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INDEPENDENCE
DAY
 Every
July 4th, the United States celebrates Independence Day, when in
1776 they separated from Britain. Thomas Jefferson, in writing the
Declaration of Independence, identified a number of “truths,”
namely, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among these
are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
We would probably all agree that pleasure
is a king-size ingredient of happiness. Most people spend much of
their leisure time pursuing pleasure in the hope of finding
happiness.
Today people still like their so-called
independence. Amongst teenagers it is an indication of growing up,
of leaving the security of “home”, and going out into the world to
make a name for themselves. The Lord Jesus told the parable of the
Prodigal Son, but the young man found it was tough away from “home”
and he didn’t find the satisfaction he expected, but came to his
senses and returned home. All of us have times when we'd like to be
completely free to do whatever we want. We long to break out of our
restricting circumstances. However, in practice total freedom or
complete independence is never an option that we have, the reason
being that we are servants by nature, even though we might not
realise it. The Lord Jesus said, “Whoever
commits sin is the servant of sin”, and all of us –
without exception – are “servants of sin”
by nature and practice. He was not referring to political bondage,
but to the slavery of the soul to evil passions and desires. We
enter the world enslaved to sin and Satan, and not as free as we
believe we are.
Adam, the first man, was truly free. God
had given him a free will to choose,
 either
to obey or disobey God, but he was not free from the consequences of
his decision. God gave our first parents the option of not following
His will, a will that sought nothing but their good. God didn’t
create man to be a puppet, but made him a creature capable of
choice. God had given him a lot of freedom in the garden—Adam could
eat from any tree at all except for one. And he had been told that
if he disobeyed, he would surely die. Instead of listening to God
and staying within the limits of his God-given freedom, Adam
listened to the voice of evil, embraced sin, and went ahead in
disobeying God. He ushered in an “Independence Day”, but it was a
declaration of independence from God. Perhaps he assumed that God
would not do what He said He would do. Or, maybe he thought that
enjoying his “freedom” would be worth it whatever sanctions came. He
was wrong, though, because the consequence of his decision was
death— spiritual death in his relationship with God and the death of
his body. And that has been the case ever since. One disobedient act
separated us from God, and sin and death entered into the world.
However, there is a solution. By turning to Christ and trusting in
His sacrifice on the cross, God promises to release us from the
condemnation of sin.
It is almost 2,000 years ago, the Lord
Jesus cried out on the cross, "It is
finished," proclaiming the believer's "declaration of
independence." All of humanity was under the tyranny of sin and
death. But Christ, the sinless One, took our place on Calvary and
died for our sins. Having satisfied God's righteous demands, He now
sets free for eternity all who trust in Him. There was no
independence in the Lord Jesus, the great characteristic of His life
was submission to His Father.
We are all servants. Our decision is not
whether we will serve, but whom.
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