July 1st - Dominion Day

        Today is July First. Many call it 'Canada Day' - I refer to it as the day was originally called: Dominion Day. Canada's official title is 'The Dominion of Canada'. This name originates from the motto on Canada's Coat of Arms which, in Latin, reads A Mare Usque Ad Mare or in English From Sea to Sea. The phrase itself is directly taken from Psalm 72:8: "And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth."

        Our Fathers of Confederation, the ones who drafted up Canada's Coat of Arms and her motto knew exactly what they were saying. They were firstly pointing to the role of an earthly leader, as Psalm 72 shows, who governs a land with righteousness, justice, and mercy, as a steward of God. But secondly, and perhaps most importantly, they were reminding us, the people of Canada that there is a higher authority over all the earth - the Lord God Almighty.

        He it is who has created this world and given each of us our own little sphere of responsibility. This is an out working of the Genesis Dominion mandate which set out our job to be stewards of this earth under the Lord's authority. We are certainly not perfect at this, but mercifully there is One who is perfect. 

        That is the man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He reigns over me. He reigns over Toronto. He reigns over Canada. He reigns over the universe. The Lord is the one who has ultimate Dominion from sea to sea, and to the ends of the earth. He rescues sinners from the domain of the devil, and transfers them to kingdom of God. He will execute holy justice and mercy over the world. He will come again and reign in eternal power and glory.

        So what does this all have to do with the first day of July? First, it should remind us of the fallenness of our world. We will never have perfect dominion over Canada, over the world. Second, we should remember that Psalm 72 points toward a future King who will reign in righteousness. Finally, we ought to live in light of that truth - we need to submit our whole being to Christ's Lordship. The Dominion of Canada ought only to serve as a shadow, a faint picture of what God intends for Christians for eternity: endless years of eternal happiness and freedom in the Dominion of Christ.

Happy Dominion Day!

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Written and Posted by William A. Moore