THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
“Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are dinged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him (Isaiah 51:1, 2).”
When it comes to celebrating this most American of holidays, it is interesting to note that our Founding Fathers didn’t consider the 4th of July a holiday. No, to them this day represented far more than just another festival to acknowledge in the myriad of special days Americans honor. According to John Adams, the second President of the USA, the 4th of July, “Ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” Surprisingly, John Adams believed Independence Day was to be a Holy Day to be spent in Thanksgiving to the Almighty for His mighty deliverance that He wrought on the behalf of our fledgling nation.
His son, John Quincy Adams, our 6th President, declared, “Why is that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day (July 4th). Is it not that, in the 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…”
According to Mr. Adams, it took the spread of Christianity 1,800 years to finally culminate in the establishing of America. He believed the highest glory of the Revolution permanently linked the principles of Christianity with the principles of civil government. He viewed the Declaration as the first social compact and governing document in the history of man to establish its foundation on the mission of Jesus Christ in the earth. Obviously, America is dreadfully void of that perspective today.
Yes, there is much evidence that points to the fact that America is a unique nation amongst the nations of the earth. It is evident that the land itself was preserved for a special purpose in God’s Providence. Although America was prime “real estate” in the earth and filled with natural resources, it remained virtually untapped for thousands of years. You do not see the pyramids of Egypt, the glory of Rome, nor the grandeur of Greece upon these shores. Why is it that there was no great civilization established here until a persecuted people longing to be free to worship the God of Heaven in Spirit and in truth came to these shores? If you can answer that question then you are on the road to understand the vision for America and her destiny that stands in peril today.
Another unique mark upon this nation that is exclusively American is the fact that we are the only nation on earth that was founded on a creed. All the other nations on earth were essentially established upon ethnicity, nationality, or race. Not so with America. Regardless of skin color or any other physical attribute that distinguishes human beings, what makes an American an American is a creed. A creed that is articulated in a document we call The Declaration of Independence.
Before we explore some vital points of that creed, we need to understand, whereas the Constitution is the letter of the law, (that has been twisted, bent, and perverted through judicial activism to subject Americans to legalized evil today) the Declaration is the Spirit of the Law. The Declaration supplies the premises, the presuppositions, and the underlying principles that we have forgotten to the Constitution’s harm. You will see this clearly as we examine a few of those foundational principles contained within the Declaration that was to be the heart, soul, and source to establish and sustain our Christian Republic called America.
On July 4th, 1776, the delegates of the Continental Congress voted to ratify the Declaration which began with these profound words, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature God entitles them…”
It is extremely important to understand and it cannot be emphasized enough that our Founding Fathers cited the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God as the sole basis for breaking ties with England and to become a separate nation in the earth. To comprehend the magnitude of that particular phrase utilized by Thomas Jefferson, one must look to Sir William Blackstone who was the first one to coin the phrase.
Sir William Blackstone was a renowned English jurist who wrote the highly influential work called, “Commentaries on the Laws of England ” He was one the most quoted sources, besides the Bible, John Locke, and Baron de Montesquieu, which our Founding Fathers cited as the basis for law in America.
Blackstone defined the laws of nature and of nature’s God as:
Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being… And, consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker’s will… this will of his Maker is called the law of nature. These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil. This law of nature dictated by God Himself; is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this… The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found in the Holy Scriptures… {and} are found upon comparison to be really part of the original law of nature. Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation (Thomas Jefferson penned of nature’s God as a substitute for the law of revelation) depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to contradict these.
According to Blackstone who was the inspiration behind the laws of nature and of nature’s God statement, the creation itself testifies and teaches man that there is a Supreme Being that created the universe. The immutable laws contained within nature reveal a Creator that man is to be subject to by virtue of being a dependent creature. Apparently, Blackstone was a jurist who studied the only sure basis for law, which is Holy Writ. Both Romans 1:20 and Psalms 19:1-3 verify his writings.
According to Blackstone, even though man has reasoning capabilities, it has been made corrupt by sin. The Lord did not leave revelation to chance however. No, He made a direct appeal to mankind through what Blackstone called the “law of revelation,” in which the Declaration interprets “of nature’s God.” The Ten Commandments, God’s moral Law, was God’s way of appealing to man objectively to confirm within man what he instinctively knows to be true on the inside. Yet, due to man’s fallen nature, we inevitably suppress the truth and exchange it for a lie. Undeterred, in God’s great mercy, He sent the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most perfect revelation and we are therefore without excuse.
The Bible teaches that Jesus is the expressed image of God (Hebrews 1:3). He was the Word (God’s direct revelation to man) made flesh and dwelt amongst us. Jesus stated, “If you’ve seen me, you have seen the Father (John 14:9).” In other words, Jesus was the visible manifestation of the invisible God. According to Blackstone, unless laws was based upon these truths, they were not laws at all and “no human law should be suffered to contradict these.”
Our next stop along the way as we explore the Declaration is, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” Can you believe in this moral relativistic age in which we live, that our Founding Fathers actually had the audacity to believe in a concept called truth? Now truth by its very nature lends itself completely to the notion that there are moral absolutes. Obviously, our Founding Fathers would be laughed to scorn today, if they brought that archaic view to our “enlightened” humanistic public schools.
