Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Day of Deliverance


God is to us a God of deliverances and salvation; and to God the Lord belongs escape from death [setting us free]. Psalms 68:20 

What does the Fourth of July mean to contemporary Americans?  For many it means a day off from work and little more.  To others it means an opportunity to "party," roast hot dogs, drink beer and watch fireworks.  But to the Founders of our nation, it meant far more.
Upon the completion of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, known as the "Father of the American Revolution" wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, concerning how the signing should be remembered.

“It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even though we should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

To John Adams, it was to be remembered as a "Day of Deliverance" from the control and oppression of tyrants, and it should be marked by acts of devotion to the God who delivers!  To John Adams, and to his cousin Samuel, the spiritual implications were significant.  Their understanding of the event was theologically based, in a desire to serve the only true "sovereign", Christ Himself.  It was Adam's view that in declaring their independence from Great Britain, the colonists were placing themselves under the only true "sovereign", the King of Kings and the LORD of lords. Adams believed that as God "reigns in Heaven" it was His desire to further His Kingdom in the New World "from the rising to the setting of the sun."

It is difficult in light of the current state of America for the next generation to gain an understanding or appreciation of these spiritual implications.  The enemy is using ignorance, complacency, and revisionism to disengage Christians from their civic duties.  While we celebrate "Independence" this Fourth of July, remember that the greatness of America is knowing that our liberty comes from Him who died for us, and that our "freedoms" spring from the love of God.  This was not just a war; this was deliverance by God! 

Scripture to Claim:
For You have delivered my life from death, yes, and my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life and of the living.  Psalms 56:13  

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