Reflections on the Fourth : Truth Observed

July 5, 2007 · Posted in Civics

Dr. Tackett really nailed this one. I hope you had a great holiday and reflected on what the day is truly about.

Reflections on the Fourth

Posted on July 4, 2007
Filed Under Worldview |

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights…” Declaration of Independence, 1776

Romans 13 is one of the great design documents for the sphere of the state, outlining how God has established the civil magistrate as His agent of wrath on earth, punishing evil and condoning what is good. However, those verses, along with the rest of Scripture, are consistent in making sure that the civil magistrate never forgets that he is God’s servant, subject to the King of Kings.
King Nebuchadnezzar found himself eating grass like a cow when he began to think that he was the one who was supremely in control (Daniel 4). Uzziah was judged with leprosy for the rest of his life when he became proud and assumed authority that had not been granted him by God (2 Chronicles 26). Few things are more clear in the Scripture than the truth that God will not give His glory to another—and that includes the king who acts in defiance before Him. Judgment, though it may seem for a while to be withheld, comes eventually.
When the Declaration of Independence was crafted two hundred and thirty one years ago, these words were critical to the document. The rights of mankind were endowed to him not by the king, but by his Creator. Those rights were therefore “inalienable”. The king did not grant them, nor could the king take them away. True liberty was a gift from God and was to be protected by human governments, not violated.
These words in the Declaration may seem to form only a small statement, but they are large in that they acknowledge that God is ultimately the One to whom civil government is subject.
This acknowledgment was widespread in the beginning and fundamental to our thinking. Alexis de Tocqueville, a young Frenchmen who visited America in the early 1800’s, wrote of this popular outlook in his classic work, Democracy in America:

“The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive one without the other.”

We pause from our normal workday on July 4th to celebrate a day that commemorates the founding of this nation—a civil government that was intended to rest upon the deeper foundations of religion and morality.
We have a big day planned. Our family will gather together, with some of my students, for a 4th of July feast. We will attempt, using that marvelous invention, the backyard barbeque, to turn raw meat into something edible, which means anything between slightly warm and gray ash. We will complete the day by attending one of the many firework displays around our community.
In the midst of the feasting and ooh’s and awe’s of the night sky fireworks, we will stop at some point to recall why we are celebrating this day and the implications for the present. Our nation is in great need of revival.
She is wandering.
May we spend some time today on our knees praying for our return to biblical principles in every area of life. And may this be a wonderful day for you and your families, wherever you are.

“To preserve the government we must also preserve morals. Morality rests on religion; if you destroy the foundation, the superstructure must fall. When the public mind becomes vitiated and corrupt, laws are a nullity and constitutions are waste paper.” Daniel Webster