Monday, July 6, 2015

A Holy Nation Conceived in Liberty



"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on his continent a new nation, conceived in liberty…."  -Lincoln, Gettysburg address, Nov 19, 1863

If he had spoken these words today, they would say 11 score and 18 years.  A score of years is 20.

In America, we tend to feel that liberty is our own unique value that suddenly came on the historical scene with our declaration of independence. 

Indeed looking back over history, it is hard to find many other examples.  We did see the British Magna Carta in the 13th century, some 500 years before our Declaration, but that applied mostly to noblemen not to common people.  Prior to that you would have to go back before Christ to find much in the way of liberty minded societies, The Roman Republic founded roughly 500 years before Christ and the Greek city states like Athens who experimented with liberty roughly 400 years before Christ. 

Human beings have a real difficulty in living free for very long. 

Even among God's people they did not fare much better.  When God rescued the people from slavery in Eqypt, roughly 1400 years before Christ,  it wasn't long before they clamored that they wanted to return to that slavery rather than risk the unknowns of life in the desert even though God had promised to take care of them and lead to a new land where there would be great abundance.  After God gave them the law through Moses and they moved into the promised land they still had very little government.  God was their King.  They had judges who were selected from among them to solve disputes.   Occasionally they gather together into a militia to fight off foreign invaders and bandits but still no government except God as their King.  The Old Testament book of Judges describes it this way.  Everyman did what was right in his own eyes.  They were free and took responsibility for their own lives.    Many large government folks today would call that anarchy.    After nearly 400 years of this kind of freedom the people cried out to God for a King.  They rejected God as King over them and desired an earthly king and gov't.  (Approximately 1051 BC)

So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king. He said, "This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. "He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. "He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. "He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. "He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. "He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. "He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. "Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day." Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."
(1 Samuel 8:10-20)


From the American Founders:

In 1776, we read the glorious words in our Declaration of Independence, "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."



God is a God of Freedom

God gets a bad rep.  He is portrayed as the God who prohibits everything.  Despite His great love and sacrifice of His Son for the world, he is portrayed as a hater by many. 

And yet He is the originator of freedom.   He puts the tree in the Garden of Eden.  He didn't have to do that. He risks His whole creation and risks that we might not love Him by putting that tree there.

Later He sends Jesus, His beloved Son, to give His life for us.  Again, He risks everything so that we might freely choose to love Him or not.

God is a God of choice.  Without choice there can be no freedom, no liberty.  Without risk that we might opt out of His plan we could not be free to choose Him, to Love Him.  Love demands liberty.


From Jesus:
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet 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 the slave of sin. "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
(John 8:31-36)

What is the truth?

There are two parts to this truth:    

  1. Humans by nature are prone to slavery. 

Slaves to self
Slaves to addiction
Slaves to sin and impulses
Slaves to fear

We live in fear because we do not have all knowledge nor do we possess all power.  We feel powerless and the world seems more complicated and hazardous all the time. 

Fear of getting fat

Fear of Death
Fear of never being skinny

Fear of Shame
Fear of being alone

Fear of being exposed as weak or for not being who we pretend to be
Fear of never being alone

Fear of not having enough
Fear of vegetables



  1.  God loves us and wants to be our liberating King forever.  God has sent His Son to free us from our slavery and our fears.

  • Not WYSIWIG.  What you see is not what you get.  Eternity is our Destiny.
  • There was little to no freedom in the first century.
  • There were unfair taxes.
  • There were warrantless searches of your home and person
  • There was no due process and no appeals unless you were a Roman citizen and even then it was not by a jury of your peers.  It was to only one man whose decision was final and potentially arbitrary, the Emperor.

And yet Peter says of those Christians of that day and of us today. 

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
(1 Peter 2:9)



Political liberty vs Kingdom Liberty

If our destiny remained in this world then we could never be free. 

Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?" Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
(John 18:33-37)

Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate *said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."
(John 19:8-11)

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(Colossians 1:13-14)


For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
(2 Corinthians 5:1-4)


There are Christians around the world living in political countries where liberties are not as available as they are here.  And yet they are still citizens of that Holy Nation that is the Kingdom of God. 

God's people since the beginning have persecuted and imprisoned for their faith in God.  All of the apostles were imprisoned and killed for their faith. 

Two Christian authors of the 20th century spent time in prisons for their faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Watchman Nee. 

They along with all of the martyrs saw themselves as citizens of a different nation, a different Kingdom where love and justice and freedom reign. 

Our liberties here for the moment still allow us to speak out against the loss of our liberties and the abuses of our government and yet we are not truly citizens here as much as we are citizens of the Holy Nation, the Kingdom of God. 

This is what knowing this truth looks like.

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
(John 13:3-5)

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:19-21)

It is the open hand.  Whatever I have … whatever my talents and gifts… we hold them with an open hand to God.  He poors into our hands so that we may poor out to others.  We are free from the need to hoard. We are free from the need to grasp and hold and protect.  Everything we have comes from Him and there is so much more.

Jesus tells us that He came that we might have life, abundantly.  But that does not come from slavery or fear.  It comes from the open hand. 


Prepare

We do not fear death.  We do not fear loss. We do not fear what this world can do to us because we know the truth and the truth has set us free from these fears. 

"This World Is Not My Home"

This world is not my home
I'm just a-passing through
My treasures are laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.

The angels beckon me
From heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home
In this world anymore.

Oh Lord, you know
I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home
Then Lord what will I do.

The angels beckon me
From heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home
In this world anymore.



There will come a time when America will be no more.  We have all watched in grief at what our nation has become as more as more people turn away from God.   But this is not God's nation.  Nations will be rolled up like old rugs and only God's Kingdom, God's Holy nation CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY will remain. 

God is not a God of prohibition.  He is a God of liberty.  Let us not to back to the land of Egypt to slavery again. Let us move forward into the land flowing with milk and honey, the promised land of eternity with the God who liberates us through great risk and great love.

Jesus promised us that as this moment approaches persecution of His followers will intensify.  Some, even among His people will be deceived and compromised.  Those remain faithful to Him will receive that crown of glory and dwell in eternal houses in presence of God of liberty who loves us and risked it all that we may choose. 

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