Throughout history there have been cries for freedom, revolutions to gain freedom, and written documents to proclaim and guarantee freedom. The problem with the documents is that they are self-enforcing so, securing peoples’ freedoms depends on how those in positions of power choose to abide by them. An 800-year-old document known as the Magna Carta is a great example. The Magna Carta clearly proclaimed that everyone including the king was subjected to the law by emphasizing individual liberty, equitable justice, and the right to a fair trial. The document arose from a conflict between rebel landowners in London and the existing monarchy who in their victory forced King John to sign. However, later when the terms went into effect the King rejected it and had it revoked claiming that it was illegal, unjust, and harmful to royal rights.
It is worth noting the principles named in the Magna Carta greatly influenced the Bill of Rights. Despite that, American citizens are constantly fighting for their religious freedom, their right to bear arms, due process, and limited government.
There are countless other writings that influenced our Founding Fathers including the Holy Bible which they derived principles of wisdom from including the need for prayer, delegation of governing principles and the need for a nation to submit to the Triune God’s authority. The founding fathers knew these Biblical principles were necessary to maintain our Constitutional Republic but unfortunately in this age people want to find truth in themselves and temporary things of this world rather than the almighty.
One piece that had great influence in 1776, possibly more so than our Declaration of Independence was Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. His essential belief was that society’s needs are best met when individuals can freely pursue their own interests while businesses are incentivized and gain from meeting the needs of other businesses and individuals. He also emphasized a minimal role for government in the economy. However, since then socialism has had a great presence throughout the world and people have been oppressed immensely by regimes including the former Soviet Union, China, and most recently Venezuela. Even in the U.S., we have a healthcare system with staggering costs which has become increasingly burdened with government regulations. Costs to run businesses have grown significantly over the years due to government intervention while our national debt now exceeds $27 trillion.
Frederic Bastiat’s warnings in the Law written during the French Revolution unfortunately fell on deaf ears. He wisely understood that the only legitimate state power should be to stand against injustice. He saw injustice as ‘plunder’, which was any confiscation or redistribution of life, liberty, or property. Once again despite strong advocates for liberty like those who championed the Magna Carta, our Founding Fathers, Adam Smith and Frederic Bastiat, mankind has dealt with those who do not value individual worth granted by God who made us in His image. Nor do they see that every individual deserves to be free from unjust and oppressive bonds.
With that said here, despite words of wisdom there is no hope. Striving to obtain what the men mentioned above sought for is like standing on sinking sand. Granted, as indicated our founders embraced liberty and a Biblical Worldview but no one knows where our country is going.
Well, you might ask, what will happen? How about me? Who’s in control?
One thing the founders are given credit is that most of them knew the answers to these questions. The worldview of the Bible dominated at that time. It started with the realization that there is a Triune God who has spoken through the Bible and has revealed Himself through His creation. Not only that, but they also recognized that the Triune God created all mankind and every living creature along with everything else in our planet. Furthermore, they saw that He created every star we see at night, the moon, the sun, the planets, and everything we cannot see out of a telescope.
The founders also knew the destruction and curse put on Earth and mankind from the disobedience of Earth’s first inhabitants, Adam and Eve. This curse and the evil put on man’s hearts explains the struggle we’ve gone through striving for freedom while savage leaders have senselessly murdered and oppressed their people.
While we have seen the effects of original sin, we must recognize the eventual reckoning we will face before God, the judge of the universe. He is perfectly just and gives each person what they deserve. In the Book of Romans found in the New Testament we’re told that the wages of sin is death. In other words, in exchange for our sin we receive eternal death. The verse goes on to say, the gift of God is eternal life with Jesus Christ. So, this means there are two types of people in this world. First, there are those who turn their back on God out of pride and refuse to walk with Him. They will be subject to God’s just punishment of wrath as they did not repent of their sin. The others received God’s gift, Jesus Christ through faith as they saw their need for reconciliation with God. It is important to see what happened for the second group who trusted in God’s gift. God was still just. His wrath was placed on Jesus instead of them. Their faith meant they recognized that their sin greatly displeased God and prevented them from having fellowship with Him. Furthermore, they saw Christ’s death on the cross and His shed blood on their behalf as the only means to sufficiently atone for their sin and bring them back into fellowship with God, the Father.
The description of the second group epitomizes the ultimate victory as it was accomplished and secured by the Triune God who is sovereign over all. Though the words and writings of the freedom advocates mentioned such as the architects of the Magna Carta, our founding fathers, Adam Smith, and Frederic Bastiat were inspiring and powerful, they could not liberate. While necessary, the freedom they spoke of if realized could only provide a temporary victory.
The words of Jesus’s victory can penetrate a person’s heart and with the work of the Holy Spirit liberate them from a potential guilty verdict on account of their sin. With liberation comes entrance into an eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken and a shared inheritance with the one, Jesus who as their advocate paid the ultimate price by standing in their place.
In His Image 