Initial exploration of the New
World offered hope. It turned into riches taken and a failure to
remember God for the Spaniard. For the French, a vast land with abundant
wildlife and a failure to recognize God. For the English, an escape from the aristocracy
and religious persecution.
At
first, the stresses and conditions of the new world offered little hope.
Famine, death, attack from natives, and lack of a steady stream of supplies all
contributed to the growth of fear. Great Britain sponsored a whole different
level of pressure on the British subjects. The Atlantic seaboard colonists
began to feel like second-class citizens of their homeland.
We
find the difference for the English settlers’ existence in their Christian
principles, most often referred to as religion. Although the Anglican Church of
England (a protestant take-off of the Pope’s empire) existed in Jamestown, the
protestant reformation Pilgrims thrived. How? By establishing their principles
in the Mayflower Compact and living a godly life. They worshipped God through
Jesus Christ the best way they knew how. At every turn where it seemed disaster
struck, they’d take a knee and offer repentance to God for whatever it was they
were doing wrong. God blessed that. They also determined private ownership
generated far more blessings than communal farming.
After
one hundred and fifty years, a small vociferous group stood up to the
giant. They declared why the world should know and understand their
decision to break away from England.
John
Quincy Adams, a prominent founding father, made an early summarization of how
Christmas and the Declaration of Independence relate. Here is a quote from him
on the 61st anniversary of the Declaration.
“Why
is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous
and most venerated festival returns on this day? Is it not that, in a
chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is
indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a
leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not
that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social
compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it
laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of
Christianity and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the
fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from heaven at
the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the
Hebrew prophets 600 years before.”
This
Christmas season presents another opportunity for America to understand its
roots. Another day for individuals to take stock of their spiritual lives and
reconnect with God. Jesus came not to rule the world but to save the lost that
they might be the children of God. It’s our birthright to accept Him and
fulfill the prophetic call on America.
Make
no mistake about your life, which has an eternal existence beyond this earthly
realm. Our founders understood it. Their existence depended on it. Consider the
foundations of our Constitution and what the Declaration of Independence has
done for you. Give America a chance at a reprieve from God’s wrath. Accept His
call to you.
