The Cross: My Statue of Liberty

Is our focus on the Lady of the harbor or on the Lord of heaven? by Whaid Rose

Independence Day -- a time when America celebrates its liberty in style: fireworks, cookouts, picnics, ball games, and plenty of red, white, and blue. But do we really stop to think what true liberty is all about?

The word liberty means freedom from captivity, bondage, and restraint. It can be either physical or spiritual. Though God has tremendously blessed America, much of this country is still in spiritual bondage.

The freedom America enjoys is best assessed in political terms. Yet the freedom that has eternal value is not political but spiritual. The Statue of Liberty's torch will burn out into oblivion without the glow of the cross of Jesus Christ. Spiritual freedom cannot be received from the Lady in the harbor, but from the Lord in heaven.

The issue here is the over-riding significance of the symbol of the cross over the symbol of the statue. All those who fail to see this issue will not recognize their need for spiritual freedom, despite their citizenship in this "land of the free and home of the brave." Many in this nation fail to recognize this important truth for three reasons: mis-leading requirements, misplaced investments, and mistaken assessments.

Misleading requirements

For many Americans, the only requirement for freedom and peace in this life is citizenship in a free country and a chance to enjoy their share of the country's material blessings. But Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). By using the word indeed, Jesus suggests that not all freedom is complete. Any person who has not been set free by His blood is still in spiritual bondage, despite his or her cherished sentiments about national or individual liberties.

Freedom from any other source is not freedom "indeed." As an American citizen, one may enjoy temporal hap-piness, based on good circumstances, but not real joy, based on knowing Christ as Savior. The basic requirement for true freedom, therefore, is not national but heavenly citizenship made possible by the great liberator Jesus Christ.

"You will be free indeed," declared Jesus. In other words, He will thoroughly set us free from past guilt, present worries, and future fears.

I'm not saying Christians are free from problems; they have their fair share -- and then some. Yet they are able to face them with an attitude that makes them victors, not victims. The secret is Jesus and the complete freedom He wonderfully bought on the cross for all who will accept it.

Misplaced investments

America is a country of investments. Many immigrants who were materially poor in the countries they came from are now wealthy and seeking ways and means for further wealth. Thus, many Americans overlook their need for the Savior because of the investments they are so busy making. Most of these investments are misplaced.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare" (Isaiah 55:1, 2).

The above passage is God's advice to those who make material rather than spiritual investments. The freedom and the wherewithal to purchase and enjoy stocks, bonds, and shares in great companies is good, but stops short of eternal values. Only the Lord's salvation, which He offers freely "without price," will supply the wise investor with lasting dividends. One's investments, therefore, must be in the things of God.

Americans have the freedom to earn material wealth and to spend it at their discretion, but some claim the freedom to waste their resources on what does not bring true satisfaction. They fail to realize that they can't be satisfied without salvation. The more some liberated people are able to obtain, the more they desire to receive, and the more they get, the more they waste. Their investments give them a sense of security, but this security is worth nothing because it comes from misplaced investments.

The wine and the milk God offers are His spiritual blessings on those who come to Him. This investment costs the investor nothing, save complete surrender to the One who gives more abundant life. The payment has already been made on the cross of Christ.

Mistaken assessments

To make an assessment is to appraise or estimate the value and character of something. The world's assessment of life and what it's all about is greatly mistaken. Those who so dearly cherish Miss Liberty would quickly run to Jesus if they would assess life from God's point of view.

In speaking of liberty, a biblical writer named Paul said, "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. . . . You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:1, 13).

Many understand liberty as whatever gives one personal rights to do whatever one desires to do. Some will admit that a terrible misuse of liberty exists in our country. In this regard, Paul declared that 1) liberty is not license and 2) freedom carries responsibility.

Only at the cross of Jesus Christ can we find perfect rest from our sins, and only in this rest do we truly learn the meaning of freedom. Then we want to do the will of the One who sets us free.

May I be careful to say here that the cross is only a symbol. We do not worship the cross nor pay allegiance to an object, but we are eternally liberated by Jesus who died on that cross. The cross represents the freedom that comes from knowing Christ.

The Statue of Liberty, too, is only a symbol. America finds joy and happiness in the liberty for which it stands. Yet even the liberty America enjoys is given by God. We who live in this country need to give thanks to God continually for the bounties we enjoy.

The best of blessings

The God who bestows such bless-ings is saying to this country, "I have a blessing that supersedes all the blessings you will ever know. It comes not from the Lady in the harbor, but from the One in the heavens. And it has a torch that shines for all the world to see, a torch that need never be re-ignited, for Jesus proclaimed, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).

Engraved at the foot of the Statue of Liberty are the words of Emma Lazarus:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

These words capture the thoughts of the famous French sculptor Bartholdi, who designed Miss Liberty. But they also capture the mission of Jesus. In the first sermon He preached, He said He had come to proclaim liberty to those who are poor, brokenhearted, captive, blind, and bruised (Luke 4:16-21). This He did and brought it to a climax when He hung on the cross.

Herein is true liberty: the redemption of Jesus.

A version of this article appeared in a past issue of the Bible Advocate print magazine. For a free subscription by regular mail, contact us at bibleadvocate@cog7.org.

Whaid Rose is president of the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day). Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.

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