By Todd Paetznick, July 4, 2024

Happy Independence Day!!

On this day in 1776, brave people declared independence from Britain and King George III.    One day earlier, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail about the pending signing of the Declaration of Independence with the words:

The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. (https://www.masshist.org/database/102)

The freedom sought by the founders of the United States was not free.  The signers of the Declaration risked everything in the rebellion against King George and British control over their lives.  They risked their honor, their homes, their wealth, their families, and even their lives.  The men who signed knew what they were doing and understood the potential consequences.  At the time, they had no assurance they would succeed, yet they signed their names to an act of sedition that could cost them everything.  Fewer than three million colonists at the time of the Revolution were able to defeat the greatest military power that existed in the late 18th century.  The odds did not favor the Colonists, yet they moved forward with the Revolution.  

The American Revolution was fought over many years and was not concluded until 1783; seven years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The war cost the lives of somewhere between 25,000 and 70,000 American patriots, which was about one percent of the population of the New World.  The massive difference in the low and high estimated numbers is due to how the casualties were counted; a majority of the lives lost were due to cold and disease and not in actual combat.  To put the loss in a modern perspective, one percent of the current population of the United States is around 3.3 million people. The human loss during the Revolution was costly.  Freedom was certainly not free.

Adams expected the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence to be remembered because of God’s deliverance for the people of the United States.  Jewish people celebrate God’s deliverance from their slavery in Egypt during Passover.  At Easter, Christians celebrate God’s deliverance from slavery over sin and death. 

When Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah at His home synagogue, He said He had come to Earth to “proclaim freedom” (Luke 4:18).  The freedom from sin we enjoy as Christians was not free. 

As we celebrate Independence Day today, take some time to thank God for our country’s deliverance from the British and our deliverance from sin through Jesus.