Category: Fourth of July-Independence Day

The copper Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It lights the way for those who come to this free land, the USA. The Rugged Cross stood on lonely Golgotha, but for many centuries it has been lighting the way for millions who would come to freedom in Jesus.

This Statue of Liberty is the largest statue ever made. The life given on the Cross is the greatest gift ever given.

France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States of America in 1884 as a symbol of friendship and of the liberty that citizens enjoy under our free form of government. God gave His Son Jesus on the Cross—not as a symbol but as His love for each of us. He desires that everyone born anywhere in the world come to Him and receive forgiveness of sin and citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.

DESCRIPTION

The Statue of Liberty represents a proud woman, dressed in a loose robe that falls in graceful folds around her body. In her right hand she holds a great torch raised high in the air. Her left hand grasps a tablet bearing the date of the Declaration of Independence. Her crown, with seven huge spikes like rays of sun, rests on her head.

Because of the Cross of Calvary, we the church are dressed in the robe of righteousness which Jesus gives to us. The great light that shines from us is Jesus; and the Book that we grasp in our hands is the Word of God. A circle of light surrounds us as we “arise and shine for the glory of the Lord is risen up on us!” (Isaiah 60:1)

People seldom notice that the Statue of Liberty has at her feet a broken shackle representing the overthrow of tyranny. At the foot of the Cross are all of our broken shackles for Jesus overcame death and hell for us and set us free.

The Statue of Liberty weighs about 100 tons, is 151 feet high, and her torch rises 305 feet above the base of the pedestal. It gleams at night with powerful incandescent and mercury vapor lights as a symbol of liberty shedding light upon the world. One definition of Glory is weight, thus the Glory of the Cross is actually a powerful weight that surrounds and protects us. This Glory is the spiritual fortress of God that comes to us through Jesus Christ. He keeps us. He provides all of our need. He instructs us; and He lights our way causing others to see that we have been liberated from sin and bondage.

The elevator of the Statue of Liberty carries visitors up the pedestal to the foot of the Statue where there is an observation balcony. The Holy Spirit has lifted us up to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus and has put everything under His feet, thus under our feet. How beautiful the view from this great heavenly observation balcony!

A spiral staircase, steep and narrow, goes from the pedestal to the crown on the Statue’s head. The “steps of a good man/woman are ordered by The Lord.” These are not footsteps but the picture of a stairway leading from a lower level to the upper deck on the ship. It always goes up. The steps are already established by the Lord for a good man/woman, a strong man/woman, a mighty man/woman, a conqueror. This was made possible by God’s Gift on the Cross of Calvary.

INSCRIPTION

“The New Colossus,” a poem by Emma Lazarus, was inscribed on a tablet in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“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-tosst to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross of Calvary says, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He has freed us from the yoke of bondage to sin. He has taken the refuse, the useless stuff, the waste, rubbish, broken pieces of our lives and put them together again. He has taken our putrid smell and replaced it with the fragrance of Heaven. He is the light that is lifted high. He is the door through which every man/woman must enter the kingdom of heaven. He is preparing a place, a permanent home, for those whom He set free.

The Cross is my Statue of Liberty!

“In New York harbor stands a lady With a torch raised to the sky; And all who see her know she stands for Liberty for you and me.

I’m so proud to be called an American
To be named with the brave and the free. I will honor our flag
And our trust in God, And the Statue of Liberty.

On lonely Golgotha stood a Cross With my Lord raised to the sky; And all who kneel there live forever As all the saints can testify.

I’m so glad to be called a Christian
To be named with the ransomed and free

As the Statue liberates the citizen so the Cross liberates the soul.

I’m so glad…for that rugged Cross
It was there that my soul was set free.  Unashamed, I’ll proclaim that old rugged Cross is my Statue of Liberty!

(Words and music by Neil Enloe, 1974)

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I thank you for Jesus! Thank you Jesus for dying for me, for taking my old life and giving me new thoughts, new desires, new goals, new hope, and freedom. Thank you for renewing my mind with your Word. Oh God, I thank you that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead has brought new life to me and lives in me. Thank you for liberty. I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship you.

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law (Galatians 5:1, NLT).

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(C) C. Yvonne Karl, VOL 1 NO 07, 1986; adapted for MUSINGS 07-2016.