Ultimate Liberty

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Church of God, In Truth</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church of God, In Truth"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Edification Articles"><B>Edification Articles</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="am_i_going_to_heaven.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Am I going to Heaven?">Am I going to Heaven?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="why_does_the_earth_have_a_mo.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Why does the Earth have a Moon?">Why does the Earth have a Moon?</A></div> <div> <A 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HREF="id336.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Righteous Judgment">Righteous Judgment</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id337.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The physical and spiritual blessings of ">The physical and spiritual blessings of submission</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>Ultimate Liberty</B></I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >    </FONT></div> <bR> <div>     <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > Thomas Jefferson, third US president in a letter to William Stevens Smith on November 13, 1787 said, "We hold these truth to be self- evident, - that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is the natural manure."</FONT></div> <div>      History records that man had always desired freedom. He wants independence and liberty. The Bible also show that God's chosen people, the Israelites had been in bondage under the Egyptians. God helped them by sending them Moses to lead them out of their oppression. Israel as well as any other man or nation desire to be free.</div> <div>      This same desire is also found among us Filipinos. We had been colonized and oppressed by the Spaniards since the early sixteenth century. Among the champion of the people who refreshed with his blood the tree of liberty was Dr. Jose P. Rizal, our national hero. Just before he died by a firing squad, he wrote the poem "Mi Ultima Adios" (My Last Farewell). In it he wrote, "I die without seeing the dawn brighten over my native land. You who will someday behold the light of day, forget not those who fell in the night"</div> <div>      Another champion for independence, just a generation ago was President Manuel L. Quezon. He was a true nationalist and being the head of the nationalist party (political party), he said, "My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins." Today that political party is no longer around, it had been dissolved by the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. </div> <div>      During the Japanese occupation, President Quezon was in the United States. He was made president of the Philippine commonwealth. He however died of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake New York.</div> <div>      Before dying he had said an ironic statement. "I prefer to see a Philippines run like hell by Filipinos than a Philippines run like heaven by Americans. The trouble with us is when we have problem we ran to America for help but we don't want to be under them. There was once a movement, Philippine stateshood USA, that was in the early 60's, but it was thrashed out by the nationalists, they being in power.</div> <div>      Even the great nation of America did not become a nation without the struggle for independence and liberty. Let's go back in time for a moment to March 23, 1775. The place is Richmond, Virginia, in a building known as St. John's Church. The occasion is a gathering called the Second Virginia Convention. Tension of recent years between the American colonies and the British government have heightened with the introduction of British troops around the Boston area. The Second Virginia Convention is now discussing the landing of British troops, and possible steps to be taken by the colony of Virginia.</div> <div>      Opinions are divided during the convention.  A few remain sympathetic and loyal to the British government.  Many are very unhappy with policies and events of recent years, but are reluctant to take any steps that might be considered confrontational. A motion has been made concerning a Virginia militia, but in general, indecision prevails.</div> <div>      On the evening of March 23, a 39-year-old shopkeeper turned-lawyer rises to address the convention. He is a man who prizes personal liberty and freedom above all else. He is known as a great orator and a riveting speaker.  His name is Patrick Henry.</div> <div>      He begins by telling the other delegates how he understands the desire and hope for peace.  He tells them, however, that there is no longer a reasonable hope for peace.  He talks of how he, too, would like a negotiated settlement, but points out that 10 years of talk have yielded nothing.  He mentions that British troops have landed to the north of them, and said, the next gale from the north will bring the sound of the clash of arms.  He finishes with the statement that has become famous in American history.</div> <div>               "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"</div> <div>      Given the speaking skills of Patrick Henry, and the tension and depth of feeling of the times, the effect of these words was electric.  One delegate later said this must have been like sitting in Belshazzar's palace and watching the moving hand writing on the wall.   Another changed his will to request that he be buried on the ground of St. John's Church. The rallying cry of "liberty or death" carried throughout the colonies.  The War of Independence began a year later, and a nation was born.</div> <div>        Interestingly, when delegates met some 10 years later to try to forge a nation by uniting the 13 colonies under a constitution, Patrick Henry fought it bitterly.  He feared that under such a government he and his fellow Virginians would actually be deprived of some of the liberty they had won at such a great cost.  He predicted that the new government would last less than a hundred years.</div> <div>      The Constitution, which formed the basis of the new nation, was fashioned by those who set aside such fears and worked for unity.  Nevertheless Patrick Henry made a great contribution, both by galvanizing his countrymen to action, and by his contribution toward the Bill of Rights, which became a part of the Constitution, and which guaranteed personal rights and liberties.</div> <div>      And so, at the core of the governing documents of many nations are the promised freedoms, liberties and independence for the people.  But where does our true liberty come from?  What promises are held out for those who follow Jesus Christ?</div> <div>      Liberty is a large part of the message preached by Christ to those who would listen. Notice His remarks to a group of His contemporaries, as recorded in John 8:32: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.</div> <div>      Free from what?" His listeners responded by saying they had never been in bondage (verse 33).  They were thinking of slavery in the same way as Dr. Rizal or Patrick Henry and his countrymen did.  Slavery to them meant chains and unpaid servitude.  Christ was talking about a different kind of slavery and liberty.  He went on in verse 34 to 36 to explain that whoever sins is a slave of sin.  But that His coming as the Son of God paid the penalty for sin and set us free:</div> <div>      "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abide forever.  Therefore if the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed."</div> <div>      The apostle Paul talks in Romans 8 about the liberty given to us.  In verses 10 and 11, he points out that our mortal bodies are subject to death.  God, through His Spirit, gives us true life- eternal life: "....but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (verse 10).</div> <div>      The American forefathers took up a rallying cry of "liberty or death."  We have a much greater liberty- liberty from death itself!</div> <div>      In verses 18 through 23 of Romans 8, Paul continues the theme of life and liberty.   He personified the creation, picturing the universe as waiting for our revealing as the sons of God.  Notice verse 21: "...because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."</div> <div>      The margin shows an alternate translation of the word corruption as "decay.  If the creation" was corrupted and decayed in Paul's day, how much more is that true today?  We are literally polluting ourselves off the planet.  Along with the decay and corruption of the universe, we are corrupted as a society.  New diseases spring up among us faster than we can find the cures.</div> <div>      Our ultimate liberty as the immortal children of God will coincide with the release of the planet from diseases, decay and death itself. Notice verses 22 and 23. As the firstfruits of God, our redemption signals the release of the entire creation from its current pain and travails-not just from physical decay and corruption, but also spiritually and morally.</div> <div>      The time of that redemption and release is pictured again by Paul in 1Corinthians 15:  Here, he looks toward the time when the kingdom is finally delivered to the Father: "Then comes the end, when He delivered the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.  He last enemy that will be destroyed is death" (I Cor 15:24-26).</div> <div>      Dr. Jose P. Rizal and all the patriots around the world including Patrick Henry and the American forefathers had a deep desire for personal liberty.  Their passions were so fired up by that desire that they were willing to risk their lives, and in fact many lost their lives in that war for independence.</div> <div>      How much more should our passions be fired up by the prospect of liberty on a grand scale like our forefathers never imagined?</div> <div>        God's all-encompassing plan for mankind is phenomenal! Our destiny is not liberty or death, which was the limit of their vision. Our destiny, our liberty, is liberty from death itself! This is the ultimate liberty.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Sotero  Sonza</div> </td> </tr></table></body>