To walk the streets of the big cities of China, such as Chiang and Beijing, is to be caught up in a sea of people. Their clothing, the color and fashion, tell much about each one. Traditional dress is worn mostly by the elderly; the young wear blue jeans and sweat shirts in their desire to become “westernized:” some old men wear the standard gray garb of the Communist Party. The new generation has been liberated from this standard appearance and seem determined never again to be imprisoned by imposed conformity.
Mao’s death the turning point
Not long ago, Chairman Mao of the Communist Party, required everyone to carry the little red book and conform to the rules it contained. Mao stepped down as Chairman in 1958. He reemerged in 1962, igniting political infighting that led to thousands of deaths. The height of the terror was reached during the cultural revolution from 1966-68. Not until his death in 1976 did things change for the better.
Excitement over liberation
Standing in front of Mao’s tomb in Tiananmen Square, the young tourist guide tells of her excitement when given a Bible and reading for the first time about the greatest liberator of all, Jesus Christ. Her excitement and desire to know more made us wonder if it were possible we have taken for granted the liberation that we have gained through Christ.
Once we were in bondage to sin and mortality but now we look to freedom through the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. The words of the apostle Paul come to mind: “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free…Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 4:31; 5:1).
The offering of prayers of thanksgiving should never be far from the altar of our lips. And as we consider our liberty, we should be moved to right conduct in our lives: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).
A book of life
We have a book that we should carry with us everywhere; it should be written on our hearts from daily reading. When applied to our lives, it is a book of freedom that keeps us close to the liberator who has the keys of hell and death. He will lead us by the highway of kings and grant us citizenship rights in the kingdom of his Father. Then we shall be clothed anew, likened unto the angels to die no more.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One