Freedom Forever

2 Peter 2:4-9
"God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.  And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment."

2 Peter 3:9-10
God does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the Day of the Lord shall come like a thief in the night - unexpectedly. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment."

This painting was inspired to me in June of 2015 at a time of significant world socio-political shift (so much of that going on these days). My spirit was moved deeply and I had a vision/inspiration that prompted me to draw out a rough-sketch painting very quickly and with much concentration at that time. However, it remained on the backburner for about a year before I would touch it again - partly due to me converting from an old Fujitsu PC tablet with limited memory and resolution and upgrading to a Wacom Companion 2 tablet with superior capabilities.

One of the themes of this painting is that the rainbow is God's sign of escape - salvation from judgment - and that is why it hovers above the cross. The cross is the bridge that saves, it makes a pathway in the waters that doomed the planet in the past  and sees the fire to come in the future - the cross divides these two, gives a platform to walk upon and leads to the Lord coming in the sky with great radiance. Noah's ark is in the deluge waters, there is no other vessel except the old wooden cross.

The message engraved in the cross, "Freedom Forever," means that by the cross freedom was paid for and that the wages of sin which payment is eternal death were nailed there never to have any claim again to those who believe on the One who died and rose again.


I have mixed feelings about the execution of this painting. I'm not certain I hit the aesthetic marks I had in mind. I am my own worst critic, I'm sure. But the real goal of this painting is to evoke an emotional response as well as one of thought and personal reflection - more than aesthetic perfection or admiration.

I may go back and touch up some elements if later I'm so inclined, but for now, and after many late nights/early morns, I'm calling it 'done'.