Celebrating First Landing 2009

CBN.com There was a monumental event over 400 years ago which God used to shape the destiny of our nation. Here's a look back to that defining moment, April 29th, 1607, and why it's so important to CBN's ministry today.

April 29th, 1607, a nation was born. Travel-weary Englishmen landed at Cape Henry on the shores of Virginia and lay the foundation for what would become the most powerful country the world has ever seen. Act 1, scene 1 of the drama that was to be the United States unfolded that day at Cape Henry, and sparked the legacy of Godliness on American shores.

“Almighty God, by your great mercy we have reached this land, which we now claim and establish for Thy eternal purposes. We ask thee to open hearts and enlighten the understanding of the peoples of these shores to comprehend the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.” (Excerpt from First Landing the Movie)

America's destiny and purpose were sealed with that cross at Cape Henry. All that would follow in our nation's growth hinged on the single proclamation that this land belonged to Jesus Christ.

In the Mayflower Compact of 1620, the Pilgrims reaffirmed the mission set forth by the original Virginia settlers.

“For generations we’ve been all taught in America that the Pilgrims came to America for religious freedom or religious liberty,” said Dr. Peter Marshall, PhD, author and historian. “But that’s really a shallow understanding of why they came. William Bradford, the great chronicler and governor, himself, put it like this -  he said, they ‘had a great hope and an inward zeal of advancing the cause of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the Earth, yay, even though they should be as stepping stones for the performing of so great a work.’ So they were missionaries. They weren’t running away from anything.”

Later, the Puritans carried the Cape Henry legacy further. On the deck of the Arbella, halfway between England and Cape Cod, leader John Winthrop declared, “We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”

“When Winthrop wrote in the Model of Christian Charity, towards the end that ‘we shall be as a city on a hill,’ it comes from the Sermon on the Mount,” Dr. Marshall said. “What Winthrop’s thinking is that everybody’s going to be watching this experiment in self-government that is about to take place here in North America in 1630; and that the importance of this experiment of putting Biblical principles into practice thereby creating a just society is that it would serve as an example and encouragement to the rest of the world.”
 
“We ask now that your kingdom come to Earth and your will be done as it is in heaven.  And to that end, we claim this land for that great purpose. Amen.” (Excerpt fromFirst Landing the Movie)

More than a hundred years later, as America set off on her own course towards independence, the Godly foundations laid in Virginia established the character of our revolution. John Adams boldly proclaimed, “Before God, I believe the hour has come.  My judgment approves this measure and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, all that I am and all that I hope in this life I am now ready to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now and independence forever.”

George Washington’s pure, Christian heart, Benjamin Franklin’s call to prayer and John Adams' reverence for the will of God symbolize the undying commitment of our founding fathers to the creation of a nation which would glorify God. The American character was born in scripture and nurtured by the Holy Spirit; yet today, our national heritage is under siege.

“The moment that religion, the pure and undefiled religion, loses its influence over our hearts, from that fatal moment, farewell to public and private happiness. Farewell--a long farewell--to virtue, to patriotism, to liberty,” Bishop James Madison, 1795.

400 years have passed since America was first conceived at Cape Henry, and respect for our roots is growing cold. Yet one undeniable fact still remains:  at its core, the United States of America is a Christian nation.