Independence from God?

In Psalm 2, please stand together with me for this reading from God's Holy Word. Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

! The kings of earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His anointed one. Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters.

The one enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath, saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to me, You are my son. Today I have become your father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

You will rule them with an iron scepter. You will dash them to pieces like pottery. Therefore, you kings, be wise, be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Amen.

Amen. Not long ago, Great Britain had 13 colonies along our eastern seaboard. And they belonged to the British Isle, the British Empire, and were ruled by King George III.

But because of the oppressive way that they were treated, many in the colonies rebelled against the king's laws. So he sent troops to squash the rebellion and found it easier said than done.

After fighting for a year, the 13 colonies united in formally declaring their independence from Great Britain. Well, Great Britain and her king were not so willing to let us go.

They declared these colonists to be traitors in rebellion against their king. And so they continued to fight to try to maintain their control over them.

Fighting continued for another seven years before the hostilities ended. France, Spain, and even the Dutch Republic joined in fighting against Great Britain.

And in the end, the 13 colonies prevailed. The Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized our sovereignty as an independent nation, the United States of America.

But we date the birthday of our nation not by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, but rather by July the 4th, 1776, the day that the Continental Congress approved the wording of the Declaration of Independence and ratified it.

We date our birthday to that document because it forever changed our relationship with Great Britain. What it declared in no uncertain terms was that the 13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, were now independent states and were no longer a part of the British Empire.

We no longer recognized Britain's authority over us. We no longer recognized her king, George III. We'd severed that relationship.

We'd walked away from it. We said, your laws no longer apply to us. You have no authority any longer to tax us or to tell us to do anything. Now, you can continue issuing your laws, but we will not obey them.

For you no longer rule over us. We're free from you. We're on our own now and declare our independence from you. Well, that document is so important that you can see a signed copy of it in Washington, D.C.

in the National Archives. Signatures of 56 representatives from the colonies are there seen. Now, I'm not here today to justify or to condemn the actions of the 13 colonies.

I'm going to leave that to someone else and another time. But I simply want to say that as significant as this declaration of independence was and is to our history as a nation, there is a far more important declaration of independence that we need to be aware of that has changed a far more significant relationship.

It's a declaration that we are all a part of. We've all put our signatures to the bottom of it. And I'm referring to man's declaration of independence from God.

It bears many similarities and some pronounced differences from our declaration of independence from Great Britain. Maybe you've never thought of yourself as having declared independence from God.

Well, it's so significant that we need to think of that. We need to consider it because its ramifications are eternal and they reach into every area of our lives.

Independence. Our declaration then of independence from God. Well, we have to go back to the beginning, even as we did with our nation. Back to when the world population was two.

There was Adam and Eve, the first man, the first woman. Both created by God, the king. Placed into a world that he had made and filled with good things for them.

Let's consider then this king and his people. First of all, the king. God is the uncreated creator.

That means he's completely independent from anyone or anything. He's absolutely self-sufficient. Acts chapter 17.

Paul is speaking to the crowd at Athens. And he says the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He's the king of heaven and earth. And he's not served by human hands as if he needed anything because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

God alone is totally independent. He has life in himself. He needs nothing outside of himself. He doesn't need you. He doesn't need me.

He doesn't need anything else. He existed for eternity without anything else but himself. He's the independent God, the creator of all.

And then there's the people of this king. There's man. And man is the dependent creature. He's not like God in this way.

He's not self-sufficient. He's absolutely dependent upon God for all things. Nothing accepted. He's not self-sufficient.

Psalm 22 verse 29 says that he cannot keep himself alive. Did you know that? With all your modern medicine, all your pills and surgeons, you can't keep yourself alive.

We don't have life in ourselves like God does. God's the one who gives to man life and breath and everything else.

I am utterly dependent upon God for my next breath. I only draw it if he first gives it.

And it's the same way with you and every other human being. We are dependent upon God for our very existence. He sustains all things by his powerful word, including us.

