" Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" - Psalm 33:12-15

Considering how many people are celebrating independence day today, a day which is set apart to celebrate this country’s independence from the tyranny of England, I thought it better to consider our independence from the effects of sin.

Our Heavenly Father looked down upon the earth (according to Psalms 33) and looks at Mankind to consider what they do, He sees the very heart of every man He created and knows their motive as well as the intent of their actions. The Father fashions the heart of man, meaning He put the desire within man’s heart to do right. 

It has been said that if you compare the cultures of the world with the differences they possess, you would find at the core there are distinct similarities which are common throughout the human race, like the desire to love and be loved, and the desire to seek out the divine and know our place in the universe.  These are the desires that the Father has planted in the human soul that man would reach beyond himself to be a noble creature to rise above natural tendencies to pursue the greatness of God’s design. 

Our Founding Fathers of this country knew this truth and would not establish the heart of our nation on anything less than the foundations of God’s word.  They compared other types of governments and societies which had failed to sustain empowering the people and establish a lasting place in the world, our Founding Fathers chose the example of ancient Israel with the God of Heaven as our ultimate King.

Our country has been an example of prosperity and provision to the world for many generations has in our time removed the God of Heaven as its ultimate King and replaced Him with the God of humanism.  Our government is proceeding rapidly down the path that other governments have gone in the past, which have failed to sustain long-lasting empowerment for the people based on humanistic principles and values which are contrary to God’s word, and have collapsed from the sheer weight of the debt chaos that they have created.

We have our first allegiance to our Father God before country, and what that means is that God sees from heaven everything that happens within the heart of man before governments are formed and alliances are reached, God puts it in the heart of man to bring unity.  Unity in marriage, unity in the family, unity in church polity, and unity in secular polity.  All of this desire for unity flows from a single source which is the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The passage above says “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” notice it doesn’t say government.  We as a people of God are a nation separate from the government, yet we establish governments as a people and we must be vigilant to pray for these governments and their leaders that God may use them for His purposes and empower the populace (nation) to serve God.  We are a nation whose God (creator) is the Lord (the self-existing eternal one), the people (kindred) he has chosen for His inheritance (heritage, possession). 

This video below depicts what early Christians in our country experienced when they were attacked by the Brittish forces at Fort Henry.  It tells the story of the steadfastness of faith and a willingness to die for what they believed.

What you may have missed in this passage above is that it correlates to 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may declare the goodness of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

We have been made free from sin by receiving the testament of Jesus Christ which restores us to the Father and removes the effect of sin upon our lives, in that testament are the promises of God which have been paid for by the death of Jesus, it is our inheritance willed to us by the Father from His Son.  All that is required on our part is to receive it, believe it, and stand in it.  

We have freedom from the effects of sin and death because of the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus.  All of the promises of God are ours in Christ.  

We have been adopted into a royal priesthood to love and serve our Heavenly Father with joy and gladness because of the sheer goodness of God's heart for us.

It is our Independence Day from the effects of sin and death.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett