Last Wednesday night I presented the class a "type vs. antitype"
lesson and used ancient Egypt (type) and Israel as the antitype. I didn’t have
enough time to cover some additional points I thought appropriate to that lesson
so I’d like to continue on with it today and use it in conjunction with some
thoughts on our coming holiday.
Next Thursday is our July 4th celebration. It’s pretty much referred to nowadays as "The Fourth Of July." What with all the fireworks, picnics, BBQ’s, parties and travel outings, I feel like we’ve forgotten, or overlooked, the proper title of this holiday - "Independence Day." Probably even more correctly stated would be the "Declaration of Independence Day."
In figurative likeness to Moses telling Pharoah, "Let my people go" were our brave forefathers demanding freedom from King George of England. And, as Pharoah didn’t immediately comply with Moses’ request, neither did the King to the freedom demands of the colonies. Exactly how much time passed from the demand by Moses to the Exodus of Israel isn’t known, but it obviously took some time to be accomplished.
Same with our nations’ declaration and the final accomplishment of gaining our freedom from England. It took seven long years (1776-1783) of suffering and death to accomplish. That is the reason that we’ve celebrated on the 4th of July since shortly after the end of the War of Independence.
Another "type" point that I see here is that God ordered a day to be set aside for the remembrance of the gaining of Israel’s freedom from Egypt and the cost of accomplishing it, IE: the "death" of the first born of Egypt. We’ll see the "antitype" to this point later on, but my point here is, it was never to be forgotten the cost of their freedom.
As a side thought here, what worries and bothers me about our coming national holiday next week is that, by my observations anyway, a large portion of our society has seemingly forgotten the cost of our country’s freedom. It seems to me that this "portion" of our population is more concerned with the "festival" aspects of a long weekend holiday than with the remembrance of why we celebrate it in the first place.
We seem to be celebrating having more days available to party, more time to travel and play in some manner, than in considering the real meaning of the day. Perhaps it’s my age and generation coming to the fore here but, it appears to me that it’s the older folks that observe it for its true meaning.
That was pretty easily noted during my recent trip to and stay in Washington DC over the Memorial Day weekend. To couch my observations there in the language of "The Declaration" I’m afraid that our national efforts in the "pursuit of happiness" have transcended our efforts toward remembering the costs of "life and liberty."
Well, how do my thoughts about our "Day of Independence" relate to our Wednesday night lesson and thus, a scriptural lesson for today? Here is how I’ll try to accomplish it and I appreciate your considering if for a few more moments.
In Ga. 5:13 the Apostle Paul says that, as Christians, we’ve been "called into liberty." We’ve been liberated, been given our freedom, from the bondage of sin ("elements of the world" - Gal. 4:3) Here’s another "antitype" lesson to the "type" seen recorded in Exodus regarding Egypt and the Israelites. Israel did not gain their freedom based upon anything they did. They were given their freedom because of what God did.
And, recall that I earlier said that I’d return to this point about freedom from Egyptian bondage required a "death" in order that it be attained? Our freedom from the world’s bondage likewise required a "death" for its attainment. And, in likeness to the freedom of Israel from Egypt, the likeness of our freedom from sin - the freedom of our nation required the suffering and death of many of our soldiers in attaining it.
Now, back to the crux of this lesson, the most important point - the "death" that accomplished a Christian’s freedom from sin. There’s no shortage of scripture that tells us Who is the subject of our freedom-causing "death." As good as any is the 6th chapter of Romans and it alone would be sufficient this task without looking at others, but we will. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but I’ll just direct your attention to several significant points.
In verse 3 it tells us that when one is "baptized into Christ" they are "baptized into His death." In verse 7 we find that by this "baptism" we are "freed from sin." I think that I’ll just quote verse 10 in its entirety: "For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God." Point is, if we are in His likeness and He "lives to God", so should we.
In keeping with the thought line of our "holiday" lesson, I’ll ask you a question. Are we to just participate in this freedom-granting procedure and then forget its meaning? Not by the hair of your chinny-chin chin. Gal. 5:1 tells us that we are to "stand fast in the liberty by which Christ made us free."
If you look back at our nations history, you’ll read where various ceremonies were designated to be performed during our celebration of Independence Day. Likewise, a day of remembrance was set aside with its accompanying ceremonies so that we would not forget the "death" that gave us our freedom. 1 Cor. 11:23-29 details these ceremonies with the admonition being that we do these things "IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME." And Acts 20:7 shows us which day was designated for this commemoration.
Just as Israel was given a specific day to remember (consider) the "death" by which they were freed, Christians are also given a day in which we are to consider and remember the "death" that freed us.
In closing my thoughts today, let’s not be like my aforementioned "large portion" of society and forget the true meaning of our Independence Day celebration and I emphasize the word "celebration" because that’s exactly how we should view this occasion. Likewise, let’s meet on the 1st day of the week and "celebrate" our freedom from the bondage of sin and never FORGET THE COST OF IT!