He is before all things and in him all things hold together. Without him, we would fly apart. Indeed, Daniel tells that great king Belshazzar, God is the one who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.

Yes, man, the dependent creature. Of the independent God. Paul says we were made by him and for him.

For him. We were made for him. Have you thought about that? That means man is not made to function in isolation from God. We were made for him. We weren't made to think independently from God.

We weren't made to act independently from God. We've been made dependent upon God for all things.

I suppose in a similar way that a car was not made to function independent of its maker. It wasn't made to do everything for itself.

It depends on man for its existence. It didn't make itself. It needs man to put fuel in it. It needs man to change the oil, the belts.

To change the flats. It needs man to turn it on. To get it going. To make it stop. To steer it. Yes, your car is a wonderful machine, but it was never made to be self-sufficient and to operate free from man, its maker.

And neither were you and neither were I. Fearfully and wonderfully made are you. But you are never made to operate independently from God.

Look at you. There you are. You're not like the car. You have eyes that see and ears that hear. And you have a mouth. And you have a mind that thinks.

You've got a heart and lungs and hands and feet. But you were never made to exist or to live without your maker.

Whereas God the creator needs nothing. Man the creature needs everything from him. So I need my king to exist.

I need him to think right. I need him if I'm to understand him. Who he is. I need him if I'm to understand myself. Who am I? If I'm to make sense of the world.

If I'm to draw the right conclusions about this life. Make sense of it. I need him to inform me. Man has no self-guiding capacity within himself.

Without God's truth, he comes to the wrong conclusions every time. Jeremiah says, I know, Lord, that a man's life is not his own. It is not for man to direct his steps.

We don't have all the information that we need to direct our steps through this life. We weren't made self-sufficient. It's in his light that we see light.

And so he reveals to us what is true and false. Without that revelation, I wouldn't know what's true and what's false. What's what's what's right and what's wrong.

I wouldn't have a standard of morality that is flawless. I wouldn't know how to live. Man was never meant to think independently from God and the truth that he has revealed.

And that's why he tells us in his word, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. It's not sufficient.

Never was. Wasn't in the garden. It's all the less sufficient today. Don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your steps, direct your paths.

So we need God not only. We not only need God as his dependent creatures, we also owe him our obedience.

He is king. Because he made us. And so he has the creator rights to all that he's made. And we're his dependent subjects. That too are the obedience we owe him as part of our creatureness.

Creatureness. We're not made to be self-governing, just choosing out what we want to do. No, we're dependent on him to tell us what to do. And we live under his authority.

We've been made for God. So here we have God, the independent king and creator and man, the dependent. Citizen.

And subject of his kingdom. And so we go back to the beginning and here they are. Man and woman. Dependent man and woman living on God's royal estate. Eating his food and drinking his water.

And receiving his truth and fellowship with him. Receiving his commands. Enjoying all the good things that he's filled the earth for them to enjoy. Living in glad dependence upon their God.

Soaking up his truth, his revelation. And obeying it. Submitting to their good and kind king. You see, whatever was true of George III, and I haven't studied him much.

There was no injustice in this king. There was absolutely no oppression in God's reign over man. Perfect justice.

Perfect kindness. All of his laws are not only righteous and just, but they're also good. They're good for his creatures. That's the king. And then this king gave the first couple a test.

Now, the test was a tree. A tree that he planted in the midst of the garden. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he told them not to eat of it or they would surely die.

Now, they were free to eat from all the other trees. Just not from this one. And so it became a perfect test of man's submission to God's authority. Because the only reason man would not eat that tree is because God said so.

It wasn't because it looked ugly or unhealthy. It wasn't because that it was bad fruit or poisonous fruit. No, there was no other reason to not eat that tree except for the fact that God had said not to or they would die.

Would God's raw authority be enough to keep them submitting to their king? Would they own their dependence on him?

