When I was a boy, my mom told me all the time that history repeats itself. I have always believed that, but I didn't know where it came from, other than my mom telling me. Well, I found the source. Ecclesiastes says, "What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before because God makes the same things happen over and over again.” God sees the beginning from the end, and human history has been full of disastrous dictators and leaders and, according to Solomon, it will continue to happen. Governments will come and go, countries will change boundaries, and good things happen in a society for a time, and then it gets corrupted and fails. That is the narrative of humanity.
What brings hope in this hamster wheel of history is God’s plan, His promise to end our history cycle to join His history. His history is ‘His Story’ … the narrative of God’s redemption for everyone. His story began in Genesis, and it ends in the Book of Revelation. This is ‘His Story’ and it is a different kind of history to experience. The Bible puts it this way:
Colossians 1:13-17 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
The Apostle Paul says that our history is one of darkness. It is a kingdom of darkness where heartache and despair rule, and as Solomon said, it will continue to repeat itself over and over again. His Kingdom has a history too … it is the story of a family that God chose to be His people, and their history was about how God used them to be the conduit of a Messiah/Savior who would usher in the Kingdom of God. The Jews were that family, and God chose a family to reveal Himself and to propagate His message of redemption for everyone.
When we choose His History over our history and establish a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, God gives us the benefits of His Kingdom. Benefits, you ask? Well, let’s see what some of those benefits provide. He forgives us, heals us, redeems us from death (salvation), crowns us with love and mercy, fills our lives with good things, our youth is renewed, and He is compassionate in spite of us being such flawed humanity. Oh, I failed to mention, His benefits package is forever. Think about it. How can a person dismiss all these benefits for simply believing in God? People think that religion is a hoax, a drug-like belief that removes the reality of our day. No, not a drug, just a living hope that makes this world more bearable. I love the benefits.
History is important. In fact, someday when this life ends, God will be reviewing your history. That’s right … He will be looking at how you lived your life, good or bad. Your history will follow you into eternity. If God looks at your history, and sees His History revealed, well, guess what? By accepting His History here on earth, you enjoy the benefit of everlasting life. People who remain true to their history, living in the history of the hamster wheel, repeating over and over again the hopelessness of human depravity, well, it continues after death too.
I exchanged my history for His History several years ago, and I never want to go back to those historical days. Back then, my life meant more to me than anything else … it was all about me, and all about the joy of living out a history with my name in it. Today I live out His Story, the History of God’s redemptive plan, and the history I now create has one name in it … and that name is Jesus. I hope you take a hard look at your history, and if you find it as pathetic as I did, I invite you to create a new History … a life lived for His Story.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler