Confronting National Sin

Covenant and National Sin in Biblical History

So, nations like Ireland and the United States were founded on the biblical principle of covenant. Nations like the United States and Ireland can trace the continuity of this concept called covenant all the way back to biblical times.

And covenant simply is God's gracious condescension where he makes himself known to a people. He gives them his law. He reveals his character to them. And he makes a treaty with them. He promises blessings to nations that obey the covenant, that obey his law, obey his.

Standards.

And then he promises desolation and destruction and curses for those nations that violate the covenant. And we see this principle all throughout scripture. Old covenant. New covenant. And then you have nations like Ireland, nations like the United States and many of our founding documents talking about these nations being established for the continuity of the covenant, meaning the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the biblical worldview and Christian civilization.

Judgment on Nations That Violate the Covenant

So, you have this biblical concept, but what does the scripture say happens to a nation that violates this covenant? We see all throughout the Bible, even God's very own people, they violate his covenant and he expels them from the land.

We see pagan nations in scripture. God warrants his people not to be like them, not to do the same things that they do, not to commit habitually the same sins. And one of those sins specifically that we know about is the shedding of innocent blood, the murder of unborn children in the womb.

Specifically, God not only is in covenant with all of us as individuals, but with us as nations as well. And whether it's a nation that claims to know Christ, names Christ, or a pagan nation, scripture demonstrates that God is implicitly in covenant with all nations.

Isaiah chapter 24 says that it is the nations that have transgressed the covenant. And what happens when this takes place is God sends his judgment upon nations and uproots them and cast them out for their national sins.

But you see, many people see that concept of judgment in scripture and they see it only in a negative sense. But one thing that we understand as Christians is that judgment is also a good thing because the judge of all the earth will do right.

Christ the Faithful Covenant Keeper and the Hope of the Nations

God will judge the nations justly. And he's clearing away this layer of unfaithfulness to his covenant and he's raising up his remnants. And the best part about the biblical story and the narrative is that God himself is the faithful covenant keeper who comes in the person of Jesus Christ.

He obeys the law and word of God perfectly in his time, his earthly ministry here on earth, not transgressing the covenant, upholding the law of God. He brings in, the scripture says, an everlasting covenant he makes with the children of Abraham.

And he says that that covenant is for all the nations, all the families of the earth that are going to return to worship the Lord God, the God of Israel, the triune God. And so we have nations like Ireland and the United States operating with the continuity of that covenant in mind, the advancement of Jesus Christ's kingdom and his gospel.

Truth, Justice, and the Public Proclamation of the Gospel

But something very important, Isaiah chapter 59 says that justice is turned back and righteousness stands far away when truth stumbles in the public square. And unfortunately in our nations, truth, the proclamation of the gospel and specifically the gospel of the kingdom, has failed in its public proclamation.

And so truth cannot enter, national sins take root, and God's judgment is expected to come against the covenant unfaithful, the covenant breakers. But the inspiration, the hope, the thing that as Christians we hold on to is Jesus Christ, the true covenant keeper.

He brought in his everlasting covenant, he brought his kingdom, he brought salvation to the ends of the earth, and he's made us a part of that story. He has brought into relationship his people, Jew and Gentile now become one, united under one banner, this everlasting covenant.

Triumphal Procession, Victory, and the Destruction of the Devil's Works

And he sends his people out into the world with the proclamation of his lordship, his kingship, and he warns people with his prophetic witness, he warns nations to return to covenant with their God, with their Lord, the one true God.

In relationship with Jesus Christ. And Paul describes it this way, Jesus leads his people in triumphal procession, he leads his people, he partners with his people in the victory parade of the king, bringing the train of his enemies in the rear, and having his people, his enemies that he's vanquished and turned into his sons and daughters, come alongside with him and partner with him in the advancement of his kingdom.

John says that Jesus, the son of God, appeared to destroy the works of the devil, abortion is most assuredly a work of the devil, and so God is bringing and raising up his people throughout the nations of Ireland and the United States to come together as one and destroy the works of the devil, namely abortion.

He is leading us in triumphal procession, in his victory, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, which is the only hope for either of our nations. And he will use the proclamation of that message in the public square, not just in the walls of our churches and our homes, to vanquish this great evil forever.