Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776.
It was not an easy decision for the fathers of this country start a revolution against Great Britain. They tried, again and again, to get the King to treat them fairly. They asked for no special treatment, they merely wanted to have a say in what happened to them. Taxes and laws were passed and applied to the colonist without anyone present to represent them. It is hard sometimes to understand why they were so upset by a few cents in tax back then, and we are happy with 10-30% or our income being taxed now. However we chose the people that set our tax rates and create our laws, they had no say period.
In May of 1775 many still hoped to reach a peaceful settlement with the King. In a last-ditch effort they sent an Olive Brach Petition to the King, it was only after the King once again snubbed them that they declared independence.
In the movie the “Patriot” Mel Gibson’s character tell the South Carolina legislature, “Why should I trade one tyrant 3,000 miles away, for 3,000 tyrants one mile away.” It was so funny, because some times it feels so true.
Many of us remember these words from the declaration of Independence.
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.
A provocative question in my mind is, are we created with certain unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Life
The truth is that when God lifted another people out of the bonds of slavery in order to create a new nation, He forbids them to murder. The 6th Commandment, written by the finger of God on a tablet of stone, says “Thou Shall not murder.”
God had reserved the right to take life to Himself, and to governments for committing serious crimes. No individual has the right to take life particularly for their own gain.
Liberty
The other claim made by Jefferson and agreed to by the signers of the Declaration of Independence is the right to liberty. Liberty is defined as “the state of being free from control or restriction” or the “right to act, believe, or express one self’s as one chooses” or “the state of being free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor.”
When God established the nation of Israel, He said that “if anyone bought a Hebrew slave he had to freed after 6 years.” Since kidnapping someone was punishable by death, these slaves were ones that sold themselves into slavery. (Ex. 21:16)
Our very own Liberty Bell has this scripture quoted, Lev. 25:10 10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.
In one instance of them violating this God spoke thus to them,
7“Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord—‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jer. 36:17)
So it looks like God took this Liberty thing pretty serious. God even values freedom in that He allows us to choose whether or not we obey Him. Of course there are rewards and consequences for following or not following His Laws much like there are penalties for violating civil law.
C.S. Lewis said, “Without free will, man would not be created “in the image of God.” With it, he has the power to defy God’s wishes and to bring misery on himself and others.”
You can tell a lot about a man by what he does with this freedom. What are you doing with yours?
A.W. Tozer said, “The important thing about a man is not where he goes when he is compelled to go, but where he goes when he is free to go where he will.”
The last thing to look as it the pursuit of happiness. One thing I like is that it says pursuit and not attaining. Many of us have come to realize that life comes with up and downs. While we can increase our happiness by creating habits that are good for us, and breaking habit that are bad, we still must remember that no man is an island and others choices will bear on our happiness.
Did God give us a right to pursue happiness. Well based on the fact He gave us Liberty and Life, it appears that we may pursue happiness.
It is important to remember that God did tell this new nation(Israel) that He was giving them a land flowing with milk and honey. He also gave them laws, if obeyed, that would prosper them in this land.
So believing that God did give us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, what have you done with it? You have been given freedom to go where you will, so were have you went? Many believe that freedom allows the good people to show goodness and the wicked to show the truth of their wickedness.
Do you consider yourself to be a good person? By whose standards. Compared to Hitler most of look good, but are we really good? Let’s choose a good standard that most everyone agrees on, the Ten Commandments. This was given to that new nation (Isarael) long ago and three major religions agree that it is a standard of goodness.
Let’s just look at three or four.
Have you ever told a lie? (9th) Have you ever stonel anything, regaurdless of value or age, and please be honest? (8th) Have you ever looked at another person with lust?(7th). If you said yes to all three you are a liar, thief, and adulterer at heart(according to Jesus). So do you still think you are a good person, when compared to this impartial standard of goodness that God gave us to measure ourselves against.
This reminds me that, almost all of here today believe we are free. The truth is that all of us here today are slaves. We are either slaves of sin or we are slaves of righteousness.
Roman 6
17But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 1
Either you have kept the Law of God or you have broken it. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.(James 2:10).
Just like there are fines for breaking the laws in the U.S. there are also fines for breaking God’s Law. Remember we are created in His image and His just nature is what leeds us to seek justice through laws and courts. Just like a good judge must uphold the law, God who is the only one that is really good will uphold His Law. God has decreed that, “all liars have their part in the lake of fire which is the second death.” He has decreed that “no adultery and no thief” will inherit the kingdom of heaven. He has said that he will not hold anyone guiltless that takes His name in vain.
The Bible records in 1st John that “Sin is transgression of the Law” The Bible also records that the “wages of sin is death..” You see we all are standing on death row. It is hard to tell at times because it is a big holding cell with a blue roof, and we are free to roam about as we choose. However we have still been arrested by the law, found guilty and awaiting punishment. The only thing left is to see the Judge and receive our punishment, remember the sentence is already decided.
When do we face the judge? The Bible says (Hebrews 11:27) that it is appointed once for a man to die, then judgment.” So we will face judgment when we die. When is that, I do not know, and neither do you. You could have a heart attack right now and stand before the judge, or He could give you another year or twenty.
Now that is the bad news, but there is some good news. “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God knowing that you could not pay your fine, decided that He loved you enough to provide another way, to pay the fine Himself.
God sent His only begotten son, born of a virgin, in the city of David. This son was to take our punishment. He would bear our inequities, and takes stripes for our healing. He was to be rejected, mocked, abused, and crucified four our lies, thefts, adulteries etc.
This son was Immanuel, God with us.
He was names Jesus.
He was the perfect Lamb of God that took away the sins of His people.
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.
He was bruised for our inequity.
He gave his life as a ransom for many.
He came to liberate the captives.
He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
God commended his love toward in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ died for while we were sinners, while we were enemies of God in our minds through wicked works.
Do you know what you must do in order to receive this gift. Jesus said the “unless you repent you will perish” He also said that “whomever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The Apostle Paul said, “ I have not failed to testify to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
You must repent, turn away from your sins, and place your trust in Jesus Christ and the work He finished on the cross, in the same way you would trust a parachute to save you. You can’t simply believe in the parachute, you must put it on and not take it off until you have landed.
The time for salvation is now. God is commanding everyone everywhere to repent.
