“Jesus — The Lord of History” Some Thoughts in Anticipation of the New Year (Ephesians 1:3-14)
The New Year — A Time of New Beginnings?
In the minds of many Americans, New Year’s Day is an occasion for parades and college football—until NIL and CFP ruined the latter. But the first day of the New Year is also a time of new beginnings. It is the first day of 2026 after all. As we enter a new year, it is customary to look back and reflect upon all the significant events of the past year. Various media outlets have spent much of the past week recounting the names and faces of those influential figures and celebrities who died in 2025. Christians lost a number of faithful saints as well. I am always amazed at how many of these people are already largely forgotten within a year of their death. It is a stark reminder that life is fleeting—we are but vapors after all (cf. James 4:14). The calendar keeps rolling on.
And then there are the poignant reminders of significant events of the past year including a host of human tragedies, natural disasters, and significant geopolitical events–including wars, and rumors of wars. But looking back is not all we associate with the new year. As is the custom, we are challenged to make a series of New Year’s resolutions about what we will do better next year or not do, as the case may be. Such resolutions too are but vapors which do not last. Nevertheless, this combination of things makes New Year’s a great time to consider the events of the recent past, as well as the nature of our hope for the future. In fact, this has been the historic practice of Reformed churches. Article 37 of the URCNA Church Order lists New Year’s Day (along with New Year’s Eve, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, and Ascension Day) as occasions when the consistory may call the congregation together for worship.
Too Many Think Like Henry Ford
As with most things, the Christian take on the events of the past and our expectations for the future stands in sharp contrast to that of non-Christians around us. One place where the contrast between Christian and non-Christian thinking is most striking is in how we as Christians view the importance of history. Most Americans, I think, would agree with Henry Ford (the founder of the automotive company which still bears his name) who is widely quoted to have said, “history is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s ____ is the history we make today.”
If Ford is right, then the past is unimportant and irrelevant. What is important is the present, the here and the now. As a very pragmatic man and quintessential American, this makes perfect sense coming from someone like Henry Ford. Although he died in 1947, Ford’s sentiments still reflect the thinking of many of our contemporaries. This glib dismissal of everything which has gone before helps to explain why many Americans have little regard for tradition and institutions, why everything in this culture must be new and improved, and why so much of American life caters to those who demand instant gratification.
This is surely one reasons why so many of our contemporaries want little to do with serious thought or careful reflection. This anti-historical sentiment is reflected throughout American evangelicalism as well. People who think like Henry Ford will be much more interested in the local mega church with its garage band worship and all the bells and whistles than they will in a confessional Reformed or Presbyterian church. And from the usual comparative size of the these two types of congregations, it is obvious that very many of our contemporaries think like Henry Ford.
History Has No Goal or Purpose? Really?
This thoroughly pragmatic and utilitarian view of the world–all that matters is what works or what is useful–is also apparent when Ford reportedly defined history as “the succession of one ____ thing after another.” History has no goal or purpose. All that matters is the present. But this is where we as Reformed Christians must disagree. Why? Because Christianity is a religion necessarily grounded in history. We base everything we believe about the here and now in light of several very specific things which occurred in the past. As Christians, we see the present as but part of the larger story of redemption. We don’t believe that history is bunk, or the mere succession of one random thing after another. We believe history to be the outworking in time and space of God’s eternal decree–his eternal plan for the ages. Whatever happens in human history is part of God’s purpose, no matter how difficult this is to see in the midst of trial and tribulation.
Therefore, it is vital that we grasp the notion that history is the outworking of the will of God in our world because this is what gives everything that happens—good or bad—meaning and purpose. The events we recall from the past year are not simply random or disconnected events, one after the other. Rather, in these things we witness God working all things according to his will and purpose. He will bring all things to their divinely appointed ends—the telos. This is why “right now counts forever” as one famous Reformed thinker (R. C. Sproul) liked to remind us.
History Is the Outworking of God’s Eternal Decree
Understanding history as the outworking of God’s eternal decree means that the entire Christian faith stands or falls based upon whether or not the things we read in the Bible are true. Far from being the “owner’s manual to life,” or a book of “timeless truths” like Aesop’s Fables, the Bible is the record of what God has done in history to save us from our sins. If history is bunk, then the Bible is bunk . . .
