HEARTLIGHT(R) Magazine

June 30, 2008
 
TODAY'S ARTICLE 
 

Independence Day, by Phil Ware


Les came back from World War II without one arm and missing several
fingers on the other hand. He has carried the price tag of freedom in
his own body ever since. He is like so many who are among us who
purchased and preserved our freedom at great cost. It is a cost they
can never forget because they bear on their bodies and their psyches
the horrors of war. But Les came back. Tens of thousands of others
never came back from World War II, or Korea, or Viet Nam or from the
deserts of ... The old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song speaks
truth, even in protest of war:

Find the cost of freedom,
buried in the ground.
Mother earth will swallow you,
lay your body down.

As U.S. citizens celebrate this Independence Day, let's remember that
cost that has been paid to purchase freedom -- not just for a nation,
but for all people!

There was a war for all the human race in which freedom for all people
was purchased. This freedom was purchased at great cost as well. The
symbol of that cost is not a hillside of white crosses or the Tomb of
the Unknown or a black wall of names. As precious as these symbols are
to those who know them and the people they represent, they do not
compare to the symbol of the Empty Tomb. This symbol transcends ethnic
and national boundaries.

The Empty Tomb is the symbol of the cost of true freedom for all people
-- the cost of Jesus leaving the security and power of heaven and
becoming earthbound and mortal (Philippians 2:5-11). It is the symbol
of the degradation of crucifixion before a jeering and mocking mob. It
is the symbol of an agonizing death on a cross when he had the power to
prevent it. It is also the symbol of three days in the ground -- Jesus
literally lay his body down. But the words to this tune are different.
"Find the cost of freedom, no longer in the ground."

You see, the Empty Tomb is the sign of ultimate freedom. It is the
reminder that we no longer have to fear death. All of our mortal fears
are conquered. As the apostle Paul says:

Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
(1 Corinthians 15:54-55 NLT).

For the Christian, Independence Day doesn't come once a year. No, for
Jesus' followers, Independence day comes every Sunday! The early
Christians met on the first day of the week, the Lord's Day (Revelation
1:10), Sunday, to take of the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7). This is their
Independence Day. By the end of the first century, Sunday had become
the Lord's Day. On this day they remembered the Lord's death and
anticipated his return because freedom from death had been won.
Independence Day is the day of the Empty Tomb! So as each Sunday
approaches, let's remember the cost of our freedom and give thanks!

Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in
their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds
the power of death -- that is the devil -- and free those who all
their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews
2:14-15).

Independence Day is the day of the Empty Tomb!