Would they own that they were his subjects and willingly submit? That's the test. But then another voice is heard there in Genesis chapter 3. Another source of information.

The serpent speaks whom the rest of scripture identifies as the devil. And his voice is in direct contradiction with God's. God has said, don't eat.

And if you do, you'll surely die. The serpent said, you will not surely die. Rather, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God yourself.

You'll no longer be dependent upon him to know good and evil. You'll know it for yourself. So here's a new situation. Two sources of information now coming to Eve.

Who is really telling the truth now in her world? Well, Eve was made to rely upon God, to let God be the one to tell her what's right and wrong, true and false.

That's how she was made. She was made for God. But notice what she does. You remember the story. She examines the tree for herself.

Verse 6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of it and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Eve declared her independence from God that day. No longer would she look to God alone as her source of knowledge and truth and morality and authority.

She would not depend on his word for her knowledge and decisions. She would now decide for herself.

I can trust myself. I can lean on my own understanding. I don't need God to tell me right from wrong what I can and can't do, what is best for me.

She sets herself up as judge and she's going to be the one to judge as to who's speaking the truth. And she's going to do it by examining the tree for herself and seeing, do I think that God's speaking the truth by what I see?

Or do I think that Satan is speaking the truth by what I see? She would arrive at truth apart from the God of truth.

That's postmodernism. Rejects all categories of absolute right and wrong based on what God has said. And every man is left to decide for himself what his own truth is.

Oh, so you believe the Bible. Well, that's your truth. I don't. So that's my truth. Whatever we call that. It's been around a long time. Witness Eve in the garden setting herself up.

As the determiner of what is true and false, right and wrong. I'll decide for myself apart from what God has revealed. Now, that's the very essence of sin.

It's this commitment to independence from God. I will not willingly bow to his authority. I will not receive his truth as the absolute truth.

But I'll decide for myself what I will believe and how I will live. And that's not just something that Eve did either. It's something Adam did too.

When he took the fruit from her hand and ate, he joined Eve in that rebellion, in that declaration of independence from God.

And when Adam did that, he did so not merely as an individual person acting for himself. He did it as a public representative acting for every one of us.

Just as the 56 members of the Continental Congress signed their names to that declaration of independence. And when they did, all the 13 colonies.

We're fighting against England and declaring that we are an independent nation. They did so through their representatives at that Continental Congress.

We did so. We declared our independence from God through our representative, Adam. The Bible's clear on that. Romans 5 verse 19. Through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners.

When Adam declared independence from God, all of his offspring declared their independence from God. The day of Adam's sin was our declaration of independence.

Now, before you complain about Adam's choice and say, you know, I'm getting a bum steer here. I wish I'd have had that choice myself. Let me ask you a question.

Have you not personally ratified his choice a thousand times by your own choices? We're finding out as individuals. We're finding out as a society, as a world.

We were made for God and we don't function well without him. That's the plain reality. To try is to fail. Oh, the folly of declaring our independence from this all-wise and good and kind king, God the Creator.

You know, when we declare our independence, it doesn't change one whit. Our dependence on him, does it? Consider the six-year-old boy who runs away from home.

One morning wakes up and he's fed up with mom and dad. Doesn't like their rules. He doesn't like their chores and he doesn't need them anymore. So he's running away.

And he packs his bags, his piggy bank, and off he goes. Any of you do that? Any of you run away? I distinctly remember the day that one of my younger sisters ran away from home.

And my father and mother were wise to let her do so. Let me ask you. How far did you get away from home? Three blocks?

Quarter a mile? How long did you stay away? Till supper time? Till darkness set in?

How long did your piggy bank resources last? Before you came humbly back? You see, though you decided that you didn't need them anymore.

The stubborn reality is that you really did need them. No matter how many times you said, I don't need him. I don't need them. I don't need them. You did need them still.

And mankind keeps saying, I don't need God. I don't need God. And it's not just the scientists. It's all of us. This is what we've done. We've gone astray from God.

