatians 5:12-14 cautions us, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh but serve one another through love. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
It’s built into the fabric of our universe. Spiritual stasis is maintained by forces in tension, e.g., freedom vs responsibility.
This is like the way our universe is held together, from stellar to subatomic, by equal and opposite forces. History teaches us that unbridled, unconstrained freedom amounts to nothing more than anarchy.
It has become all too common for people to abuse their precious freedoms in the streets (destruction of other’s property), board rooms (abuse of employees and overcharging customers), courtrooms (falsely testifying and manipulating the truth) and seats of government (using office for personal gain).
How About You?
As we celebrate our freedoms, do we give equal weight to the responsibilities that go with those hard-fought privileges?