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July commemorates another month of celebration known as Independence Day which is celebrated on July 4th. It’s is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. On this day the thirteen American colonies stated their claim for their liberation from British Empire. There was an appointed a five-man committee which includes: Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York – to draft a formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain. They This is the time to remember our freedoms and thank God for them, While we look with gratitude to the past on this July 4th, may we also look in faith to the future, and commit it and our lives to God and His will. The ancient words of the Psalmist are still true, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,The people He has chosen as His own inheritance" (Psalm 33:12).
Our independence did not come easily; only after several difficult years of war would it finally be won. Nor were our first years as a nation free from problems and controversies (as is still true). But our forefathers were determined to establish a free and democratic system of government, and the Declaration of Independence (together with our Constitution and the Bill of Rights) became the foundation for this. They have stood the test of time, and on July 4th we give thanks for the wisdom and faith and courage of those leaders. Christians render respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed. "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due,customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Romans 13:7). We acknowledge God’s common goodness when our nation is manifestly “God’s servant for your good” (Romans 13:4) and the authorities are “ministers of God” (Romans 13:6). "Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (1 Peter 2:17). "So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me,For I trust in Your word.And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I have hoped in Your ordinances.So shall I keep Your law continually, Forever and ever.And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings,And will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments,Which I love,And I will meditate on Your statutes." (Psalm 119:42-48).
Where Our Fundamental Identity Lies:
First, let’s be clear about where the Christian’s deepest identity lies. If we are in Christ, joined to him by faith, all other pledges of allegiance have been relativized, whatever our nation of origin or naturalization. We still have our loyalties, in which they may even multiply, however, none goes this deep. No man can ultimately serve both God and country. In Jesus, we have one final allegiance, and thus in this world we will always be, in some real sense, pilgrims, strangers and aliens, sojourners and exiles. "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation." (1 Peter 2:11-12). For the Christian, our citizenship in any nation aims to be “worthy of the gospel of Christ”, not merely worthy of that political state."Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God"(Philippians 1:27-28). At the most basic level, we come to under our citizenship is in anchored in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself"(Philippians 3:20–21). Given the fallen condition of our world because of human sin, we should be amazed how much common goodness God continues to create and uphold in nations good and even bad. In the same breath Paul instructs Christians to be good citizens, he also reminds us about our native condition. "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men" (Titus 3:1–2), "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:3–7)
