The 4th of July - A Christian Perspective of Independence Day
Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009
by Mark Parsec
Wordcasters
Many Americans will celebrate the 4th of July this year as America's Birthday. But, they are sadly mistaken. The 4th of July celebrates America's Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of England under King George.
Many have also erroneously thought that the Declaration of Independence of 1776 was a declaration of war against England that established the independence of the United States of America. But, the truth is that the Declaration of Independence was NOT a declaration of war against England. Neither did the Declaration of Independence end the war or establish independence. Because the real war raged for years and was not formally over until a treaty was signed seven years later on September 3, 1783.
In seeking independence from Great Britain the colonists declared to the world their belief in a personal, infinite God - "their Creator" - who endowed them with certain "inalienable" or absolute rights... God given rights.
To the men of that time it was self evident that if there were no God there could be no absolute rights. Unlike the French revolutionaries a few years later, the American colonists knew very well that if the inalienable rights they were urging were not seen in the context of Christianity, then they were without content... illusions, nothing but dreams. To have absolute rights our forefathers had to acknowledge the Absolute Authority of God.
In this respect, the Declaration of Independence was a Declaration of Christianity. For the Declaration of Independence is structured upon two fundamental Christian ideas...
First - It professes faith in a "Creator" who works in and governs the affairs of men in establishing absolute standards to which men are held accountable.
Second - And even more fundamentally, since all Western nations of that era professed a belief in the Creator, there is the idea that man is a fallen creature and, therefore, cannot be his own law giver and judge. In other words... an imperfect creature cannot establish perfect laws. If laws are to be good they must come from God who is good.
In the end it is God to whom the appeal must be made. And, in this sense, the law cannot be simply what a judge or a fuhrer says it is. It is what God says it is.
The reason this is so important to us is because we must not forget that our country was founded upon Christian principles, Biblical values, the Word of God, the Law of God. And this was important to our forefathers because they lived in a lawless time, a time in which the King of England established himself as a tyrant over men and issued unrighteous laws that were in direct opposition to the Laws of God. And the result of these godless laws produced pain and suffering in the form of poverty, slavery, oppression, terrorism, kidnapping, false imprisonment, torture and death. No man's home was safe nor his family secure from the whims and fancy of tyranny. The tyrant king had the greatest kingdom upon earth and all of its power was at his disposal. In order to relieve themselves from suffering, our forefathers had no choice but to appeal to the powers of heaven and trust in God to set them free from their oppression. And it was only because of their faith in a righteous and just God that our forefathers could make a Declaration of Independence.
But, that was 236 years ago. That was a different time, a different age, and the leaders of our country no longer embrace the faith of our fathers. Instead of establishing and upholding the Law of God, our politicians have chosen to reject the Law of God and have cast out the Ten Commandments from the courtrooms throughout our land. Instead of to the powers of heaven for their direction, our politicians have neglected their sacred duty and denied our children the right to pray in the schools throughout our land. Instead of valuing the gift of life our politicians have endorsed the eradication of life and legalized murder in abortion clinics throughout our land.
The God that our forefathers once sought and loved is today despised and dismissed by our government as legend and myth. And the end result, my friends, is a tyranny of secularism that is systematically stripping away our God given independence and producing untold pain and suffering in the midst of the people.
Today the Christians throughout our great land need a Declaration of Independence. For today Christianity in America is engaged in an undeclared war. Just look around you and you will see this war, if you know where to look.
And like wars of the past, this war has soldiers equipped in uniforms using both bombs and bullets... these soldiers have invaded our communities and they are laying claim to one life at a time, one street at a time, one home at a time. And it is WAR!
Now, you might be asking what war are you talking about?
Gangs... Nortenos and Sorenos, Crips and Bloods, Eastside and Westside, and there are many, many more. They are fighting not only against one another, but against us, against our children, and against our church to establish a tyranny over our neighborhoods. But, bombs and bullets are not their most lethal weapons... No! Unlike wars of the past, this war utilizes weapons of far greater destruction... drugs, alcohol, prostitution and easy money.
Sadly, these weapons are not only killing and maiming the children of our neighborhoods, but they are preventing them from entering into our churches and into a relationship with Jesus Christ. And this is only the tip of the iceberg for the war in which we find ourselves engaged is being fought on many fronts...
