Yes, America has a purpose in the kingdom. It’s not often taught, and not many know about it. Our school history lessons often begin with the American Revolution, but there is a key element that’s overlooked–a covenant that was quietly made on the shores of Virginia in 1607. Robert Hunt, chosen by the king of England to be the chaplain for a settlement in Jamestown, crafted a crude cross before leaving on the expedition. When he and other pioneers arrived in the New World, he brought the cross ashore, planted it in the sand, and made this covenant with God:
“We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up godly generations after us, and with these generations to take the kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land along with England, be Evangelist to the World. May all who see this cross here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
The covenant Hunt made was not just between him and God. He connected all of us to that covenant when he stated additionally, “It shall remain to all generations, as long as the earth remains.” God is a covenant-maker and covenant-keeper, and He expects all parties involved to uphold their end of the bargain as well.
America’s True Intent
There has been much discussion in recent days about the true intent of America’s founding. One need only look at the original documents to understand the objective. The words of the Declaration of Independence define who we are as a nation: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (National Archives and Records Administration).
They are the words that describe what we as a nation believe and were based on principles, laws, and keys found in the Bible. Those words were of so much value that the signers of the Declaration pledged their lives, their fortunes, and sacred honor. They risked it all to establish this nation and appealed to the Supreme Judge for the rectitude of their intentions. With the Declaration, America was born through great trials, as many laid down their lives during the Revolutionary War to establish this great land.
Many years later, America went to war again. This time it was a war against itself. The Civil War was a crucial moment in our history. It was a time when our nation had to recommit to and uphold the ideals on which our government was founded. No other nation in the world had ever established their government based on liberty, originating out of our equal status as God’s creation. It was a cause that raised every human being, regardless of race or background, to the same level. To be sure, that ideal was not realized for everyone in the beginning, but it was for that ideal that the Civil War was fought, and it was for that ideal that the freedom for all men and women was won.
Liberty is our precious inheritance as Americans. It is the ability of each one of us to think our own thoughts, hold our own opinions, and express those opinions in respectful ways. Liberty is the freedom to make decisions about what we want to do in life, where we want to go, and what we want to become. Liberty allows us to make choices with the understanding that they have consequences. In a nutshell, liberty allows us to determine our own destiny. Because it is rare and fragile, it must be protected, and it must be fought for. We must learn to live our lives generationally, not just thinking of ourselves and our needs but of those who will come after us.
