Join us this week on The Crawford Stand as Don Crawford explores the profound impact of the Declaration of Independence. Hear how America’s founding fathers were inspired by a higher moral law, one deeply rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ. They sought not only to establish a nation free from tyranny but also a place where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were seen as divine rights bestowed by the Creator. Discover the revolutionary spirit embodied by figures like Patrick Henry, who famously declared ‘give me liberty or give me death,’ and delve into the spiritual inspirations
The Crawford Stand. This week, the president of Crawford Broadcasting Company, Don Crawford, continues his discussion of the declaration made to King George of England, resulting in a revolutionary war for freedom, to gain life, liberty, and happiness.
SPEAKER 02 :
So say the founding fathers of this great country in 1776. The creator of all, we refer to him as God the Father, and all things, that Creator endowed every human being so born with unalienable rights. Those rights, God given, could not be changed or eliminated in any way by mankind. They were part of the DNA, the genetic inheritance of every man and woman at birth, and through all of life, they could not be changed. Those unalienable rights were the cornerstone of the new nation, that which made America the shining light on the hill, an example to all mankind and all nations, making America, our beloved country, both different and better, a model of hope and understanding for all humankind. Life, life, the Declaration of Independence prioritized life, that all should live life to the fullest. The great Creator, our God the Father, fully agreed. The Son of that Father was the epitome of that life, even our Lord Jesus Christ. And even as the Founding Fathers were concerned with life here and the natural laws which protected that life, then came a higher law, the highest moral law, and that was evident in the person of Jesus Christ. He told us that whoever finds him finds life, real life, a life which no natural law or king or government can give. He told us that he was the bread of life, that partaking of the bread and blood would transform any human life and bring it to the next level, to the very fullest it could be. The founding fathers took their inspiration for life, at least to some extent, from him. But the life promised by Jesus Christ was not only for here and now, but even more so for eternity. Eternal life. To be sure, life there should be an abundant life, so he said. And the Christ of glory, Jesus of Nazareth, was concerned that our joy here might be full, both here and hereafter. The resurrection promised us that new life, a saving proposition, which formed the belief of many of the founding fathers, was the ultimate law, the ultimate natural fulfillment of all things worthwhile. There was, said the Christ, the book of life in which the name of all who believe would be written. And that was the written indication of the guarantee of life eternal, the guarantee of that. Isn’t that fantastic? Natural law and all that was envisioned by the founding fathers was taken to the next level, the highest possible moral level, by and in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ah, what a blessing to have a life abundant here. Life here can be so wonderful, but much more importantly, to firmly and confidently expect life eternal there, as we say, up there and with him. And then liberty and freedom. The great revolutionary Patrick Henry said the following, Give me liberty or give me death. Give me liberty or give me death. If I don’t have liberty, said Henry, then I would rather die. For him not to live free was worse than death. To live forever under British law and yoke was intolerable, as bad or even worse than death. No matter the cost, all colonists, all Americans, had to live free no matter what. Live free or die. The motto, the great motto of one of our states. But there was a higher freedom. Then came the Son, the only one who can really set anyone totally free. No human being could live to the fullest without absolute freedom of choice, thought, action, and belief. They, all of them, were part of the unalienable rights of the Declaration of Independence. But again, the highest of all was the belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is no higher moral law. No man or woman can live without the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But with the higher law, the Christ of glory promised all that He, He was the way and the truth and the life. He not only brought joy through salvation, here and now, but freedom, here and eternally, from all transgressions and sin, His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, came to strengthen, admonish, and encourage all of us as we lived and as we walked with Him. Real freedom. The only liberty which was total and complete was only found in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. There and only there. And then happiness. Life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness, as the individual defined it, was the inalienable right of every human being. But then came that higher law through the holy person, through the holy person of our Lord. Then came the one who brought real joy, real happiness, and showed the way to life abundant, here and with the promise of even more hereafter. Oh, I do hope that our founding fathers, all of them, were influenced, blessed, energized, and enlightened by the joy of Jesus. This man, our Lord, was so determined to teach us the meaning of happiness and life abundant that he gave his life for that purpose, his very life. He admonished us to be cheerful, joyful, happy. We were to have fun and enjoy this world, and enjoy the prospect of the world to come, all the very best of everything, knowing that the ultimate joy, the higher law, that which was above the natural law, was yet to be fulfilled, but would be so for all eternity for those who believed in him. Ultimate joy and happiness would only be accomplished as we live with him eternally, Boy, that’s a great promise, is it not? Some, perhaps many of the founding fathers believed this. Boy, I sure hope and pray they did. We who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and his higher laws of life, liberty, and happiness can well sing that song, Happy am I, happy am I. Jesus loves me, and I love him. We can also sing another great song. I am happy in the service of the King. I am happy, oh, so happy. Why? Because we are in that service. And it does provide ultimate fulfillment and happiness. It really does. We then should be extremely grateful, thankful to those revolutionaries, those founding fathers who gave us the great Declaration of Independence and the even greater Constitution of the United States of 1787, our founding documents and the freedoms they entail, the unalienable rights which they granted to colonists then and to all of us as successor Americans here and now. Thank you, all 56 of you great men who gave us the Declaration of Independence. We, your heirs and successors, have received and lived the fruits of those blessings, and we owe them the highest debt of human gratitude and gratefulness. But there is more, and we have that. We have the more. There are laws and rights higher than the natural laws of 1776. There is life, there is liberty, and there is happiness and joy, all from Him. And we who believe in him can partake of the very best here and now in this life. And we should. Your life should be happy and joyful as much as humanly possible. But with far greater expectation of what is to come in the next life with him.
SPEAKER 01 :
How about jotting a little flag-waving note to Mr. Crawford this week? He would love to hear from you. His email address is stand at CrawfordMediaGroup.net. When you write, be sure to tell Mr. Crawford on what station you hear the stand. His address again is stand at CrawfordMediaGroup.net. When you want to review what you hear, go to our website, CrawfordMediaGroup.net. The Crawford Stand is a public affairs presentation of Crawford Broadcasting Company and this station. Serving God and country, I’m Bill McCormick.
