Principle Truth: If you want to know the purpose of a thing, examine its origin. For example, the Bible begins with “In the beginning God created…” (Gen1:1).
  The word “Genesis” means beginnings. The reason God placed the book of Genesis first is so that humanity might understand not only that He created all things but also that He gifted His creation with a unique purpose.
  Therefore, one way to know the purpose of America is to examine its origin. Over the past several weeks, I have shared several things about the life of George Washington. Looking at our first President can help us understand God’s call upon both Washington and America.
   The First Inauguration of a U.S. President happened in New York City, which was the nation’s capital at the time. Everything was planned. Nothing was left to chance.  However, as the inaugural parade proceeded toward Federal Hall, one official remembered that a Bible for administering the oath of office was missing. The contribution of the Bible to this ceremony was not merely a simple oversight but was literally a New York law*. In other words, no Bible, no ceremony! Well, needless to say, the Parade Marshall hurried back to obtain a Bible! 
   Thousands were in attendance to witness this historic event taking place on the balcony of Federal Hall. The Bible was laid upon a beautiful crimson cloth. Robert Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, who was one of the five men chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence**, administered the swearing-in ceremony. The Bible was opened randomly and fell to Genesis 49. George Washington placed his left hand upon the Bible and took the oath raising his right hand. After the conclusion, he bent down and kissed the Bible.
  Immediately, Washington and the other officials proceeded from Federal Hall to the Senate chamber, where he delivered the first-ever Inaugural speech. Before delivering the speech, he opened in prayer:
“My fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, Who presides in the councils of nations, and Whose Providential aids can supply human defect, that his benedictions (blessings) may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes.” (April 30, 1789)
 
During the speech, he declared:
 “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency (Divine power). (April 30, 1789)
 
At the end of the speech, he prayed a second time:
 “humble supplication that…His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this government must depend.” (April 30, 1789).
 
After GW concluded his two prayers and the Inaugural speech, President Washington and the entire U.S. Congress walked over to St. Paul's Chapel for a “Divine Service”! In other words, the entire group of government officials went to church to hear a message preached from the Word of God!!!! Remember, every event that happened during this first Inauguration was planned and previously approved by the United States Senate.
 
    FYI, in case you weren’t paying close attention, there were multiple “Christian” activities in George Washington’s, i.e.America’s First Inauguration:
1.the use of the Bible3*
2.solemnifying the oath4*
3.Two Prayers offered by the President Washington
4.Christian Words from Washington’s Inaugural address
5.He kissed the Bible
6.Other People who offered Christian words during the ceremony
7.Worship service
8.Clergy prayers5*
 
  This was the ceremony that ‘officially6* began the nation of America! From the very beginning, our founding fathers established “God First” as the governing moral principle of the United States by incorporating the Word of God into its official activities, ceremonies, documents, and laws, etc. It is for this reason ALONE that God has blessed this nation!!!
 
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for
his own inheritance.                           -Ps33:12
 
 
*James Parker, Conductor Generalis; Or the Office, Duty and Authority of the Justices of the Peace (New York: John Patterson, 1788), pg 302-304. “Of oaths in general”
**Declaration of Independence ‘Committee of Five’- On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
3*I’m sorry to report to all the ‘religious liberty’ and ‘diversity’ advocates, but there was no Koran(Islam), nor Veda (Hinduism), nor Sutras (Buddhism), nor Granth Sahib (Sikhism)!
4*Although we do not know if Washington used the term “So help me God”, what we do know is that certain states had requirements to use “So help me God!”. For example, Virginia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Georgia etc. (The American Story. David Barton, pg242)
5*The American Story. David Barton, pg242
6* Unofficially, America began in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, which is another Christian document! However, our continued existence after 1776 was solely contingent upon winning the War for Independence---which itself was a miracle from the Sovereign Creator God!