And we've all gone to our own way, saying, I don't need God. And you can say it as many times as you want to yourself. And you can say it in unison with the whole world on their way away from God. But the stubborn reality is you do need God.

You desperately need him. You may think you're getting along fine for a while in this life. But I'll tell you, often in this life you'll come to see, I don't, I'm not self-sufficient. I don't have.

But there is coming one day when you'll see for sure that you need God. When you stand before him as your judge. And he will look at your life and determine whether you'll spend eternity in heaven or hell.

You will need him in that day. You'll need his King Jesus as your Savior that day. You see, rebellion against God, declaring our independence of God doesn't make us any less dependent upon him.

It just is a refusal to acknowledge our dependence on him. Although they knew God, Romans 1 says, they neither glorified God nor gave thanks to him. They still received all of his good gifts.

Didn't change that a bit. They just refused to acknowledge him as the giver and glorify him as the creator. And since they didn't think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done.

You see, God's word is true. No less. Just because they rejected it. Adam and Eve. God says, I'll surely die. The serpent says, I won't.

Well, I'll examine the tree and see what I think. I think that the serpent's right on this one. Did it change reality? Did Adam and Eve not die? No matter what they told themselves, God's word stands true.

And Adam and Eve died just as God had said they would. Now, our declaration of independence, then, from God is both a personal thing.

Each of us. And it's a worldwide thing. All of us. And we look just briefly at Psalm 2 that was read for us that summarizes what we've seen here this morning.

In Psalm chapter 2, we see this. Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Independence. From God. Each of us have gone our own way.

And in doing so, we have locked arms with a whole fallen humanity in a conspiracy of rebellion against the Lord and his anointed King Jesus.

The New Testament makes it clear that the King spoken of here is the Lord Jesus. Psalm 2, verses 1 to 3. Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their fetters.

Here's the worldwide rebellion. The whole world is joined in this declaration of independence. God, we don't want you. We don't want your laws. We don't want your king.

We're done with your authority over us. They regard his laws as chains to be broken. They regard his authority as fetters to be thrown aside. And so that's what they set out to do.

Worldwide rebellion. The New Testament sees this passage as fulfilled ultimately in what the Jews and the Gentiles as representatives of the fallen human race did to God's King Jesus.

They didn't bow and serve him and trust him and obey him. They put him on a cross and murdered him. They conspired together to throw off God's authority and murdered his appointed king.

That's the worldwide rebellion and you and I are a part of it. Notice the response of heaven to this rebellion, verses four to six. The one enthroned in heaven.

That would be the king. God, the father. The one enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them as as if they're able to throw off my authority.

And then he rebukes them in his anger, showing he still does have authority over them. And he terrifies them in his wrath, saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill. Notice I've installed my king.

I've installed him. Jesus Christ is not up for vote to be king. He doesn't need your vote or anybody else's to be king. Almighty God, the father has chosen him.

And when men crucified him, he raised him from the dead and he seated him on his throne in heaven. He's already installed his king with or without your vote.

Doesn't matter. God's vote is the only vote that matters. And he says here, I have installed my king. No rebellion will remove him. It's laughable to think that you would think so.

Mankind, you may refuse to acknowledge him as your king. You may spit at his laws. You may transgress them. But he is still king. And you really can't cast his authority off as easily as you think.

Those chains are stronger than you think. His authority is more than you can break. You can ignore his laws, but they'll meet you in judgment. He will enforce his laws over you and will enforce the punishment threatened.

You see, men are going to find out that they cannot throw off the laws and authority of King Jesus as easily as we threw off the authority and laws of King George III.

We succeeded in getting out from under his authority. And we're all involved in this declaration of independence to try to get out from under the authority of King Jesus.

And we're going to find it's not that easy. No one does it. No one is able. England's armies could not enforce their laws, could not beat the colonies into submission.

Heaven's armies can and heaven's armies will, says Psalm 2. Verse 9, he will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.

