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Part Two - Four Reasons Why God
Established the United States

This article comes from the First Family Church
P.O. Box 12193
Overland Park, KS.  66282
Office: 913-451-2229 * Fax: 913-451-0475
Copyright © First Family Church and International Ministries. All Rights Reserved

and is reprinted with their permission.

By The Honorable Judge Robert Ulrich
Chief Justice, Missouri Court Of Appeals, Western District

If God had a hand in the founding of this nation, He must have had reasons for this nation to exist. What were those reasons? Analysis of history suggests that God had at least four (4) reasons to cause the establishment of the United States by and through Christians.

The first reason was to provide a forum
and a sanctuary in which the Gospel
could be preached openly and where
Christians live as God intended.

The first reason was to provide a forum and a sanctuary in which the Gospel could be preached openly and where Christians live as God intended. This is always primary. When people become Christians, they change. Their focus is on Christ. Remember that many of our ancestors came from a Europe that rejected them because they worshiped in a way that conflicted with the established religion. They came here to worship God and to follow the dictates of the Bible. Even here there were efforts in some communities to prevent their worship of Christ and to compel their conformity to an established religious form, but on the whole, the preaching of the Gospel has rung throughout the land.

Alexis de Tocqueville studied the greatness of the United States even as early as the 1830s. He was a Frenchman who came to the United States because he recognized that even then, there was something special about this nation, less than 100 years old. He concluded that, "Americans combine the notion of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, it is impossible to make them conceive one without the other."

If a second part of this purpose in establishing the United States is to provide a forum where Christians are to live as God intended, just how are Christians to live? The Bible is clear about the required conduct for Christ's followers. Accepting Christ changes lives. As Jefferson observed, their hearts are changed. At John 13:34-35, Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." Jesus said that we will be known as Christians ultimately by how we treat each other. The verse says, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Is it that simple? Is that how we are to live? Paul says in Romans 13:8, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another." 1 Peter 1:22 says, "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from your heart." In 1 John 3:23 John reminds us, "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."

The message is clear. If we are Christians, we will love our fellow Christians. We cannot help but to love them. A bond occurs between us. This is the first requirement of the Christian. How can we respond to the Holy Spirit's calling in each of our lives if we do not love someone for whom Christ died? How can we perform the tasks God assigns us if we do not love someone He loves? Loving fellow Christians allows us to perform the task of carrying Christ's message of salvation to the world.

It is important to remember, however, that the word "love" in the Bible is always accompanied by action. It is never simply a feeling. Therefore, the United States of America, as a nation founded upon Christian principles provides a forum for Christians to manifest their love by embracing other Christians and their needs, both here and throughout the world. Christian loving Christian is essential. Without this, Christians cannot carry the Gospel to the unsaved - they cannot comply with the "Great Commission."

The second reason God established the
United States to restrain the threats to
the world in the twenty century.

The Second Reason God established the United States to restrain the threats to the world in the twenty century. In this century we have experienced some of the greatest despots in the history of the world. The world has always had despots whom murdered and pillaged, but never has it experienced such organized horror as this century has produced. Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm was largely responsible for initiating World War I. Millions of men were killed in France. The communist experiment that denied the existence of God and denied the worth of the individual in what was the Soviet Union produced millions of deaths by Lenin and then Stalin. Hitler and Tojo's conquests produced World War II resulting in 40 million deaths! Six million Jews and millions of people who opposed Hitler's atrocities were murdered in organized genocide. Mao Tse Tung's ruthless communism produced millions of deaths in China, Tibet and Mongolia, and that communist regime is not through in China as we saw at Tiananmen Square. Pol Pot practiced genocide in his own country and 4 million Cambodians died.

What would have happened to the world had the United States not existed in this century? What would the world have become if instead of the superpower that is the United States this continent were a series of countries like South America, unable to respond to Hitler and Stalin? This nation was the supplier of troops and material the last two years of the First World War. The presence of the U.S. and its industrial might broke the Axis powers and concluded the war. In World War II, the U.S. supplied the Soviet Union and the free nations fighting the tyranny of the Nazi and Japanese regimes with war material and American soldiers, marines and sailors. The war was won but it would not have been won without the United States. Without the U.S., the world would not exist today as it does. Berlin or Moscow might be the world's capital and millions would be denied hearing the Gospel. The evidence is substantial, that one reason the United States existed in the 20th century was to save the world from despots, which leads to the next reason.

The THIRD REASON the United States
exists as a strong and wealthy nation in
this century, along with Canada, is to
serve as a bastion from which the Gospel
is communicated to the world.

The THIRD REASON the United States exists as a strong and wealthy nation in this century, along with Canada, is to serve as a bastion from which the Gospel is communicated to the world. Without the occurrence of the first two reasons, this reason would be virtually impossible on a large scale.

Jesus directed his disciples to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel." We call this the "Great Commission." The risen Christ says at Matthew 28:19, "Therefor go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." As Christians, we understand that fundamental to our acceptance of Christ's forgiveness is our submission to His will. He directs us to tell the "good news" to others that they, too, may have eternal life through Christ. Christians have accepted the calling. In the last century, England was a fortress from which missionaries were sent into the world. People like David Livingston emigrated to Africa and the rest of the world taking the Gospel to millions.