Next Thursday is our July 4th celebration. It’s pretty much referred to nowadays as "The Fourth Of July." What with all the fireworks, picnics, BBQ’s, parties and travel outings, I feel like we’ve forgotten, or overlooked, the proper title of this holiday - "Independence Day." Probably even more correctly stated would be the "Declaration of Independence Day."
In figurative likeness to Moses telling Pharoah, "Let my people go" were our brave forefathers demanding freedom from King George of England. And, as Pharoah didn’t immediately comply with Moses’ request, neither did the King to the freedom demands of the colonies. Exactly how much time passed from the demand by Moses to the Exodus of Israel isn’t known, but it obviously took some time to be accomplished.
Same with our nations’ declaration and the final accomplishment of gaining our freedom from England. It took seven long years (1776-1783) of suffering and death to accomplish. That is the reason that we’ve celebrated on the 4th of July since shortly after the end of the War of Independence.
Another "type" point that I see here is that God ordered a day to be set aside for the remembrance of the gaining of Israel’s freedom from Egypt and the cost of accomplishing it, IE: the "death" of the first born of Egypt. We’ll see the "antitype" to this point later on, but my point here is, it was never to be forgotten the cost of their freedom.
As a side thought here, what worries and bothers me about our coming national holiday next week is that, by my observations anyway, a large portion of our society has seemingly forgotten the cost of our country’s freedom. It seems to me that this "portion" of our population is more concerned with the "festival" aspects of a long weekend holiday than with the remembrance of why we celebrate it in the first place.
We seem to be celebrating having more days available to party, more time to travel and play in some manner, than in considering the real meaning of the day. Perhaps it’s my age and generation coming to the fore here but, it appears to me that it’s the older folks that observe it for its true meaning.
That was pretty easily noted during my recent trip to and stay in Washington DC over the Memorial Day weekend. To couch my observations there in the language of "The Declaration" I’m afraid that our national efforts in the "pursuit of happiness" have transcended our efforts toward remembering the costs of "life and liberty."
Well, how do my thoughts about our "Day of Independence" relate to our Wednesday night lesson and thus, a scriptural lesson for today? Here is how I’ll try to accomplish it and I appreciate your considering if for a few more moments.
In Ga. 5:13 the Apostle Paul says that, as Christians, we’ve been "called into liberty." We’ve been liberated, been given our freedom, from the bondage of sin ("elements of the world" - Gal. 4:3) Here’s another "antitype" lesson to the "type" seen recorded in Exodus regarding Egypt and the Israelites. Israel did not gain their freedom based upon anything they did. They were given their freedom because of what God did.
And, recall that I earlier said that I’d return to this point about freedom from Egyptian bondage required a "death" in order that it be attained? Our freedom from the world’s bondage likewise required a "death" for its attainment. And, in likeness to the freedom of Israel from Egypt, the likeness of our freedom from sin - the freedom of our nation required the suffering and death of many of our soldiers in attaining it.
Now, back to the crux of this lesson, the most important point - the "death" that accomplished a Christian’s freedom from sin. There’s no shortage of scripture that tells us Who is the subject of our freedom-causing "death." As good as any is the 6th chapter of Romans and it alone would be sufficient this task without looking at others, but we will. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but I’ll just direct your attention to several significant points.
In verse 3 it tells us that when one is "baptized into Christ" they are "baptized into His death." In verse 7 we find that by this "baptism" we are "freed from sin." I think that I’ll just quote verse 10 in its entirety: "For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God." Point is, if we are in His likeness and He "lives to God", so should we.
In keeping with the thought line of our "holiday" lesson, I’ll ask you a question. Are we to just participate in this freedom-granting procedure and then forget its meaning? Not by the hair of your chinny-chin chin. Gal. 5:1 tells us that we are to "stand fast in the liberty by which Christ made us free."
If you look back at our nations history, you’ll read where various ceremonies were designated to be performed during our celebration of Independence Day. Likewise, a day of remembrance was set aside with its accompanying ceremonies so that we would not forget the "death" that gave us our freedom. 1 Cor. 11:23-29 details these ceremonies with the admonition being that we do these things "IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME." And Acts 20:7 shows us which day was designated for this commemoration.
Just as Israel was given a specific day to remember (consider) the "death" by which they were freed, Christians are also given a day in which we are to consider and remember the "death" that freed us.
In closing my thoughts today, let’s not be like my aforementioned "large portion" of society and forget the true meaning of our Independence Day celebration and I emphasize the word "celebration" because that’s exactly how we should view this occasion. Likewise, let’s meet on the 1st day of the week and "celebrate" our freedom from the bondage of sin and never FORGET THE COST OF IT!
Ron Covey
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