One Nation Under God?

In 1982 while preaching the Lord interrupted me. I can honestly say I have no clue what I was preaching on, but I do remember what the Lord said to me. He said, “Truly there are some sitting here which will not taste death until they see the coming of the Lord.” I knew the Lord was speaking about the end times and his second coming. I scaled the room looking to see whom it could possibly be that the Lord was speaking about. My eyes locked unto my children who were very young at the time. Could the Lord be speaking about them I wondered?  Perhaps they will see the coming of the Lord. Thirty-five years has past since than. I’m beginning to realize that I too just might witness the Lord’s return.

Let’s take a walk through historical founding of this country and where we as a nation is destined.
We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.

This country was founded of Christian principles. The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence, fifty-two of them were Christians. God wanted a nation that would provoke His chosen people, the Jewish people, to jealousy. Only two nations, Israel and America served the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and have the same messiah (Jesus). How far back in history does God’s plan for America goes, much further back than 1776?

Christopher Columbus knew the world was round not flat during a time when people mocked and scorned him for believing such a ridiculous notion. But, Christopher knew what the Word of God says. Isaiah 40:22 “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” Perhaps it was Job 22:14 that convince Columbus, “Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.”

Columbus set out in 1492 to discover the 'New World, Columbus wasn’t just looking for a new trade root, but a New Jerusalem (America). Unfortunately he chose ungodly men (sailors) to do a godly task, and was side tracked by greed and power. The very traps the devil uses today to sidetrack godly men and women.

God would still have a country, one nation under God even if He had to ignite the fire and fan the flames of revival through the Great Awakening that would reach and encompass America. The First Great Awakening was a spiritual revival that began in the 1730s and continued through 1743. Thirty-three years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1740, the Anglican revivalist, George Whitefield visited New England (America), the middle colonies, and the southern colonies, fanning into a great flame the smoldering embers of spiritual revival.

George Whitefield became friends with Benjamin Franklin. The result of revival
efforts by Edwards, Whitefield, and others were the First Great Awakening, which provided a Christian moral code. For this reason, the Signers of the Declaration would emphasize “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,”

With the influence of the First Great Awakening upon the rise of the Revolution, it stands to reason that the motto of the American Revolution became, “No king, but King Jesus!”

The Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and appointed a committee of five men to work on a draft of the declaration. The committee consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The committee is known today as The Committee Of Five.

Thomas Jefferson was delegated by the committee to write the Declaration although John Adams and Benjamin Franklin made many revisions before it was finally submitted to Congress on June 28, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776 and signed by the President of the Continental Congress, John Hancock.

So the main reason why we celebrate the Declaration of Independence on the fourth of July is because that was the day it was adopted by the colonies and essentially the day that the United States of America was born. That was the day in history that the United States became a free and independent state from England.

At first glance the Declaration of Independence is just a piece of paper. A closer glance reveals it is a symbol of what America stands for and a commitment to certain godly ideas. It is a symbol of fifty-six brave men, willing to die for treason for what they believed. By signing their names they were willing to lay down their lives for their convictions and unwavering faith.

They regarded King George as having violated numerous biblical standards of human government. Has America now become like its mother country (Britain), following the same mistakes that the colonist were willing to lay down their lives to change.

They opposed taxation without representation, no legal rights or a fair justice system when it came to the law. King George III and Parliament passing various acts and proclamations to strongly bind the chains of England on the American Colonists. There was no freedom of religion or speech. No separation of state and religion.

The Declaration of Independence is a moral document and laid the foundation for the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
•  The Laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God.
• “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal”.
•“That they are endowed by their Creator”.

The forefathers believed in the Creator and in a supreme being having more than just a “say” in how the government should be run. They knew without a doubt that God had intended men to be free.

Thomas Jefferson is regarded as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and for this reason, secularist have believed that to depict Jefferson as anti-Christian would ensure their efforts to characterize the American Revolution as a “godless” secular effort. But in fact, Jefferson claimed to be a Christian. In a letter to his friend and fellow Founding Father, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson affirmed his faith:

“To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian”

Benjamin Franklin requested that prayer be offered in political gatherings.

Just as the Constitution of the United States was born out of the context of Christianity, so the Declaration of Independence was conceived and birthed within the context of Christianity!

Pledge of allegiance to the flag of America was a part of our school policy.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

On June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower signed the bill into law, adding under God to distinguish this country from any other country, saying,

“From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty…. In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons, which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war.”

God Almighty blessed this country and made it a great nation. Even our currency says, “In God We Trust”. Which God? Our Creator, the one and only God, for there is only one Creator.
“That they are endowed by their Creator”. But, can a nation change its God?
 …to be continued