The Source of Basic Freedoms
In the center of the Coat of Arms, in the middle of the flag of the Dominican Republic, is a Bible with a golden cross above it.
The colors of the flag are red, white, and blue – blood, salvation, and liberty, respectively. This is because, history tells us, Juan Pablo Duarte, a founding father of that country who designed its flag in 1838, was inspired in his design by the Scripture, John 8:31-32. In the text, Jesus is speaking and says, “If ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.
In principle, continue in God’s Word so that you can know the truth so that you can be free! Essentially, freedom comes from believing and applying Biblical truth!
The converse understanding of this principle is that if we stray from what the Bible teaches, we will find ourselves believing lies and we will lose freedoms. We will be bound by chains of darkness and false philosophy – unable to discern right from wrong and therefore under the control of those who hate God. Satan, in fact, is described as the one who “deceives the whole world” in Revelation 12:9. And Jesus, having explained the source of truth and freedom, gets to this point a little later in the same chapter of John noted in the above paragraph, “…he (the devil) is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).
There are many false ideas that many Christians accept to one degree or another, including evolution. Believing the lies of our spiritual adversary has serious consequences because they can bring us into bondage to spiritual wickedness – whether that be on a personal level or on a community level.
For example, on a personal level, do we believe lies such as “I am rejected and unloved”, or “I must continue to be ashamed of myself”, or “I must hold on to hurts and bitterness”? And on a group level, do we believe the lies, subtle and not-so-subtle, which grow out of an evolutionary worldview – such as the progressive, humanist, and Marxist ideas which have penetrated modern culture, including “evolved” ideas about sex and marriage?
In every case where we buy-into the enemy’s lies, we lose various degrees of the freedom God desires for us. As Christians, we have the ability to move into ever-increasing degrees of freedom through God’s power in our lives. We can experience a few degrees of freedom in Christ, or we can experience many degrees of freedom.
And as we see from the Scriptures, that freedom is founded in truth – the truth of God’s Word, which is to be believed and followed. Christians are disciples of Jesus, which means we follow-after Him. Thus, we follow the principles of forgiveness and love and prayer and faith and hope and righteousness and repentance. And many times we must confess and repent of believing the lies of the enemy. This is the path to healing both individually and corporately – because these principles are spiritually powerful!
And as I have discussed many times in my blog posts and newsletters, spiritual reality transcends the material world as a higher reality – both scientifically and biblically.
Indeed, the Bible tells us that “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
One hundred years after Juan Pablo Duarte’s flag design, as the world anxiously kept its eye on the current events of 1941, President Roosevelt gave a State of the Union speech about freedom. He enumerated four of what he thought to be basic freedoms which should be available to all people everywhere – freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from fear, and freedom from want. President Roosevelt was laying the groundwork for another possible American military defense of freedom.
By the end of that year, Pearl Harbor had occurred, and America found itself immersed in World War II – fighting to preserve freedom in the face of worldwide hegemony by the Axis Powers. Freedom is indeed a precious commodity, and one worth fighting for.
Indeed, in his message, President Roosevelt was drawing upon the legacy of freedom growing out of a Judeo-Christian culture based on Biblical law and the gospel of Jesus Christ. American society and government, like no other before it, had enabled a free society with a legal system and checks and balances against the abuse of power – and Roosevelt was reminding people of how such freedom comes with responsibility.
During the speech, Roosevelt said this: “As men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by armaments alone”.
This is great spiritual truth. And in a democracy, a great civic truth as well - because of the importance of free and fair elections and participation in them. And why each of us should develop the habit of wrestling in prayer, as well as in good deeds. It is why we are engaged at Creation Moments in the fight to declare and trumpet biblical truth!
- Mark Cadwallader, Board Chairman of Creation Moments
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