The Statue of Liberty

I did some light reading about the Statue of Liberty and I learned a few things:

The Stature is located in Upper New York Bay. It celebrates and represents the friendship between the Americans and the French. Its construction was done under the supervision of a French sculptor named Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi.

The status has a pedestal that houses the observation deck. At the entrance of the pedestal is a plaque upon which was inscribed a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. Part of the sonnet reads:

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I found this fascinating; the meaning that the statue was meant to represent and the message it was meant to send out.

As I pondered on it, a few thoughts settled up on heart.

First; it is only a statue, the handwork of men.

Second; it can only represent, it has no power of performance.

Third; it calls for men to come – however, it can’t receive them, and neither can it transform them. They will inevitably either remain the same way or get worse. This is true for every and all statues that men build. They can be grand and gigantic, but that’s all they can be, as they have no power, no life, in them.

~~~

There is another Statue of Liberty, though. It is the Cross of Christ. It is the true Statue of Liberty. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians says:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1 (KJV)

How did Christ make us free? How did we come into Liberty?

[14] Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

[15] And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Hebrews 2:14-15 (KJV)

He made us free by His death on the cross that, having destroyed him that hath the power of death, He went on to deliver us who through the fear of death were subject to bondage. Let’s see how the Apostle Paul puts it differently in his Epistle to the Colossians:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son

Colossians 1:13 (KJV)

Ladies and gentlemen, men and brethren, this is true liberty: to be translated out from under the power and tyranny of sin, death, darkness, and destruction by the Cross of Christ and be brought into His kingdom. To live a life free from the vestiges of sin, death and destruction. To live life under the light of God.

Ultimately, the Cross of Christ is the real Statue of Liberty. It is God’s answer to the fall, poverty, and depravity of mankind. It is to the Cross of Christ that God calls all men through the Gospel.

This is the simple message of the Cross. It has been the message of God through Christ to Man:

[28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

[29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

[30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV)

This is true liberty. The Cross of Christ beckons on you.