Saturday, August 8, 2009

Blessed is the Nation

Psalms 33:12

Is America a Christian nation? If it is considered a Christian nation, what does that mean? If the answer is “No, America is not a Christian nation”, what changes? Truthfully, neither this nation nor any nation is actually Christian, for the entire country cannot be born again. There may be many Christians within that nation, but that doesn’t make a country “saved” or “lost”.

Some say that America is inherently Christian because it was founded on Christian principles. Again, facts and fiction should be clearly separated. Most nations are founded on simple, fundamental ideas of personal freedom and morality, all of which are spelled out in one way or the other by the Law of God. This fact does not make America Christian, for you can have principles of morality, and know nothing about Jesus Christ.

Again, the argument is made that our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution provided Godly, moral principles upon which we are built. Actually, the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, but a look around will show you that the man born blind or without any legs might beg to differ. The Constitution declared that slaves were property of their owners and could be counted as 3/5 of a man. Can you believe that? That is a Christian principle?

Thankfully, blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and we do not need to concern ourselves with rather or not America qualifies. The reason for this is that when we accepted Christ as our Savior, we became a citizen of a greater nation, whose founder and leader is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter wrote his first epistle to “the strangers scattered” (1 Peter 1:1). Those “strangers” were Gentiles, just like you and I, and he told them that they were “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). Acceptance of Christ as Lord formed a new, “holy nation”, of which we all belong. This nation of believers is also called the church, and we now retain the blessing of Psalm 33:12. Because Jesus took our curse at Calvary, this holy nation takes the blessings of heaven and calls them their own.

This is not to insinuate that prayer for America is less than necessary. God uses any nation that brings glory to the finished work of His Son, and America has certainly been blessed for that very cause. It could probably be said that America has done more to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the world than any nation in the history of the world. For that one fact alone, America has experienced great favor by the hand of God. Any nation that brings honor to the finished work of Christ and ministers of His glorious grace can prepare themselves for great blessings, for God does all things for the sake of His Son.

You belong to a holy nation of people, and you are a ready recipient of God’s wonderful favor. Live today as a citizen of this heavenly nation, sure to bring honor and glory to our King.

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