Freedom is Free!
Or is it?
Americans, in general, have always been willing to fight for their freedom and that of others. On this 249th Independence Day, we face new conflicts. The slogan “Freedom isn’t Free” makes the point that freedom requires sacrifice. Those who fight on our behalf or who protect us here at home often pay with their lives.
God performed the first blood sacrifice when He killed animals to make clothes for Adam and Eve. The sinful humans were banished from the Garden, but the loving Father still provided for them. He sewed garments for Adam and Eve before sending them out on their own.
After the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, God gave the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law to Moses. If a Hebrew ended up in slavery or bound servitude, once every seven years on the Day of Jubilee, he or she was to be freed and their possessions restored. Multiple rules protected family lands. Every fifty years, the Israelites were to celebrate a full Year of Jubilee. Farm land was to be left fallow for restoration, which meant they had to rely on God’s provision just like Adam and Eve.
Jubilee occurred on the same day as Yom Kippur, the solemn Day of Atonement. On behalf of his own sin, that of his family, and the rest of the people, the High Priest sacrificed a bull, then brought two goats; one for sacrifice, and the other as the “scapegoat” to represent the people’s sin for another year, and was released into the wilderness.
Fast forward to Jerusalem, around 33 A.D. God’s ultimate and final plan to rescue all His children from Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden unfolded. Jesus voluntarily went to the Cross and made the ultimate sacrifice of His own life to set us free from sin. Those who are trapped and bound by sin are freed by Jesus’s death and washed in his blood.
Yes, the Good News is free.
The price for our “Jubilee” of eternal salvation? FREE. Jesus's death was our atonement.
True freedom is free.
“You are to count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the ram’s horn everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement, you shall sound the horn throughout your land.” (Leviticus 25:3-9, NIV)
Questions for Reflection:
- What does freedom mean to you?
- What does freedom in Christ mean to you?
