1Corinthians 15:57  “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When skeptics question America’s heritage as a Christian nation, it is only because we are no longer teaching America’s founding in our public schools nor in our churches. America was most definitely founded based on the principles of Christianity, just as our 2^nd President, John Adams explained.

“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.” That was in 1798 – the first 180 years of America’s now 403 years of existence. We are a country heavily influenced by the Christian worldview.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, our minds are on Christmas. But it is specifically because Thanksgiving is a prelude to Christmas that we as Americans should remember our historical roots that made America so exceptional: humility, thanksgiving and praise toward our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

What happened after 1798? During the next 70 years of American history, our national focus was still on our God. We can prove this by remembering who was perhaps our greatest President – Abraham Lincoln.

It was Lincoln, prompted by Sarah Hale, who in 1863 set the date of Thanksgiving for the last Thursday in November. It has remained ever since. That marks the first 245 years of America as a nation (from the Pilgrims landing in 1620 to Lincoln’s assassination in 1865) where we set a day for thanking Jesus Christ for our very existence. When we read Lincoln’s words, we see our Christian foundations shine through.

Lincoln issued his Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1863, during the Civil War. We were a divided nation. But Lincoln was an optimist and a Christian, who believed in the sovereign hand of God over America.

Read a few of his words from that 1863 speech: “The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God” (looks like there were atheists back then, too).

“No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, Who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.” Lincoln was acutely aware of his own sinfulness and God’s mercy in dealing with him.

In their Nov. 24, 2021 article ‘Celebrating Thanksgiving in America’, Wallbuilders expounded on the significance of Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation in terms of his personal spiritual awakening.

“That Thanksgiving Proclamation came at a pivotal point in Lincoln’s spiritual life. Three months earlier, the Battle of Gettysburg had occurred, resulting in the loss of 60,000 American lives. It had been while Lincoln was walking among the thousands of graves there at Gettysburg that he first committed his life to Christ.

As he later explained to a clergyman: ‘When I left Springfield, 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.’

As the Civil War was coming to an end (it officially ended on April 9, 1865 with Lee’s surrender), Lincoln gave thanksgiving again to God: “While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory.”  

This sounds like this week’s verse from Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. Paul’s victory was not physically defeating an opponent on the battlefield – it was victory over sin by Christ’s accomplishment on the Cross: “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Corinthians 15:55-57). After becoming a Christian, Lincoln also knew this as the ultimate victory.

In America’s first 245 years (Pilgrims to Civil War), our Presidents spoke in line with this week’s verse. We should follow Lincoln’s example: thank God for His mercy in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“The Evidence of Faith’s Substance” _ Article #582