Yes, one day all the enemies of this king will become a footstool for his feet. And they'll be cast into hell forever. But not before bowing and acknowledging that he really is the rightful Lord of the universe.

For every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord King to the glory of God the Father. There's the gracious, good and just King.

Here's the independent King. Here are we dependent creatures and we've rebelled against him. He says he's going to enforce his laws. What's in store for the traitor?

You know, traitors have never done well in this world. There's a man standing in front of a hole.

It kind of looks like a grave. And then back so many paces is a row of soldiers. They've all got their muskets on his forehead.

And the man is killed, shot and falls into his own grave for treason, for rebellion, for fighting on the enemy's side against us.

It carries the death penalty. And so in God's courts, rebels do not fare well. They're tracked down. They're arrested.

They're condemned. They're punished with everlasting torments of hell. Not one moment of ease and rest for eternity. Where the smoke of their torments will go up continually.

Where the worm never is destroyed and the fire never goes out. And where there is continual gnashing of teeth. That's the reality of this universal King.

And in light of that, there is a final word of advice and entreaty for all rebels in this psalm. So, it's to humble themselves and to kiss the son.

To worship him. To take refuge in him. Notice it, verses 10 through 12. Therefore, therefore. Because he is going to rule with an iron scepter. All his enemies and dash them to pieces.

Therefore, in light of that. You kings as representatives of all the nations. All you rebels who are conspiring against this king. Be wise. Be warned.

You rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son. Lest he be angry.

And you be destroyed in your way. For his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. There's an ultimatum being made for rebels.

Continue in your rebellion. And be destroyed under his wrath. Or. Repent of your rebellion and going your own way.

And run into the arms. Of this king. And be blessed. Forever. Forever. What a surprising turn of events.

The gracious king. Here at the end. Pleading with his rebellious subjects. To stop running from him. And instead to run into his arms. And be blessed. Now how is it that rebels are blessed?

It will take the New Testament. To unravel that one. Completely and clearly. For us. Because you see. A thousand years after this psalm was written.

The king. Himself. Would visit. Our planet. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And would open his arms. To rebels. And say. Come to me.

Come to me. Run into my arms. And be blessed. All you who are weary. And heavy laden. I will give you rest. Repent.

Or you will all likewise perish. This is the king's words. To rebels. In the Old Testament.

Exodus 34. God revealed himself. As the gracious and compassionate God. Slow to anger. Abounding in love and faithfulness. Maintaining love to thousands. And forgiving wickedness.

Rebellion. And sin. That's good news for us rebels. This God is so gracious. That he forgives rebellion.

We've all been. Named. In the worldwide rebellion. That declared independence. From God. That God would forgive.

Rebels. Rebels. Is indeed. Amazing. That he would forgive. Their rebellious offense. That he would heal. Their waywardness. And melt their rebellion.

Into willing submission. To his rule. That is amazing. But how he does it. Is even more amazing. It's unparalleled. In history. For Isaiah.

Remember. The one that. Told us. That each of us. Have declared independence. From God. We all like sheep. Have gone astray. We have turned each one. To his own way. It doesn't end there.

And the Lord. Has laid on him. The iniquities. Of us all. He has laid on him. This great God.

Of the. Of the whole universe. Against whom. We have rebelled. We expect. To read. Has sent his angels.

To round us up. And to send us. To hell forever. As our just punishment. For rebelling against him. That's not what we read. We read. The Lord.

Has laid on him. Who is this him? The iniquity of us all. All of our rebellion. And sin. Has been laid on him.

It's his son. His very own son. In the Old Testament. It was. Pictured in the sacrifices.

Of the temple. When the guilty. Would lay their hands. On the head. Of the innocent. Sacrificial victim. The lamb. And confess their sins. Over the head of that lamb. They would lay their sins.

On that. Lamb. And it pictured. A transference. Of their sin and guilt. To the. Lamb. Himself. And as soon as that.

