For many of us July 4th and Independence Day hold special memories. Sparklers, fireworks, firecrackers (especially as a teenager; OK, maybe as an adult male too. There is just something about blowing things up), picnics, swimming, family, friends and of course Red, White and Blue. Well, if you have grown up in central Ohio, it’s Red, White and Boom, or for the southern Ohio Rednecks, Thunder in The Valley.
I am confident that there are many images swirling through your mind right now about sweet memories of the Fourth of July weekend. Maybe for you it was camping and boating or going to grandma and grandpa’s or grilling out and homemade ice cream. Wow, now I’m sitting here thinking about all of that and I can smell the burgers and dogs on the grill, in my mind, and I am hungry.
Some of the movie goers will remember this: “In the epic adventure film ‘Independence Day,’ strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world’s major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived. Its mission: total annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend. The last hope to stop the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and unimaginable circumstances.” Nothing like the good guys versus the bad guys and the good guys winning on Independence Day!
The reality of Independence Day goes back to our nation’s rich history, dedicated founders and many who were willing to give their all for the sake of liberty. The Declaration of Independence says:
“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”
May we never forget the cost that so many of this generation have forgotten. May we never let those who would erase the truth of our great land succeed. May we stand arm in arm, toe to toe and always be reminded of what has been done in our history so that we can enjoy what we enjoy today.
But freedom is not just from the tyranny of another nation or from people who would desire to oppress us and destroy us. Real eternal freedom is from an even greater enemy that has sought to destroy all of humanity and destroy the ultimate freedom that comes from the righteous hand of God. That enemy is the devil, who is described like this in scripture: Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion (fiercely hungry), seeking someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8)
We also have another enemy that is described as sin (which is anything you think, say or do that displeases God). I dare say we would all agree that sin is a problem in our life. But there is a solution and freedom! For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) And who can forget this verse that I dare say we have all heard at one time or another. “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3:16-17)
Independence from those two enemies of humanity cost us nothing but cost Jesus everything! Be free!
Steve Hubbard is pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
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