Two centuries and fifty years ago, “our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Abraham Lincoln spoke most of those words on Nov. 19, 1863, at the unfinished Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to evoke a revolutionary day and a cherished principle that we as a nation just celebrated.

The United States didn’t entirely fulfill the promise of that day. If they had, there would have been no Civil War, no Soldiers’ National Cemetery, no Gettysburg Address, no assassination of President Lincoln.

Our fathers created an imperfect nation. We’re still dedicated to their proposition that all men are created equal. But as Lincoln told his audience, we must continually recommit this nation to liberty, under God.

By contrast, two millennia and three decades ago, our Father in Heaven brought forth in this world His perfect Seed (Genesis 3:15; Galatians 3:16), Jesus Christ, for a much greater revolution — one that promised eternal freedom from sin (John 8:34-36).

Conceived miraculously (Luke 1:26-35), the Seed was dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal (Galatians 3:26-29), in God’s image (Genesis 1:27-28), and that God “wants all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).

The Seed engaged in a great war with Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). In the wilderness, Satan tested whether the Son of Man could long endure the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and pride of life (1 John 2:15-16). He could, and He did, so resoundingly that the devil left him.

A few years later, Satan thought he had won. Although he failed to tempt Jesus, he tempted Jesus’ friend and the apostle Judas (Luke 22:3; John 13:27) into a kiss of betrayal (Mark 14:44-45) that sent Jesus to the cross and then to the grave. Like the soldiers at Gettysburg, Jesus gave His life in horrendous fashion so that others might live — in our case, as God’s holy nation (1 Peter 2:9).

But then something happened at Gettysburg that no cemetery has seen since the first century: He arose (Luke 24:4-5). Hallelujah, Christ arose!

He had to. That’s the only way He could set us free from our sins. He had to bear them on the cross and then conquer death. “God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).

You might think, as Lincoln suggested about the fallen soldiers at Gettysburg, that we could never forget how Jesus died at Calvary. But God knew we needed this reminder. The Lord’s Supper isn’t so much to honor Jesus as it is to jog our feeble memories of Him.

We forget too easily what Christ did for us, whose children we are and what discipleship means. Just as a great task remained for America after the Civil War, a great task of obedience remains for us as God’s holy nation. This feast is a standing reminder that Jesus didn’t die in vain.

As we eat the bread, which represents Jesus’ broken body, and drink the cup of His blood, let’s resolve to live worthy of His sacrifice. As Paul wrote in Romans 6:6-7, “Our old self was crucified with Him. … For the one who has died is freed from sin.”