It’s not surprising that Memorial Day has become just another holiday in our country. A paid holiday, summer vacation plans, and an extra day off from work highlight the many great benefits of Memorial Day. Memorial Day is more than a day off; it is a day to remember great sacrifices by great men and women. However, Memorial day is not just a day to remember in U.S. history, it is also important to remember in matters of faith as well. Without diminishing the sacrifice and service of those who have served our nation, Memorial Day also allows us to turn our attention to remembering Jesus Christ and the ultimate freedom that comes through him.
Remember His Selfless Acts of Service
Throughout the Old Testament (OT), God called his people to remember his faithfulness to them and his direction for their lives. He had established many different ways for them to do that, including many different festivals and rituals. For God’s people today, he calls us to view every day as a memorial day. His desire is for us to remember the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 20:28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.
There is no doubt that our servicemen and women give up large portions of their civilian freedom. In fact, many of them give up their lives. Like every soldier who has ever served in the armed forces, when Jesus came to this earth, he also gave up his heavenly apparel and left his home with others in mind. Jesus sacrificially left the comfort of heaven, took on a human image, and experienced all of the evil in this world so that we could be in relationship with God again (Philippians 2:5-9). Jesus’s actions were selfless and his goal was to serve and save his people.
Remember the Cost of His Ultimate Sacrifice
Jesus did not just come to this world to live and to serve his people, but to die for his people. Jesus served on the most dangerous mission possible. He went into a hostile environment knowing that he would lose his life, and he did that willingly for his people so that they could be in relationship with God. This was the ultimate sacrifice which demonstrates his great love for us.
John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Jesus sacrificed everything for us. Jesus – the perfect, sinless Son of God – was beaten, mocked, tortured and killed for us so that we could experience ultimate freedom. He didn’t die because he was a bad man, he didn’t die because he deserved it; he died because he came into this world to save people from what separated them from God: their sin. There is no greater sacrifice than Jesus Christ laying down his life for his people.
Remember That True Freedom Is Found in Christ
Our national liberty comes with robust freedoms of expression and religious belief and a wide array of other civil liberties. As wonderful as these freedoms are, there is a greater freedom that comes in a relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus’s sacrificial death brings us freedom, but his resurrection brings us hope. Jesus didn’t just die, he rose from the grave and defeated death. As followers of Christ, we can remember what Jesus has done for us, but we know that because he defeated death, one day we will receive our true reward: eternal freedom in relationship with God.
John 8:36 So if the son sets you free you will be free indeed.
True freedom is eternal. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we will be able to spend eternity with God, the maker of heaven and of earth. We will be in a place with no more wars, no more pain, no more struggles, and no more death. We will receive ultimate freedom from sin and death. Those who accept Christ’s ultimate sacrifice will receive the greatest freedom ever: eternal life.
Jesus Christ came to this earth and died to give us eternal freedom from the penalty of sin: eternal death and separation from God. Thank God for his unspeakable gift! May we never forget who Jesus is, what he has done for us, and the true freedom we experience in him.