Our Values are Under Attack: Relativism is teaching our children that the church is ignorant, obsolete, no longer relevant, and that everything is good, nothing is bad. The end result is that since 1973 there have been almost 50 million abortions performed throughout our land. And the blood of these innocent children cries out to our God in heaven.
Our Security is Under Attack: Last year there were over 5 million violent crimes committed throughout our land. Over 4,000 of these were murders... and the blood of these dead cry out to our God in heaven.
The Family is Under Attack: Every year there are nearly one million divorces across our nation. The end result is tens of millions of children that are torn between feuding parents, many of these children become angry and depressed. Last year alone there were over 6,000 teenage suicides. And the blood of these dead cry out to our God in heaven.
Our Sanity is Under Attack: The scourge of drugs across our land is sapping the minds of our children, turning their brains into Swiss Cheese and stealing their futures. The end result is unemployment, poverty, hunger and homelessness. And the sad fact of the matter is that many of these individuals don't have the brains left to cry out to our God.
Our Faith is Under Attack: Many Christian denominations have betrayed the faith, declaring that it is acceptable for men to marry men and women to marry women. They are trying to tell us that homosexuality is a God given right. But, for the life of me I cannot imagine Jesus Christ engaging in such behavior.
Yes, my friends, Christianity is under attack throughout our country. We are in an undeclared war and we need to proclaim our Declaration of Independence.
But, this war is nothing new. It has been going on since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And the enemy is the devil, and he engaged all of these weapons and more upon the fields of human depravity and sin, in a tyranny of evil. And that Declaration of Independence that we proclaim is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whom promised us in John 8:36, " If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
God himself prophesied through the prophet Isaiah long ago when he said in Isaiah 54:17...
NO weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me, " declares the LORD.
The Apostle Paul understood this concept when he assured us in Romans 8:37 when he said, "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
If the Christians of America are to know the true freedom that comes through Christ then we MUST embrace the Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of Satan.
We must embrace our freedom to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to transform drug dealing gangs into disciples of the Lord.
We must embrace our freedom in Christ to eradicate poverty, hunger and homelessness.
We must embrace our freedom in Christ to assist our seniors in their afflictions and to help them meet the exorbitant costs of utilities and health care.
We must embrace our freedom in Christ to acknowledge the Ten Commandments in our courtrooms.
We must embrace our freedom in Christ to allow our children to pray in schools.
We must embrace our freedom in Christ to uphold the integrity of Christian marriage and expose the immorality and sin of homosexuality and same sex marriage. Whether it be opposed by politicians or pastors.
Americans have lost their way in part because they do not know their own Christian heritage. Several times in the history of our nation widespread revival has put God's people back on course. Each time it has reversed a downward moral trend in society and ultimately unleashed profound social impact. For in Jesus Christ lie all the secrets of the universe, the origin and meaning of life, the direction of history and the life beyond.
Without at least an elementary understanding of God's sovereign hand behind all history, which our founding fathers so clearly understood, modern Americans will overlook the true meaning of our own land. If many of America's citizens have missed it then let today's generation know now the mighty sweep of spiritual events in our heritage and the story of how, when, and why "God shed His grace on thee."
Christ died and rose to make men free... All men, all nations. Through Christ we are freed from the wages and death of sin. Which brings eternal freedom, if we choose. Through Christ we are freed from the ravages of selfishness. Which brings internal freedom, if we choose. Through Christ we are freed from the manipulation of demagogues and tyrants. Which brings external freedom, if we choose.
Just as Christ brings us internal freedom and a rebirth into a new life through Him, so He brings us a new direction for our external freedom, and a new purpose for our civil government. Let us, therefore, embrace our freedom in Christ in such a way as to transform not just our lives, but the lives of all those around us, and the life of our government.
Every coin minted in the United States bears the words: IN GOD WE TRUST. It was not lightly that our forefathers chose these auspicious words, for they knew the enormous cost and sacrifice that had been paid to secure our freedom. In gratitude, they continually acknowledged that God had made and preserved our nation.They were convinced that God was blessing their endeavors because they worshiped Him and sought His aid in all their affairs. They also warned future generations that the day God was not sincerely honored and respected in America, she would become a byword among the nations. We would do well today to heed our forefathers' ominous warnings and the wisdom that was theirs when they erected the greatest and most prosperous nation in all of history.
