Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21
If someone had told me when I was a teenager that I would look forward to studying world history one day, I would have laughed them to scorn. A lot has changed since high school, and my new found love of world history is one of many reasons I try to avoid blanket statements about what I will or will not value in the future. How did I go from one plagued by worldhistoryaphobia (you probably will not find that in Webster) to one who is deeply interested in world history? The answer is the same as every other positive change in my life, Jesus of Nazareth. How did Jesus change my valuation of world history?
Over the past several weeks, we have discussed a range of biblical themes centering in our essential nature, our relationship to God, how that relationship was broken, and what God has done to clean up the mess we made. The reason the history of our world means so much to me now is that all of these concerns are bound up in a historical setting that culminated in Jesus of Nazareth. As Allen Webster put it, "History is 'His story'-- and 'His story' is the central theme in all Scripture." The theme of the Bible from cover to cover is the coming of Christ to save fallen man from his sins. All of this took place in the real world as Paul once said of King Agrippa concerning the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, "...I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner" (Acts 26:26)".
This event is the single most important event in the history of the world. It was done "...by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God..." (Acts 2:23). It was "...foreordained before the foundation of the world..." (1 Peter 1:20). The value of this event for mankind is "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace..." (Ephesians 1:7). If we erased this event from the annals of history, human existence would become what the prophets of Darwin are telling the world it is: empty, hopeless, and meaningless.
This event is the fulfillment of the promises of God beginning in Genesis 3:15 and running through the entire Bible. Throughout biblical history, we see God working with people through covenant relationships. God drafted and initiated covenants to enable fallen man to be restored to the fellowship we lost with Him through sin. Each covenant in Scripture builds towards the culmination of God's plan to gather back in His loving care those who once rebelled but were willing to return through the stipulations He gave in their particular covenant. Through the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David God steadily narrowed the scope of His redemptive work.
What began as a generic promise to defeat man's enemy in Genesis 3:15 was steadily refined to one man, Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), through whom would come a chosen nation, Israel. Out of Israel would rise a noble king, David, from whom would descend the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15). This King would usher in the eternal covenant in His blood (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:20) and thereby would fully and finally crush Satan under the feet of His people (Romans 16:20). With this in mind, a careful look at the history of the world proves beyond any reasonable doubt that "...the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses" (Daniel 4:25). Praise God for shaping the events of history to usher in the New Covenant in the blood of His Son!