A Change in Independence Status

A Change In Independence Status

9/21/16

As the 4^th of July and other national holidays come and go in this land, we once again frivolously enjoy the freedoms that many people from this country fought and died for a long time ago.  We quickly return to our daily routines and pick up our selfish attitudes and self-righteous behaviors again as the minutes and hours pass after the holiday is over.  But what if the meaning of independence that we in this country share today is changed and forces us to reconsider what it means to be free, or would the question beg to warrant our unknown slavery?  How would we respond to such a change?  Would we turn back to God or blame Him for such travesties, would we even acknowledge Him at all?  The answers should be obvious yet hidden deep within our hearts and thus ignored for the superficial and ambivalent.  When the change to our independence comes and we are forced to be dependent on someone, who shall that someone be that we turn towards for answers?

Not many people would agree with what has been suggested in the above opening paragraph, but it is a direct and imminent truth and if one understands God’s heart they shall know that a situational and fundamental change shall be coming to this nation because of our sinful and selfish ways that we have readily approved and accepted.  When people use death tolls to gain political ground there is something wrong with our priorities.  When sex is sold for a common and cheap price and deemed as a whimsical want something is wrong with our society, and when freedom is based solely on a popular single point of view of demeanor and self-invigoration, something scary and can only be coming.  Even if only one of these conditions is being manifested in a society things are ripe for destruction, but when all of these settings are ongoing together, there can be only one conclusion that remains of celebrating this type of freedom; in fact, it is not freedom at all it is slavery in accordance to worldly standards. 

Another day has passed and we have been forced to undergo another example of someone’s interpretation of freedom and it amazes me of what a human’s logical concept of freedom actually entails.  It seems like this type of belief is plastered across our eyes on a continual basis and while these issues are “gracing” viewers and proclaims the intentions to be expressions of freedom they are in reality further dividing this nation into lines that set up a deepening crisis of division; this is the true definition of selfishness and not freedom.  

I understand these issues for they are clearly represented in God’s Word and it is not hard to know that many of these issues were not resolved in biblical times and are not close to being resolved today either.  Then, many interpret these faults in a heretical manner and it provides the recipe for ugly backlash.  It is a worldly concept to look for independence through human eyes but when we complete this godly act in this capacity we are doomed to fail.  What can a man expect by trying to gain knowledge from a source that is flawed?  If the origins of our lives were in a limited and death detailed existence then we would have no hope for our survival, but it is not like this for our origins were created in purity and perfect harmony with our Creator which means as long as we include Him in our decisions and choices we have a direct hope of eternal and pure life.

It really pains me to watch people around the world protest a cause when they place themselves and their wants first.  This type of belief reinforces the truth that unless God is first in our lives and us last, nothing will ever be accomplished for our good. This concept is fully described throughout human history and it would seem like we would understand that this concept does not work through humanistic values with all the examples we have to choose from.  Yet, we continue to stroll down life’s lane seeking the answers through human ways and in a few steps we find ourselves face planted on the road that we are walking.  We do have an ancient but true and accurate text for us to study so that we can avoid all of these issues of freedom and independence that we feel is being hidden from our lives.  The question that I ask and it comes from God goes like this: why don’t we try God’s way instead?  I mean, really try His way, completely and 100%.

Do you realize that there are numerous examples of individuals, groups, and nations that have lost their independence in the Bible?  Of course, we automatically think about all of the nasty wars and battles in the Old Testament and how many nations lost their heads to such tragedies, but has anyone stopped to search and to study as to why those battles occurred?  Even God’s own chosen people were engaged in such tragedies and a few times even lost their independence.  It is through these examples that we should turn our attention towards and explore the exact reasons why God would give a certain status to an individual, group or nation and then allow that specific status to be taken away.  When one studies all of these issues only one answer can be explained, at some point in time that entity turned their heart away from God enough to warrant a change in the situation; especially when that entity has totally ignored or forgotten their stance within their community and physically changed their stances.

What about changes of independence in the New Testament are there any examples of these settings?  The answer is yes with just as many examples as there are in the Old Testament but this time, many of these changes are directed inside the Church core and how people have divided their ideas and philosophies with their own interpretations of Jesus’ command to spread the gospel and the truth about being born again.  If one studies the Early Church and all of its problems that it had, one would be inclined to believe that it would have been a time of pulling together; this would be a reasonable challenge to believe concerning Old Testament Israel as well.  But it had the opposite process occur and with the ideas and misconceptions about what Jesus meant while He was on earth fresh in their minds, Satan worked his “magic” in their hearts and caused severe doctrinal determinations that still divide the Church today.

The majority of the epistles in the New Testament deal with individual anomalies that the people of the Church subscribed to and followed as truth.  While the Scriptures give some specifics of these activities, we can still get a clear glimpse of these heretical examples through other works of history that are well documented and are considered known fact.  The members of the Early Church did not understand the entire truth about Kingdom issues even when their hearts were fresh with the literal image of Christ present, for if they did they would not have had letters written to them by the saints.  The foundational truth about Kingdom is that there are two kingdoms that are eternally at war for your spiritual position and through this fight, they shall always be at war with each other until God changes the playing field. 

