Freedom paid for in Blood

Introduction

245 years ago today 56 men signed a document that would set in motion changes for our future nation and be a trigger for changes in Europe. The men that signed that treasonous document knew that they were signing their lives away. Their lives would be marked, targeted. They could lose their homes, families, and their very lives. Before long that document signed in Philadelphia would and sent to King George III would lead to the War for Independence or the Revolutionary War. The freedom for our nation would be paid for with blood. Yet, as I think of the freedom we gained as a result of those men who set in motion the United States of America when they signed the Declaration of Independence; I think of the freedom that we gained when Jesus Christ died on the cross to free us from our sins.

We are in Bondage / We are in Slavery

The founding fathers of this nation wrote in their declaration about oppression of the King and his government and the tyranny that was felt by the 13 colonies, we as humans are under a worse bondage and under a slavery, a slavery to sin.

Romans 6:16 NKJV

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

We cannot Free Ourselves

The problem with our slavery is that we cannot free ourselves. We are stuck in this slavery and this bondage. We are stuck in a pit / miry clay.

Psalm 40:2 NKJV

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Jesus when He began his ministry in Galilee went His hometown to proclaim His mission:

Luke 4:16–30 NKJV

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.’ ” Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

From Isaiah He proclaimed that He had been sent to heal the brokenhearted

To proclaim liberty or freedom to the captives (FREEDOM)

recovery sight to the blind

Set or give liberty to those who are oppressed (FREEDOM)

The World did not want to hear it.

Payment of Blood

The cost is high. What would it cost to make us free? As Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You and I can not pay for even one of our sins.

Hebrews 9:22 NKJV

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Hebrews 10:5–18 NKJV

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ” Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Freedom in Christ

2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

John 8:31–36 NKJV

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Galatians 5:1 NKJV

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Conclusion / Communion

As we celebrate and remember the founding of our nation and the freedom we have in this nation today, let us not forget the freedom we have in Jesus Christ. That His freedom we have is eternal.

2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.