  Principle: when first things are first… “in His time”(Act1:7), God moves to bless—which means to confirm, establish, and multiply(increase)! For example, if the first priority of a nation* is not God**, it becomes exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for Him to bless the people. Why? When the first priority is not first, all remaining priorities are thrown out of order. For example, one would naturally think that a second priority would move up to become first place when the first priority is rejected. However, this is rarely the case as man’s sin nature causes the lesser priorities to compete for the top spot of the order of things. 
 However, when the first priority is God, He literally intervenes to make the 2nd, 3rd,4th, and 5th priorities align in their proper order. Remember, God is the Creator of order (Jer31:35-37), and works only through His divine system of order!!
  Allow me to offer one example of how America making God our first priority, which reveals the reason God has so blessed this nation***! In 1775 the government leaders of the Virginia colony met in their Second Virginia Convention to determine their future involvement in the threatening war with Britain. The first group of delegates asserted that Britain was too powerful and America too weak. However, Patrick Henry, also a delegate, rose and responded with not only his most famous speech, but one of the most famous speeches in American history:
 
‘Give me Liberty or give me death’
“Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three million people armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God Who presides over the destinies of nations, and Who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave…Gentlemen may cry, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace. The war has actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
 
  First, notice this speech was directed to government officials! Why is this important? Because Henry’s speech overwhelmingly indicates how the Word of God was the norm in the American ‘culture’, at the time of the founding of our country and uncovers another reason this is a Christian nation.
 Of course, you ask how Henry’s speech relates to my above assertion. Although Henry’s words are absent of Bible references, yet it is filled with Biblical speech. For example,
1.“God of nature”. Henry’s use of “God of nature” is a reference to the ‘Creator God’ (Gen1; Ps121:2), Whom not only created all things but also made His creation to behave according to certain laws (Rom1:20; 2:14,15). In addition, Henry’s words allude to the term “laws of nature and of nature’s God,” which was later used by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence; BUT…does NOT refer to deism! For example, William Blackstone used seven pages4* in his ‘Commentaries on the Laws of England’ to explain the ‘laws of nature and of nature’s God’, revealing that its foundation was rooted in the Bible. Before the war with Britain, Blackstone’s ‘Commentaries’ were mandatory reading for all law students in the American colonies and would have been very familiar to Patrick Henry as well as the other delegates in the Virginia Convention.
2.“holy cause of liberty”. Liberty was a “holy cause” because God created man to be free to serve Him (2Cor3:17; Gal5:1,13;). The word “holy” means separated to God, and separated from the world, which means Biblical liberty begins with freedom from sin, yet organically leads to political freedom, and freedom to create.
3.“we shall not fight our battles alone”.  One origin of these words is 2Chronicles 32:8.
4. “just God”. This clause originates in Is45:21; Deut32:4; Ps75:7; 2Thes1:6.
5.“Who presides over the destinies of nations?”. This statement originates in Dan4:17; Duet32:8; Ps67:2,4; Job12:23; Ps9:17; Ps22:28; Ps47:3; Ps72:11,17; Ps86:9; Ps113:4; Is2:2
6.“Who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us”. This is from 2Chron32:8.
7.“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone”. This comes from Eccl9:11
8.“Peace, peace, but there is no peace”. This is from Jer8:11.
9.“Why stand we here idle?”.  This is from Matt20:6
 
  As you can see, Henry’s government speech was filled with the Word of God, even though he was not a pastor/preacher/reverend… but instead a government official!!!
  First, this reveals just how important it was for early Americans to live according to the Word of God.
  Second, this teaches the delegates had faith in God, through Christ---they were Christians, not just Christianized. Henry used Scripture to encourage the delegates to be like David in his battle with Goliath, and believe God to also deliver them from an impossible-to-defeat foe!!
  Third, because the Word of God was so natural and normal to the American culture at that time, Bible references in speeches were unnecessary. I repeat, the Bible was assumed to be the source of American opinions.
   In conclusion, because America has historically made the Word of God our top priority, God has blessed this nation more than any nation…in the history of the world!!!!
 
 
*individual or family too
**Bible, Word of God
***Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. -Ps33:12
4* ‘Defending the Declaration’, by Gary Amos. Pg 42
 
Quotebit
Rev. Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned in Communist Romania for 14 years. He stated of America in 1967: "America is the hope of every enslaved man, because it is the last bastion of freedom in the world.