As we see in the Old Testament, Israel took for granted their status in God’s eyes and believed that they were set above everyone else around them.  This was a true belief but when this belief became more prominent in their hearts than in their belief and trust in God, a huge problem arose and the world soon ate enough away from their Creator that their attentions then relied upon self instead of God.  The Church in the New Testament created identical problems from within and when you place two different time periods together, add the human factor into each equation, only damage and death can result when God is taken out of the equation.  

Look at the consequences of that nation when they made the choice to be equal with humanity instead of separate with God.  The escalation of violence towards their lives and the lives between their own astronomically skyrocketed.  So we are forced to sit and watch the identical practices unfold in our lives as well for it is the exact same path we have chosen.  We need to remember that the Old Testament and the New Testament compliment each other thus provide a building block for our relationship with Christ through Covenant and Kingdom standards.

But if you had the ability to ask each Old Testament and New Testament societies about their connection to God before their fall, I guarantee both of them would respond with common and similar answers.  They would declare that their status with God would be in “good “status and that when asked if they believed in God a resounding “yes” would immediately follow.  But as we study both settings closely, we see that many cracks in those declarations were present and how they were intentionally ignored for the sake of personal and national gain and acceptance.  So, what gives?  Who is correct?  THAT answer is obvious as well but what is most troubling is that you know many people in Israel and in the Early Church had no clue of why their independence changed, and for many, they would state that their independence did not change at all with their lifestyle.  God asks: does this situational status sound familiar to you at all?

Proof?  You say you want proof?  Well, if the children of Israel had a flag back in the days of Moses, Joseph, etc I bet you they could not even recite why the flag was created in the manner in which would be or what the standard itself meant and symbolized.  A more specific address would be this: ask a young person to describe to you the American flag, that part is easy.  Then ask them what the stripes represent, what the stars represent, and what the colors of red, white and blue stand for on the American flag.  See how many can answer those questions.  Throw in their state flag as well and then ask them about the Christian flag, ask them what those colors and symbols mean, see what kind of answers you receive as well.  I had one of my younger colleagues ask the just last month as to why the flags were flying in town on 14 June, and I politely told them as to why and after they left shook my head in sadness.  Really?!?  Ask them who Francis Scott Key was and what his eyes witnessed and what his eyes told his heart to write.  This is a loss of independence and it is something that we should never have allowed to slip through our fingers. What type of independence are we considering and striving for if we do not even know about why we have the standards that we currently have AND how they evolved throughout our nation’s history?

We are brought back to the children of Israel in 1 Samuel Chapter 8 when they are demanding to be as equals to other nations around them.  I know that this subject has been tossed around in previous articles but it is a message that God is begging for us to understand and to get it into our hearts that what we are asking He shall grant but it shall result in grotesque and appalling conditions for our lives.  Over and over throughout the history of this country we have witnessed terrible indecencies when we try to overcome our issues alone.  Nothing good has ever come from a human action when it is driven with humanistic logic alone.  Even when arguments and conflicts are proclaimed through the name of God but are firstly subject to human actions and wills, it cannot proceed as a godly act, and the children of Israel in 1 Samuel 8 is a great example of this certainty.

How much different are we today from the biblical examples that are presented here?  The answer should break our hearts because it is completed with one word, none!  We have focused our hearts on the current instead of our history and what the people before us went through for us to obtain the life we know today.  It occurred in the Bible, throughout human history, today and it shall continue as such unless we finally wake up and realize that the only true answer for our existence is God.  How far have we fallen from this truth?  The Church has actually given up her title and has accepted equality with the world in the form of becoming a church.

So, what kind of change in independence has occurred?  In all honesty, none for if a true change is wanted then independence should be based totally in God and not through human means.  This nation itself is the prime example of how people should respond to the question of independence for it was God who gave John Smith the extraordinary concept of independence trough God’s ways instead of mankind’s ways.  Our problem lies in that Mr. Smith and his party quickly forgot the true mission and Ways of the mission and incorporated a human variable that proved to be disastrous.  God perfectly provided a restoration plan for His people through the creation of this nation but we blew it when we chose to deal with issues on a finite level.

Until we envision that the only way we shall overcome our problems is through God’s ways and not ours, our problems shall only mount and increase beyond our imaginations.  This pattern of annihilation can be changed if we only come to grips with our need for a holy and true providential source that shall never fail.  We have this truth and we know about His existence yet we continue to struggle with our needs (independence) because we refuse to allow Him into our hearts.  Complete independence shall only come from God and until we free ourselves in this manner from the world, every single aspect of our existence shall be ruled by death and division instead of the freedom we truly desire.

DLB