Christianity is an historical religion that delineates the mighty acts of God for the welfare of His people. We can trace its early beginnings as a powerful struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Yet God did not leave man in a hopeless state after the fall. He graciously gave the promise that He “shall bruise thy head.” God sent His beloved Son to make satisfaction for an innumerable multitude of sinners. He healed the breach and bridged the gulf. Old Testament church history points to the perfect Sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. It is in Christ Jesus that the deepest meaning of church history and all of history is fulfilled. ”He will be a Light to lighten the Gentiles.” Consequently, it is crucial to study the entire scope of church history throughout the ages, carefully noting the crucial points in history where the Lord has shown that He is leading history to His predetermined end.
The events in history are directed by God who at times removes His restraining hand to allow man to follow the inclinations of his depraved will. Yet the will of God does not eradicate personal responsibility. After Islam made rapid inroads in the Middle East, its adherents strove to enter Europe. God used Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours to halt the onslaught of Islam into Europe. God brought divine judgment against the unbelieving Jews and unrepentant nations during World War II, but Hitler and Stalin along with their cohorts must answer for the blood of millions. Earlier, during World War I, we see God’s judgment upon the Germans who utilized deadly poisonous gas on the Allies. The Meteorological Department announced to the German general in charge that the direction of the winds was fixed and settled for thirty-six hours to come, and they would carry the gas out over the Allied lines. The gas was then turned loose. It suddenly whirled and flung itself back over the German army. Thousands of gasping Germans staggered to their deaths. An official report indicated that the wind had never acted so peculiarly before, and the wind whirled only in that small area. We can see that the Lord had a controversy with the German offensive. He ultimately was the One in control, the One who heard the prayers of those who interceded for their nations.
The study of church history also shows God’s hand in leading heathen nations to the knowledge of the only way of salvation through Christ Jesus. How crucial it is to observe the Lord’s hand in bringing salvation to lands immersed in ignorance, false religion, agnosticism, or atheism! What a blessing it is when the Lord comes to a country to tell it to “arise, shine: for thy Light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1). The history of the labors of missionaries blessed by the Lord ought to incite us to behold His wonders. His Name shall go forth to the end of time, also to the nation of Israel since the promises in God’s Word for the removal of the veil that covers that nation are yet to be fulfilled. We are called to observe the wonders of the Lord in His dealings with the children of men. He opens doors in some areas of the world, while He works to a lesser extent in other areas. May the study of church history lead us to a true knowledge of the only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we can truly say with the poet of old, “The LORD hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad” (Psalm 126:3).
Church history, as well as all history, is His story, the story of Him “who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” We are dependent upon what God has revealed both in His Word and in the course of His providential leadings throughout the ages. God commands us in Psalm 78 to tell the “praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done” to the generations to come “that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”
Mrs. Jacqueline Markus