In this century, the United States, blessed to be a blessing, provides the fortress and possesses the awesome resources to permit American Christians to carry the Bible and its message of salvation to the unsaved world. For example, in 1997, for the fifth year in a row, just one Christian denomination, the Southern Baptists set a new record in overseas missionary appointments. Six-hundred-twenty-eight new missionaries were sent by the Southern Baptists through the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Many other Christian denominations sent missionaries to the world, also. The Southern Baptist missionary workers numbered 4,249 last year. According to Jerry Rankin, President of the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention,

... We are living in an era of spiritual history unlike any other. At the dawn of the 21st century, souls are being saved and churches are being planted at a rate that far exceeds our wildest dreams.

Full time and part time missionaries are going into the world with the support of Christian Churches within the United States and Canada. American missionaries are going to South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and into what was the Soviet Union. With the demise of communism in Europe and the former Soviet Union, the people in the former Iron Curtain countries are hungry for the Word of God, and American churches are responding by sending Bibles, financial aid and missionaries.

They are carrying the Gospel to the unsaved world, much of which is dangerous for those who stand for Christ. For example, last year, more Christians were martyred than in the entire first century - 156,000! American churches supporting missionaries are a principal means of carrying the Gospel to the world's unsaved today. Without the support of American churches for foreign missionaries, response to the "Great Commission" in this century would be substantially reduced.

Unique to this century, several additional means of evangelizing the world exist. For the first time radio and television have sent the Gospel to, virtually, the entire world. American technology and Christians have teamed-up to respond to the "Great Commission" to permit millions to hear the Gospel. In every major American city at least one Christian radio station broadcasts the Gospel daily. God has blessed this nation to facilitate Christians sending the Gospel to the unsaved word in response to Christ's directive. This church, for example, as young as it is, have already begun to respond to Christ's directive to go into the world with the Gospel.

The Fourth Reason may surprise some of you, but the evidence is clear. The FOURTH REASON this nation exists is to be an instrument by which Israel is reestablished and protected during the Twentieth Century.

The FOURTH REASON this nation exists
is to be an instrument by which Israel
is reestablished and protected during
the Twentieth Century.

God used the Patriarchs to establish Israel. He gave Moses the Law and ceremony that focused on the coming Messiah. The Old Testament reflects that God was active in Israel's political existence as well as its spiritual existence. Although God's ultimate concern is the personal relationship between individuals and Himself, the political life of the nation Israel was essential to bring about his plan of salvation. Through the seed of David, the Messiah would come to save sinners from the consequence of their sins, if they would accept His gift of salvation. The Creator obviously knew that to be a blessing to the world as he told Abraham he would be. Israel had to have a political existence.

Ancient Israel existed, and the Messiah, Jesus was presented to the world. Israel rejected Christ, and Israel ceased to exist in 70 AD when Tiberius devastated Jerusalem and dispersed the Jews. Israel's political existence was over, at least temporarily - that is for about 2000 years.

All of God's promises to Israel were not yet complete. Those that were not completed by the time Israel was destroyed would be fulfilled during "the end times." "The end times" are referenced in 44 of the 66 books of the Bible. Daniel, Revelation, Thessalonians, and even Matthew speak of the "end times." The "end times" include the Great Tribulation.

Israel passed from the world's scene in 70 AD. The Jews were scattered throughout the world. However, to fulfil the promises that God made to the Jewish people, Israel must exist. The logical conclusion then is that Israel had to again become a nation for God to satisfy the promises he made to the Jews. As always happens, then, at the right moment in history, "in the fullness of time," God would again somehow establish the nation of Israel to fulfil His promises. Therefore, like the savior of both Jew and Gentile, Israel would rise again from the dead!

God prophesied in the Old Testament that He would again gather the Jews back from the nations of the world, and Israel would exist again.

Isaiah 11:11-12 states,

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left .... And he shall set up an ensign from the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Ezekiel 11:17 asserts,

... Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Many more prophecies concerning the regathering of Israel are found in the Old Testament. [Jeremiah 29:14; Jeremiah 31:10, 32:34-41; Nehemiah 1:9; Psalms 107:3; Isaiah 43:5-6; Ezekiel 34:12-31; 37:21; Micah 2:12].

After the regathering of the Jews in Israel, God indicates what will then occur. Ezekiel 39:27-28 states,

When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Thus, God is not through with Israel. He intends to fulfill His promises to her, but to do so, Israel had to again exist as a nation.

Before the end of the last century, the Zionist movement began. The Jews were scattered throughout the world. Jews in Russia and Europe, under the leadership of people like David Ben Gurion, proposed the return of Jews to Palestine to recreate a Jewish homeland. They were called Zionists. They encouraged the return of Jews to the area of the Middle East that had been Israel before 70 AD. These people experienced a tremendous boost in 1917. When the 1st World War began in 1914, the British wanted the support of the inhabitants of the area and others affected by the region to support the Allies against the Turks, who had aligned themselves with the Germans.

