John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Ephesians 1:13 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise”
On January 1, 1863, a powerful, revolutionary, and righteous proclamation went into effect in the United States of America, signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation, in part, stated the following:
“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”
In that instant, 3.5 million human beings who had been made in God’s image, though they were being inhumanely enslaved, were declared permanently and forever free and reconciled to a transforming society. While the majority of those slaves could not be immediately freed because of their position behind enemy Confederate lines, the proclamation provided a promise of future freedom. And once they found freedom, that freedom would be recognized and maintained by the full power of the federal government.
God provides an even more powerful, revolutionary and righteous proclamation in His Word and through His Son. At the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we are permanently and forever free of our sin and reconciled to the Lord. The promise of future freedom happens immediately at the moment of spiritual transformation. And, once we find freedom, that freedom is recognized and maintained by the full power of an amazing Lord.
PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD EMBRACE AND PROCLAIM THE TRUTHS OF OUR EMANCIPATION.
And now, 160 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Americans must never cease striving together to form a more perfect union. While we do, we must remain stunningly mindful and deeply appreciative of the Bible’s proclamation of an emancipation available to all.
