Let Freedom Ring
“It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.”
Galatians 5:1(NIV)
This week our country is celebrating our nation’s 245th birthday. For many July 4th is a day for family, food, and fireworks. It is also a day of remembering our forefathers’ vision, courage, and sacrifice as they signed their names to the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.
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.”
Tradition tells of a chime that changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. 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, the Liberty Bell 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 “let freedom ring” phrase twice in the concluding paragraph of his famous “I have a Dream” civil rights speech. The author of My Country Tis of Thee penned these 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, “the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Later Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) On the other side of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the New Testament writers spoke frequently about a Christian’s freedom in Christ. (Romans 6:18, 22; 8:2, 21) Christ’s atoning death on a cross always gives us at least three things:
Freedom from the law of sin and death
Forgiveness for our sins,
Fulfillment of Scripture
This week I was privileged to hear the amazing testimony of Amanda Peterson, a young physical therapist who recently became a Christian. Listening to her life-changing story, the words “Let Freedom Ring” kept coming to my mind and heart. We are not guaranteed that the freedom that our country has experienced over the last 245 years will remain, but those who are united to Christ are eternally promised the freedom that was blood-bought by Jesus’ death on the cross.
This holiday weekend as we celebrate July 4th with family, food, and fireworks, may the words “Let Freedom Ring!” also echo in our minds and hearts. And 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.
Let freedom ring!