 “Blessed* is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”                                         -Psalms 33:12
 
  Psalms 33:12 makes it abundantly clear that from God’s perspective every nation has a god, but only those nations whose God is the Lord…are blessed!
  Is America a Christian Nation? Or, are those who invented the term “Christian Nationalism” right in boldly declaring America has no Christian roots? President Barack Obama declared, “Whatever we once were, we're no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers." Is he right?
  Here are the facts:
‘ALL’ 13 original Colonies were founded by “Christian” denominations:
In 1607, Virginia was founded by Anglicans;
In 1620, Massachusetts was founded by Pilgrim Separatists & Puritans;
In 1626, New York was founded by the Dutch Reformed;
In 1633, Maryland was founded by Catholics;
In 1636, Rhode Island was founded by Baptists;
In 1636, Connecticut was founded by Congregationalists;
In 1638, New Hampshire was founded by Congregationalists;
In 1638, Delaware was founded by Lutherans;
In 1653, North Carolina was founded by Anglicans;
In 1663, South Carolina was founded by Anglicans;
In 1664, New Jersey was founded by Lutherans;
In 1682, Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers;
In 1732, Georgia was founded by Protestants.
 
4 Presidents:
  Although every American president has claimed Christianity as their ‘religion”**, not all presidents were Christians. I submit quotes from just four:  
   Engraved on George Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon."I am the Resurrection and the Life; sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."
“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity” -President John Adams
“America was born in a Revival of Religion – and back of it were John Wesley and George Whitefield.”               – President Calvin Coolidge.
“When I left Springfield [to assume the Presidency], I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.”    -President Abraham Lincoln
   
Constitutional Convention
  Of the 55 delegates who helped create the U.S. Constitution belonged to the following denominations: 26 Episcopalian, 11 Presbyterian, 7 Congregationalist, 2 Lutheran, 2 Dutch Reformed, 2 Methodist, 2 Quaker, and 2 Roman Catholics. If you are not aware, all of these are Christian denominations!
 
State Constitutions.
 ‘Every’ state constitution--without exception---is similar to these:
--PENNSYLVANIA, the 2nd State to ratify the U.S. Constitution, stated in its 1776 State Constitution, signed by Benjamin Franklin: "Each member, before he takes his seat, shall...subscribe...'I do believe in one GOD, the Creator and Governor of the Universe, the Rewarder of the good and the Punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.'"
--NEW JERSEY, the 3rd State to ratify the U.S. Constitution, stated in its 1776 State Constitution: "All persons, professing a belief in the faith of any PROTESTANT sect, who shall demean themselves peaceably under the government...shall be capable of being elected."
--GEORGIA, the 4th State to ratify the U.S. Constitution, stated in its 1777 State Constitution: "Representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county...and they shall be of the PROTESTANT religion."
 
  University of Houston political science professors Donald Lutz and Charles Hyneman in 1985, published a monumental study that took them 10 years to bring together. They amassed over 15,000 items, including 2,200 books, newspaper articles, pamphlets, and monographs of political materials written between 1760 and 1805, and discovered that there were three writers and one book, the constitutional framers quoted from most often:
1) John Locke (1632-1704)- 3%
2) Barron Charles Montesquieu (1689-1755) -8%
3) William Blackstone (1723-80), and -8%
4) Bible- 34%
  All three of the previous men were strong Christians and used the Bible as the foundation for their government philosophy.
 
US Congress
In 1854, the U.S. Congress conducted an extensive 1-year investigation. Their final report concluded: “Had the people during the revolution ever had a suspicion of an attempt to wage war against Christianity, that revolution would have been strangled in its cradle. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, but not any one denomination. In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity. It was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.”
 
US Supreme Court
In 1892, the US Supreme Court conducted a thorough study of American History, citing over 60 historical precedents, and the court concluded: “There is no dissidence in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. This is a Christian nation.”
 
*The Hebrew word for “blessed” is ʾesher, eh´-sher; from 833; happiness; only in masc. plur. constr. as interjec., how happy!:—blessed, happy. -Strong’s
**Although every American president claimed Christianity as their religion, not all were Christians. Some used Christianity as a means to get elected, because America still has Judaeo/Christian roots.
***I do not have confirmation on the 55th.
 
Quotebit
Before the House of Commons, June 18, 1940, Winston Churchill warned: "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization...