Humanity’s Freedom

As the United States of America celebrates Independence Day on July 4, it’s worth noting this nation was founded upon the idea that from the very beginning, the Lord created mankind to be free and to flourish in relationship with Him. The United States Declaration of Independence declares that people “…are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  

As we look at “God’s plan from the beginning,” it is important for each of us to reflect on God’s plan and truths for what He divinely envisioned as a necessity: humankind flourishing, with freedom and liberty being an important aspect of that intended flourishing.

But what exactly is true biblical “freedom and liberty”? Is our freedom based upon the country where we live, or is liberty when a particular nation achieved its independence as many on the continent of Africa celebrate each year, or can it have a deeper meaning?

We want to share some helpful biblical truths from Scripture about freedom, including finding true freedom in our lives.

1. The search for humanity’s freedom continues. For thousands of years, mankind has searched for freedom and its associated promised flourishing. Just three chapters into the story of God’s creation, humanity gave up its freedom by choosing to rebel against God (Genesis 3:1-24). From that time forward, the reality of perfect freedom, which God created in the beginning, was traded for our search to regain and experience what mankind’s disobedience had lost.
2. God’s response to our lost freedom has always been Jesus Christ. When Christ began His earthly ministry, He did so by reading from Isaiah 61, when He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19, NIV). Jesus declared and would demonstrate God’s intention to return lost freedom from the world’s captivity and liberty from all that would oppress God’s creation as He intended from the start.
3. Freedom and liberty are a “Christ encounter” away for any who would receive Him. God’s answer for the freedom we seek is found in the person of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Deliverer. The amazing message of the “Good News” — the Gospel — is that Jesus Christ can and will rescue us from the slavery of sin that prevents the true freedom that the Lord intended.

From beginning to end…Genesis to Revelation, God’s Word points to the freedom we can experience in relationship to Christ. It begins with God’s plan for our flourishing as His creation and ends with us choosing Jesus and following Him daily.

May every person’s search for liberty and freedom find Jesus as their “God-promised” destination.