4 April 2021, Anno Domini
EASTER – the Believer’s Independence Day
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HE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. (Isaiah 61:1-2)
Every American patriot will remember the blood of those defenders of liberty shed at Concord Township, at Vera Cruz, at Chancellorsville, Chateau-Thierry, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Ia Drang Valley, and Fallujah. These battles were fought to sustain those liberties, endowed by God, declared in the Declaration of Independence for, not only our own blessed land, but those yearning to breathe free everywhere. Those freedoms were purchased at the cost of blood, and it is the shedding of blood that sustains them. Without the shedding of blood there is no freedom – and without shedding of blood is no remission of sin. (Hebrews 9:22)
The greatest gift to man from God is that of Liberty purchased at the immeasurable cost of the blood of His only Begotten Son – our Lord Jesus Christ! That was the purpose of His coming – to pay the immeasurable debt owed by every man under sin over the purchase of his soul. That work of Redemption was begun in Eternity past before the worlds were made, continued through the Old Testament shadows, and fulfilled once-and-for-all by the Coming, crucifixion, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. All those Old Testament examples and prophecies did not stand alone – they were representations of the Word of God Incarnate in Jesus Christ.
The crucifixion of Christ as an act of redemption was sealed by the Easter Resurrection, for had Christ not arisen, we would remain without hope.
Our liberty from the bondage of sin was purchased at the cost of the Divine and Holy Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, all freedom comes from Him. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36) Are we thankful for that gracious gift? Yes, some are thankful, and others are indifferent.
The same is true of our National Freedoms won at the cost of blood. Many are thankful and many others have grown cold and indifferent to freedom – not understanding that every freedom lost will require the price of blood and hardship to regain. If we stand courageously for God who granted those liberties, we shall remain free.
Our churches, too, have grown cold and indifferent to the great price paid for their purchase as the very Bride of Christ. Many less-than-valiant Christian professors will suffer utter despair at His Second Coming and shamefully be relegated to the shadows of Hell.
We often love to say that our salvation was free – and indeed it is to the elect of God – but it was not free to Heaven. It cost God the Father His only Begotten Son on the shameful cross at Golgotha; and it cost our Lord Jesus Christ the shame, mockery, and humiliation experienced by Him there as He bore our sins.
Wake up, Church! Wake up, America! Remember the cost with which you were made free, and act as free men and women of responsibility and courage. If we forget not, we may enjoy many more Easters in freedom and liberty made available by Christ and His Providence. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (James 1:25)
Happy Easter and may we be renewed in Spirit and in Truth to stand firm in the storm.
Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
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