Freedom By Alan Wimbish, State Coordinator Child Evangelism Fellowship of New Mexico
The 4th of July is upon us and it’s time to celebrate our freedom. I hate to say this, but I don’t think that the whole idea of “freedom” is well understood by the average American. The Revolution generation that lived through the Revolutionary War- now there’s a group of American’s that understood freedom. They wanted to be free from England and be in control of their own destiny as a nation.
Well, I’ve never lived under tyranny from another country, but I have lived under tyranny from something more wretched, more sinister, more vile than any corrupt tyrannical government. My sin. My nature is that which I’m born with and according to the Bible I am born with a sin nature; a want to to disobey God and go my own way (Romans 3). Everyone on this planet is born with it and I can prove it. Think back to when you first remember telling a lie, or disobeying your parents, or doing something that you knew was wrong. Did anyone have to teach you to do it? No one had to teach me to do these things because I was born into sin. It came naturally to me and it comes naturally to everyone. Our sin nature is more a part of us than we know because it influences our thoughts, our decisions, and our actions. But, here’s the good news. Similar to the valiant men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, God sent his Son, Jesus, to storm the gates of hell. Jesus death, burial, and resurrection took the power away from sin. The incurable, inescapable tyrant called sin has lost it’s power. If you want to be free from the burden of guilt over your sins, the power than sin has over you, trust in the precious blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin and trust God to give you the power to be free from sin. The lures, the attractions of sin will still be everpresent, but you won’t be a slave to that sin anymore. It’s like being released from prison. That warden and those prison guards no longer have any authority over you. You belong to Christ. If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you have been purchased with the priceless, sinless blood of Jesus Christ. Tyranical governments come and go, but the evil that lurks within the human heart brings with it greater misery than any king or despot could ever hope to inflict on his people. Christ gives freedom from those chains of sin. Freedom isn’t free; it cost God His one and only Son. Yet most people will go through life and ignore the price that was paid for them by the one and only Creator God. Just like most Americans will celebrate this 4th of July without giving much thought to the sacrifice that was paid by thousands of men and women in order to make them free as a people.
As you celebrate this holiday, don’t forget those that have paid the price for our country’s freedom, but also, don’t forget the One who paid the price for your eternal freedom from a tyrant much worse than any King. Jesus Christ paid that price for your freedom from the evils of sin both now and for all eternity. Unlike our dear soldiers who paid with their lives, Jesus rose from the dead. He is alive! He won and the debt has been paid!
