Proclaim Liberty

On July 8, 1776, the liberty bell in Philadelphia rang out to summon the citizens of the newly formed republic to gather for a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, which had been signed just four days prior, declaring our nation’s independence from England. Inscribed on the bell are these words from the book of Leviticus, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

The background of this verse in Leviticus is the Year of Jubilee, which occurred every fifty years. In the Year of Jubilee, debts were canceled and indentured servants were set free in the nation of Israel. This freedom, granted every 50 years, was to serve as a reminder of the deliverance of God’s people out of slavery in the land of Egypt, and that the promised land in which they lived really belonged to the Lord.

Along with the Declaration of Independence, another great document of freedom for our nation was the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. This proclamation was an executive order by the president that became official on January 1, 1863, but it was it not until June 19, 1865, that news of this proclamation finally reached Texas through General Gordon Granger that the Civil War had ended, and that the slaves had been declared free. It is from this date, June 19, 1856, that the holiday Juneteenth has its origins.

Abraham Lincoln became known as the Great Emancipator; however, we see in God’s Word the greatest emancipator is the Lord Jesus Christ, the deliverer from the bondage of sin.

On one Sabbath, while attending the temple, our Lord read from the book of Isaiah,
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

He concluded by saying, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears.” Thus, He was telling the crowd gathered at the temple that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and the source of true liberty.

In John 8, Jesus declared, “He who commits sin is the servant of sin…..if the Son makes you free you shall be free from sin.” It is through the atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary that we find true liberty, pardon from sin, and peace with God.

William Newell, who was saved under the ministry of Evangelist R.A. Torrey at Moody Bible Institute, and went on to become a great Bible teacher and commentator, penned these very familiar words: “Mercy there was great and grace was free;  pardon there was multiplied to me;  There my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary.”

We read in the book of Galatians that believers in Jesus Christ are not only no longer slaves to sin and its consequences, but are now called sons (or daughters, or children) of God. Romans 8 and Galatians 4 tell us the Spirit reminds us of that fact and causes us to address God as “Abba, Father.” Jesus also declared, “That as many as received Him to them gave he the power (or right or authority) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe upon His name.”

Yes, we have liberty in Christ, but, oh so much more. Those who were slaves to sin have been set free, and have become children of God and loved by the loving Heavenly Father!

We have sung these words in our church services on recent Sundays, “Who the Son sets free, oh, is free indeed. I’m a child of God yes I am. In my Father’s house, there’s a place for me. I’m a child of God, yes I am.”

The liberty, that we have in Jesus Christ, is the liberty that we need to “proclaim throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof,” but also into “all the world” and the “uttermost parts of the earth.”