By J. Robert Smith
- March 28, 2024
- 2-min read
Christians know the pivotal importance of Easter. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins to bring about God’s reconciliation with man. Repentance of sin was made possible through the Almighty opening the door to His forgiveness. Christ’s resurrection was proof of His divinity. His sacrifice and ascension accomplished His mission.
But I’ll suggest that Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection not only restored our full humanity in God’s eyes, but was meant to lift us out of thousands of years of human bondage – that’s bondage to others with the power to hold fellows captive in some way. We were no longer to be chattel. Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection broke the chains forever, spiritually and in this world.
Our human rights – our natural rights – were granted by God and God alone. We are free-willed by nature. Our rights didn’t derive from governments and weren’t subject to the desires of kings, queens, emperors, or modern dictators. We were created and meant to be free to strive to be our best selves; free to produce; free to express – free from the whims of potentates and, today, in America and across the globe, from establishment elites, who in their arrogance believe that their affluence and stations entitle them to not only order our lives, but decide our lives’ worth.
Elites are no way entitled. The 2,000-plus years of history since Christ’s death and resurrection have been a struggle by our ancestors — and now us — to throw off shackles. We’re to live completely in the sunshine of God’s grace. We’re to live as decent, civilized people, respectful of others while seeking ordered, fruitful lives.
Too many American elites now are electing to challenge God… to not just question our birthright, but to steal our rights from us. They’re turning their backs on our founding. As John Adams said, “Our Constitution was only made for a “moral and religious people.” For only under God, in accordance with His laws, do we fully achieve our liberty as human beings, both in our earthly and spiritual lives.
It does us well to reread our Declaration of Independence, which unambiguously states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The Declaration’s words weren’t chosen for effect. They boldly declared that our liberty was given to us by God and wasn’t subject to the narrow interests of any tyrant. Those words aren’t any less true today. They remain consistent with Jesus Christ’s gift of liberation two millennia ago.
Happy Easter.
