"I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.'"
(Psalm 2:7, 8)
Psalm 2 is a great place to be "stuck." The word, "begotten," is better translated, "bring forth," or, "revealed." It is accurate Biblical Theology to say, "I have introduced You." It does not mean "created." Jesus, the Son, is of the Self-Existent Godhead. The great Creed of the Church states, "begotten, not made." This is the Creator God of the Universe, He Who Alone Is, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Or as one Bible scholar says, "Before the beginning began, the Word already was." It is amusing to me that the headlines today in some papers declared the discovery of "the God particle." I could have saved the scientists a lot of time, frustration, and money. The Book declares, "In the beginning God...," and, "In the beginning was the Word," Jesus.
This is in America "Independence Day." I put a quote of an 18th Century Boston preacher on Facebook; maybe you could check it out. One of his statements is, "We are engaged in a most important contest; not for power but for freedom." The freedom which the Pilgrims came here to establish was a freedom from the tyranny of Europe; it was not, my friend, a freedom from the reign of Jesus Christ. The early Pilgrims came to these shores to free themselves from those, "kings of the earth," who had, "set themselves...against the Lord and His Christ," and to "set themselves" under, "the Lord and His Christ."
There is just no "freedom" apart from Jesus Christ. Any person who speaks of "freedom" and thinks that "freedom" means freedom from, "the Lord and His Christ," is a slave of the first order. No person can speak of freedom and independence from the Living Triune God in the same sentence---------- and be speaking truth. "You shall know the truth, and (only) the truth shall make you free....Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed," and only, "if the Son makes you free...." Guns cannot give this, "free"; demonstrations cannot bring this, "free"; wars cannot. All of that brings something temporary at best. Without Jesus Christ, freedom is slavery disguised.
My friend, Governor Brownback, once said, "Slavery is America's original sin;" it is a deep stain on the "American experience," and any Fourth of July celebration. But many of those slaves were really free because they were, as Paul described, "bondservants of Jesus Christ." They gave us great songs and worship and attitude that no matter what the physical state, there is freedom in Jesus. The words of Jesus are true today of so many, "You belong to your father, the devil,.. not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him."
The Negro slaves of American history, the Pilgrims who came to these shores, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and many of the framers of the US Constitution were free-----------------------------------------even before July 4, 1776.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I deeply thank You for America and what You have done here. May we be worthy of the sacrifice of so many. Amen.
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Good July Fourth Article: www.jerberwash.blogspot.com
Unreached People Group: www.apfunreachedpeoples.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