Transference. Was done. And those sins. Were laid on him. The lamb. Would then be treated. As the sinner deserved. And so his throat. Was slit. In a bloody death.

His life. Was taken. As the penalty. For sin. And rebellion. Against. God. And the sinner. Whose sins.

Were laid on him. Goes home. Free and forgiven. It was all pictured. You see. That. That lamb. Couldn't truly. Take away sin. It's a picture. Of a better lamb. The Lord Jesus.

The lamb of God. Who would come. And how this God. Gave his own son. To stand in the place. Of rebels. And to have. All. The sin. And rebellion. Of his people.

Laid on him. And then for him. To be treated. As. As we deserve. For rebelling. Against God. And for him. To. To get. What I would have had.

For all eternity. I wanted to live. Apart from him. And God. Turns his back. On his son.

When he bears. My rebellion. Don't want you God. And forever. And ever. To be cut off. From God. And Christ. There on the cross. Knew that.

Forsakenness. And that abandonment. Because he. Had the sins. Of his people. Put. Upon him. The Lord. Has laid. On him.

Our iniquities. Amazing. Grace. How can it be. That thou. My God. Shouldst die for me. Shouldst bear. My. Rebellion. That I might.

Be forgiven. I might. Be adopted. Into your family. That I might. Be made. Righteous. That I might. Be sanctified. Glorified. Taken to heaven.

Forever. Oh. Who am I. That for my sake. Our Lord. Should take. Frail flesh. And die. I ask you. You historians. What king.

Has ever given his son. To take the firing squad. For the rebel. Against his own kingdom. You'll search.

The. Annals. In vain. What king. Has ever. Died in the place. Of those who are rebelling.

Against his own kingdom. This is our. Glorious God. This is his. Glorious son. Our Lord. Jesus Christ.

And I call on you. This independence day. If. If. If you've not yet. Come and bowed the knee. To king Jesus. And you're still. Declaring your independence. Going your own way.

I challenge you. And I call you. And I invite you. This independence weekend. To renounce your independence. From God. To say that was the most foolish thing. I have ever done. And continue to do in my life.

To walk away from God. Away from his way. And to go my own way. Oh God. Forgive me for Jesus sake. Did he not die for rebels? Forgive me.

I've been a rebel against your kingdom. And receive me. Do you know the heart of this king? Do you know it's so. Gracious and generous.

His arms are open. And to receive returning rebels. He delights to receive them. He would much rather. Have you. Return to him. And be forgiven.

Than to continue in your rebellion. And be destroyed. Why will you die? He says. Why will you not turn. And live? Come. Come to me. He says. And he sends his ambassadors.

Into all the world. To preach this. Gospel invitation. To beseech you. To beg you. To implore you. To be reconciled to God. Through the death.

Of his own son. And so the message is. Seek the Lord. While he may be found. Call on him. While he's near. Let the wicked forsake.

His way. The way. That he's chosen. And let the evil man. Forsake his thoughts. Thinking that he can think.

Without God. And let him return. To the Lord. And he will have mercy on him. Return to. His God. And he will abundantly. Freely.

Pardon you. This is his offer. This is his promise. Jesus. And if you're his saved citizen. Living under the blessings of King Jesus.

Then. How do you demonstrate your conscious. Acknowledgement. That he's your king. He's your Lord. Right. Well.

You do so by prayer. Prayer is the language of dependence. And in prayer. You say just how much you need him. Oh citizens. Of this king. Are you showing.

And acknowledging. Your. Your dependence on God. By praying. And then. We come to this book. The word of God. And in coming to it.

We say. Oh I need you. I need you to teach me how to think. I need you to teach me how to live. We're that dependent upon you. Come. And teach me.

Are you in the word. Regularly. Are you praying. In conscious dependence. This is the gracious God and king we have. Let us show him.

Our dependence on him. And the way that we live. The way we submit to his savior. The king of kings. And lord of lords.