We don’t teach children that there is such a thing as self-evident truth, moral absolutes, and a definite right and a definite wrong. No, we teach kids to decide for themselves what is right or wrong with no standard except what their own unregenerated hearts crave. As a result, millions of American children are left to construct their own “truth” and values apart from the God of the Bible. Can there be any doubt that this mentality has opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box that is savaging our young today? School shootings, violence, sexual immorality, molestation, and drug abuse are a direct result of our nation rejecting the time honored wisdom of our Founding Fathers.
Yes, our Founding Fathers believed in self-evident truth that was not based upon the subjective experience of fallen man, but on God’s objective truth that is transcendent and authoritative over man. Yes, they believed in truth because they longed for freedom. They knew Biblically, you can’t have freedom without truth. Where would they obtain such a notion? John 8:31, 32 records, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Keep in mind, freedom to them was not the ability to do whatever we want, but the power to do as we ought. Self-government was the key to liberty. America would do well to remember from whence she came and what those who birthed her actually believed.
The next important phrase contained in the Declaration goes like this, “That all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Notice it doesn’t say that man evolved into equality and by virtue of evolution have secured unalienable rights. Why is it our Founding Fathers believed in creationism, and yet, we can’t teach this history to our children?
Ideas have consequences, my friend. Evolution has been the intellectual underpinnings of every atheistic, totalitarian government that has committed unspeakable atrocities against the very people they claimed to serve. Communism, Nazism, and Fascism are just a few of the regimes that rejected the concept of Creator. They opted for an evolutionary worldview instead, which justified their many atrocities. Their bloody history aptly displays the bitter fruit of an atheistic state that utilizes evolution to rationalize oppression. After all, evolution teaches that the strong survive. So, it must be ethical to exploit, abuse, and destroy the weak to get what we lust for in life, right? No, a thousand times no!
We see this mentality so clearly manifest with the struggle over abortion. Fallen men at times use and abuse women by virtue of their superior strength. In like manner, feministic women demand to be empowered as well. Roe v Wade decriminalized child sacrifice, which allowed women to use their superior strength against their own helpless children. God help us! Christianity, on the other hand, teaches that the strong are to help the weak. We are never permitted by God to exploit them. This Biblical concept is one of the reasons that made America great. How many times has America invested our blood, treasure, and toil to aid weaker nations that were subjugated to tyranny by stronger nations?
What has happened to America since we have officially rejected our Creator that our Founding Fathers looked to as the basis of establishing America as an independent nation amongst the nations of the earth? We are becoming what we fought against in World War Two. As I write, America seems hell bent on using our superior strength, political clout, and finances to spew the filth of Hollywood, abortion, the feminist doctrine, and the homosexual agenda throughout the globe. Is it any wonder why Islam calls America the “Great Satan” and seeks our destruction?
The Declaration proceeds with these words, “That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not a guarantee of happiness that the “government as Savior” programs promise). That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Our Founding Fathers believed that man’s rights came from God, the Creator, and that civil government was established to protect those rights. This is the clear teaching of Romans 13:1 which states, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”
Historically, Americans believed that we were “One Nation under God.” In fact, our national motto is “In God We Trust.” It was not one nation under many gods, but the one, true and living God, the God of the Bible, the triune God of Holy Scripture, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When mankind rejects this Biblical truth of God’s sovereignty, however, man has only two failed options available. First, the state is sovereign and the ultimate authority, which historically has led to the murderous regimes, previously mentioned that has crushed the freedoms, lives, and property of many. In fact, the 20th century alone, has witnessed hundreds of millions of innocent people massacred by this monstrous lie. The second option is man as an individual is sovereign, which inevitably leads to anarchy, chaos, and confusion. Only One Nation under God can secure the delicate tension between the social order on the one hand and individual freedom on the other. All else is sinking sand and cisterns that can’t hold water.
Indeed, God is the supreme authority and civil government is a delegated authority established for His pleasure and for our benefit. The Declaration then warns civil government, ‘that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.” This particular phrase is why we are crying out for a “Gentle Revolution.” Either America experiences a spiritual, godly, and moral revolution that lands us squarely back upon the “Rock” from which we were hewed, or I shudder to think of what may befall us.
Finally, our Founding Fathers make their appeal, “to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions… With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
In the Declaration, the God of the Bible is acknowledged as Law-giver, the source of Law, Creator, the Source of life, the Supreme Judge, the highest authority, and the Protector of America’s rights. Without this revelation beating in the heart of every true American, then all the 4th of July represents is eating, drinking, and watching fireworks. I pray that each of you that read this article will consider these historical truths and their implications. They represent the righteous foundations upon which America once stood. We must awaken and recognize that these foundational truths are beginning to crumble as we abandon God, our righteous heritage and the principles that made us great. Our history is being deleted or rewritten to further the “foes of our own American household’s” agenda. We must therefore, look to the Rock that hewed us and the Patriarchs that bore us before it is too late. GOD SAVE AMERICA AND NO KING, BUT KING JESUS!
