July, 2024
Dear Friend of Creation Moments,
“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 of Independence, 1776
These familiar words are especially celebrated and remembered when we proclaim the July 4th holiday in America. But have you ever considered just how much the freedom we celebrate as an American ideal is based on the opening chapters of the Bible and on Christianity?
At the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, the famous Liberty Bell rang all day. Inscribed at the top of the Liberty Bell is a portion of Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof .” Here in this section of the Bible, with the sounding of the ram’s horn, God laid out His marvelous provisions for “Jubilee” – for ensuring perpetual freedom and productivity for all the people of Israel if they would follow His commands.
Free is what God created man to be. In Genesis 1:26, God dignifies mankind by saying, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion….” And consider that in the very beginning of the Bible we read, “…and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). The Spirit is specifically mentioned as being present when God (“Elohim”, plural) spoke creation into existence. God’s Spirit is particularly characterized and identified as “free” in the Bible (e.g., Psalm 51:12, 2 Corinthians 3:17).
God’s dignifying man with an inherent freedom is clarified in the next chapter of the Bible, which goes back into the specifics of how He made man and put him in the Garden of Eden. God told the man, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat” (Genesis 2:16). But as you know, God commanded the man not to eat of the fruit of the one “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, and gave him a warning that if he did so, he would die.
How, you might ask, was man truly free if he had that one key restriction? The answer is in considering not only every other freedom God gave mankind in the Garden, but also the freedom of choice for relationship and morality arising with the one restriction. By adding the stipulation about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God allowed man to be a truly free moral agent, capable of accepting or rejecting God’s will. Here is dignity – that man in the image of God was given real liberty of choice for personal relationship of love and respect with his Maker!
Freedom as an essential part of God’s nature and plan for man was also apparent at Mount Sinai when God gave His people the Ten Commandments. God identified Himself as the author of freedom as He began the Ten Commandments: “I am the Lord thy God, which…brought thee…out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6). The people were called to remember this “deliverance into
freedom” in the 5th Commandment: “Honor the Sabbath Day” (Deuteronomy 5:15). Regarding the 5th Commandment, the Bible says: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth… and rested the seventh day” (Exodus 20:11). Freedom is arguably the point of the Sabbath because while work is a noble and necessary thing, we are not to be enslaved to it. We are to be free.
Of course, the plain sense of the Hebrew in Exodus 20 verse 11 reaffirms that God made the creation in six literal 24-hour days with one day of rest, as does the application to the Commandment to Honor the Sabbath in a 7-day work week. Creationists have pointed out that there is really no other basis for the mostly ubiquitous 7-day week around the world – other than God in creation. It doesn’t have the same astronomical basis, for example, that a 24-hour day has (earth’s rotation on its axis), or a 365-day year (earth’s revolving around the sun), or an approximately 30-day month (phases of the moon). The common use of a 7-day week as with the ancient Babylonians, for example, is arguably a primeval memory of creation truth that fits with the cycle of work and rest for those in “the image of God”.
By the time we get to the New Testament, freedom is truly front and center. Jesus, when He launched His public ministry from the temple in Nazareth, read out of the book of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; … to preach deliverance to the captives … to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). He told the congregation that the scripture was fulfilled that day in their hearing.
The Bible exhorts us to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” (Galatians 5:1). To “stand fast” means to firmly resist the tendency to compromise a principle. Thus, Founding Father and strong Christian Patrick Henry could famously say, “Give me liberty or give me death!” This is uncompromising courage of conviction. And this is what we also can uphold as we proclaim the uncompromising and foundational truths of the Bible!
Jewish historian Josephus wrote about the Tower of Babel in his Antiquities of the Jews. He described how Nimrod was the principal one to excite the early post-flood world population in their rebellion against God and attempt to create a humanist utopia. He noted in a 2,000-year-old statement these keenly insightful words in its understanding of mass psychology: “Nimrod … gradually changed the government into a tyranny, seeing no other way of turning man from the fear of God but by bringing them into a constant dependence upon its [the government’s] power.”1
Most of the world recently lived through prolonged pandemic lockdowns, and we should realize that there can be “a method behind the madness” in these sorts of things – one of conditioning people to accept governmental authority, control and provision in the place of God.
This is why it is so important to know the gospel of Jesus Christ, with its full revelation in a totally trustworthy and inerrant Bible … and to spread that revelation to others throughout the world! Won’t you help us continue to expand our outreach domestically and internationally, as we are doing? God bless you for your prayers and support!
Yours in Christ,
Mark Cadwallader, Board Chairman
P.S. If you are curious to see the ancient and biblical roots incorporated by the founders of the United States … or if it troubles you when people attack the Bible, saying there’s no reason to fully believe it, then I’m sure you’ll want to get your hands on this month’s book selections!
The Bible, the Constitution and the Founding Fathers explores pre-Flood history, ancient Hebrew history and biblical history that proves our Creator really did grant us inalienable rights that must be guarded! The book shows how the nation’s founding fathers based their decisions on biblical principles and the gospel of Jesus Christ. By taking a close look at the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Supreme Court cases, this 202-page paperback will help you see what can be done to restore our land to truly be “one nation under God!”
Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life is a 251-page book filled with an abundance of archaeological support for the history told in the Scriptures! The author has provided photographs of each discovery along with detailed descriptions that enable you to examine each piece of fascinating evidence for yourself. Gathered from more than 50 museums, private collections, and archaeological sites, these pieces not only reinforce the reliability of the biblical narratives, but they also provide rich cultural insights into the ancient world. A must-read for every Bible lover!
To order these books or other previously offered resources please click here to go to the “Newsletter Resource Page”. After selecting your items, the check-out page will also provide an opportunity for you to partner with us by adding a donation of any amount to support our Biblical World Wide Gospel Outreach or call us toll-free at 1-800-422-4253 during regular office hours (Mon – Th 8:30 am-4:30 pm CST). You can also get these resources from our website by pointing your phone’s camera at this QR code:
1Josephus: The Complete Works, Vol 4.
Photo: The original Liberty Bell outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia. William Zhang (CC BY 2.0)