As a result, on November 2, 1917, the British Foreign Secretary wrote a letter expressing that England supported an independent Jewish state in the Middle East. The letter was known as the Balfour Letter. After the war, the League of Nations authorized England as protectorate for the Palestinian area that included Trans-Jordan and Palestine. Jews, under Jewish leadership, began to immigrate to Palestine. Not until the end of World War II did the effort of Jews to immigrate to Palestine increase by great numbers. Six million Jews had been murdered in Nazi death camps. The survivors were displaced and generally had nowhere and no one to return to. Thousands began to immigrate to Israel. With the strong support of the United States, in November of 1947, the United Nations acknowledged that the Jews could establish the new state of Israel.

On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was officially established. Israel became a new nation after 2000 years - a feat that had never happened before in the history of the world. Immediately Arabs from Jordan and Syria attacked the new country. The amazing truth is that only 657,000 Jews were in Palestine when Israel became a nation for the second time. They confronted millions of Arabs within the adjacent nations who were determined to destroy them. As of 1962, the Jewish population in Israel had grown to 2, 069, 000. Today almost 6,000,000 Jews are in Israel. Tens of thousands of Jews return home every year, especially from the former Soviet Union. The Jews have gone home.

Harry Truman was President of the United States in May of 1948, and he recognized Israel immediately upon its declaration of statehood. He did so in part because a Jewish friend in Kansas City convinced him of the necessity.

Without the United States, Israel would not exist today. To demonstrate the significance of the American assistance to Israel, in 1989, U.S. government foreign aid contributed the equivalent of $10,000 to every Israeli soldier and $1500 for every Israeli citizen! In 1996, aid to Israel accounted for 25% of the total U.S. foreign budget. If aid to Egypt (which stems directly from the Camp David Accords) is considered a pacification effort and indirectly benefited Israel, the total aid related to U.S. commitment to Israel equaled 42.5% of the Foreign aid budget. Total aid for Israel in the 1996 U.S. budget was equal to over 5.5 billion dollars. The Cranston Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1984 stipulates that economic support to Israel can not drop below the amount Israel owes on loans to the United States.

Many more millions of Jews are American citizens. American Jews have supplemented U.S. foreign aid. More Jews live in the United States than in all other nations of the world. These Americans have augmented the American government's contributions to Israel with millions of dollars and vocal and political support annually.

Lets look at the military assistance provided to Israel. Israel utilizes U.S. arms to protect itself. Among its armaments, are American tanks, American small arms, assorted American military technology, and American F-15s and F-16s. To demonstrate further Israel's dependency on U.S. assistance, one F-15, perhaps the best fighter aircraft in the world, costs well in excess of $36,000. How many F-15s can the 6 million Israeli citizens buy with their tax dollars?

The evidence is clear, Israel could not exist as a nation without the military and economic support of the United States. If God prophesied that Israel would again become a nation so that God could fulfil His promises to the Jews, and if Israel could not have become a nation and could not continue to exist without the United States Government's annual contributions, the obvious conclusion is that God has used the United States to accomplish his task of reestablishing Israel.

Conclusion

All of this is interesting, and this is a fitting time to consider it as we approach the 223rd anniversary of our nation's history, but what is the practical effect on your life and mine? The answer is simple. God caused this nation to exist as a powerful nation for at least four reasons. He intended that the United States of America be a place where Christians live loving and aiding each other, serving as examples to the unsaved, and perform His purpose. He intended that this nation serve as a stumbling block to those who would have snuffed out the Gospel and sent the world into another Dark Age. He intended that the Christians within this nation preach the Gospel here and to the unsaved throughout the world as missionaries and using the technology this century has brought. And God used this nation to reestablish Israel to fulfill His promises to the Jews and to conclude His plan as prophesied in the Bible.

Each of these four reasons that our nation exists points to THE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE THAT YOU AND I HAVE WORTH. He wants a personal relationship with you and with me. They help demonstrate that God cares for the individual. God demonstrated our value by dying for you and for me and rising from the dead for us. HE DIDN'T LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR A NATION, NOT EVEN ISRAEL. But He uses nations as vehicles to accomplish His tasks. He wants a personal relationship with you and me so much, that he has promoted the existence of at least two nations, now intertwined, to accomplish his plan of salvation, and this is one of them. Through the United States of America, a forum is provided to disseminate God's love for the individual, His plan of salvation that saves and that continues to develop a personal relationship with each individual who accepts Christ's gift of eternal life.

We must not permit revisionists to steal from us our Christian heritage by rewriting history. We, who are Christians, must remember that our role as Christian Americans, blessed by God to be a blessing, is to present the Gospel of saving grace within our nation and outside it and to live as He wants us too. While we may be dissatisfied with the moral decadence so prevalent within our nation, we must remember that during the dark days of Israel's spiritual decadency, God always had a remnant with whom he had a relationship.

Are you a part of the remnant? If you are not, if you have not repented, that is changed your attitude, and accepted Jesus Christ as savior, you are missing the personal and fulfilling relationship that the God who creates nations and uses for His purpose wants with you forever. You are separated from Him now, and unless you accept His gift of life eternal, you will miss forever the relationship that He has shown He wants with you.