So, in concluding this article I would ask that you reflect upon the words of just one great president... President Lincoln once said, "It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)The Declaration of Independence did not stage a platform for Christianity:What little is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is only barely compatible with Christianity, the religion most people have in mind when making the above argument. The Declaration refers to “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” and “Divine Providence."While its framers obviously accepted the notion of a supernatural being, no where in the Declaration does it say anything about Christ or Christianity, specifically. If they meant it, they would have said it. If you see "America as a Christian nation" in the Declaration, you're reading into it.Dear Anonymous,Your assertion is well taken. However, we need to reflect upon the Declaration of Independence in the context of its authors and their histories. I maintain that the authors were all raised and educated in the Christian tradition, each of them I believe attended Christian churches regularly, not Buddhist, not Moslem, not Hindu. The concept of God as the Creator is maintained throughout the Bible, and all though the reference to "Providence" is somewhat unique to the period of Enlightenment all Christians everywhere, then and now, farmers and city dwellers, educated and uneducated, accept that the God of the Bible is the Great Provider.Although the name of Christ is not mentioned in the Declaration and there are no direct references to Christianity, one could no more veil the Christian influence upon the document and the lives of its authors than one could deny that Shakespear was the author of Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet. For would not a rose by any other name smell just as sweet? Whether He is referred to as Creator, Providence, the Almighty or Higher Power, His place and position in the founding of this country has been acknowledged from the very beginning... God shed His grace on thee!Mark
I also think that one can not fully evaluate the Declaration of Independence and how it relates to Christianity without addressing the fact that many of the early emigrants to America came to escape religious persecution. Our independence was being declared against a backdrop of countries who persecuted (killed) those who disagreed with the state-sponsored church.Our Founding Fathers had a keen understanding of the evil inherent in a government-backed religion. If they wanted to establish the U.S.A as a Christian nation, they had many opportunities to do so, but they didn’t.
Your points are well taken. It would seem that our founding fathers were, indeed, very aware of the dangers of theocracies and it would seem obvious that they had no intention of creating one in this country. The Declaration of Independence, however, had nothing to do with establishment of our nation as much as it had to do with liberation from the tyranny of another. In this respect, the founding fathers were cautious not to accredit any one church as the source of its authority. True Christianity, however, is not about churchianity, or established religions, it is about the "invisible" church, those who believe and a free to do so of their own volition.In essence I see the Declaration as saying... "We too are a Christian people and you (England) cannot treat us like anything less."
I have a question: wasn't the Declaration of Independence a violation of Romans 8:13? Is it not G_d that establishes the governments of the world? Are the "unalienable" rights in the Declaration of Independence scriptural? I know the words are the same, but in the context of the Declaration, they seem to have different meaning: "life" being earthly life, "liberty" being earthly freedom, and "pursuit of happiness" being so nebulous as to mean "whatever you want unless it violates the law".How is the Declaration of Independence not outright rebellion, which is explicitly condemned in the Holy scriptures?Dear Kingdom Patriot,Romans 8:13 refers to the deeds of the flesh leading to death -vs- living a Spirit Driven life. So, I do not see the relationship to the Declaration of Independence.Yes, God does establish the governments of the world... and that would pertain as much to the USA as to England. God also brings down governments as you should know.Although the sectarian interpretation which you have applied to the Declaration of Independence is plausible, it is up to us, as Christians, to apply these truths in a scriptural manner. Regarding Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we could easily apply a Scriptural analogy... Jesus said that He was the light and the life of the world. Regarding liberty... Jesus said that, "If the Son shall make you free then you are free indeed! Regarding happiness... Jesus said that, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." So... pursuing to do the things that the Lord has asked us to do will lead to happiness.In reference to your assertion that rebellion is "explicitly condemned" in the Holy scriptures... please site your references.God bless you,Mark Parsec
Praise the Lord!Wonderfully spoken. May God continue to bless you, your congregation, and family in Jeus name!Hi Anonymous,Thank you for your comments. God bless you and yours!Mark
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