As Reformed Christians we often speak of “redemptive history.” When we use this term we are referring to the story of our redemption from sin as it unfolds in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible reveals one story with many chapters and sub-plots which unfolds in human history in the lives of a number of different people, in a number of different places, and in certain historical events which are scattered across several thousand years. All of the people mentioned in the biblical story really lived. All of the places mentioned in Scripture actually existed. All of these events depicted in the Bible really happened. This is why history very much matters to us if not to people like Henry Ford. Redemptive history has nothing to do with how to make a car cheaper and assemble it faster. More to the point, redemptive history doesn’t center upon me and my demand for instant gratification.
When we speak of redemptive history, we are speaking of those specific events through which God spoke and acted to save us from the guilt and power of sin. Since God created all things, the world becomes the stage upon which this redemptive history plays out. God spoke and created all things. He created Adam from the dust of the earth and placed him in Eden to tend a garden so as to build a temple where the first man and his Creator could dwell together. God placed Adam under a covenant of works in which Adam was to render perfect obedience to his creator. Had Adam successfully passed through this period of probation, he would have been granted eternal life. But Adam didn’t obey, and the rest is history, as they say.
The Fall of Our Race Impacts Everything That Happens
To a Christian, what happened in Eden is absolutely foundational to how we understand the world around us. Acting for us and in our place, Adam rebelled against God in Eden placing all of creation under God’s curse. Had you had a video camera hidden in the garden, you could have recorded the entire scene when Eve was tempted by the serpent when she ate from the tree, when Adam did the same, and when God pronounced the curse upon the disobedient couple, casting them from Eden so that they might wander in Nod, a land east of Eden where they left their footprints in the dust. They lived out their lives and their bodies lie buried somewhere near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. That’s how real the history is which we are describing. Without grounding our faith in that history all we are left with is fluctuating emotions and baseless opinion, nothing more. All we can do is describe what happens–we cannot give events any meaning as they unfold. History becomes the succession of one thing after another.
Why does this matter? Especially on a day as we approach the New Year? Simple. The reason why the news media had so much video of people who died last year, as well as video of enough human tragedy to fill hours of broadcast time and social media is because Adam broke God’s command and plunged the entire human race into sin and death. Bad things happen to good people (relatively speaking–since there is no one good but God) because we live in a sinful fallen world.
The Past Explains the Present
There is no way for us to understand the here and now, without understanding the past. History may be bunk to Henry Ford and those who think like him. But to Christians, history is the foundation of everything we believe. What happened in the past explains what happens in the present. The past tells us what to expect in the future. We cannot escape from what our first parents did and the consequences of their sin. Furthermore, our faith is grounded in concrete acts in history, such as a crucifixion and a bodily resurrection, and without them, all we have is bunk, or as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15:32, “if the dead are not raised, `Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” The reason why we have hope for the future–whatever that future might hold–is because God’s record of keeping his promises is pretty good. And this is why history is so important to Christians.
Since the Bible is the record of God’s redemptive purpose as it unfolds in history, it is difficult to pick a single biblical passage (or two, or three, or . . .) which makes this case–because in one sense they all do. But there is one text which comes to mind when we talk about God’s will in eternity past being worked out in time and space. In the opening chapter of his letter to the Church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul makes the point that what God has decreed is, in fact, realized in each of our lives at a particular point in time, specifically when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. In this passage, Paul lays out a Christian perspective on history. And so we can to turn to Ephesians 1:3-14 as but one place to gain perspective.
A Christian Understanding of History
After his opening comments, Paul’s thoughts turn toward praising God for all that he has done on Paul’s behalf. In the Greek text of Ephesians 1, verses 3-14 are a single sentence as Paul’s pours out a doxology, line upon line, which is in many ways similar to his comments in Romans 8:28-30. There is a great deal of theology packed into these few verses. There is also a Christian understanding of history to be found here as well.
Not only does Paul speak of the work of each of the three members of the Trinity in providing for our redemption, Paul also makes the logical progression from eternity past, to Christ’s work on the cross, to the application of that redemptive work to each particular believer. In many ways, this doxology of praise lays out the way in which we as Christians should understand the course of history as we see everything being directed by God towards his ultimate goal. The scope of Paul’s praise unto God takes us from eternity past, to the work of Christ on Calvary, to the life of each believer, and on to the end of the age. There is a panoramic sweep here of the whole of redemptive history.
In verse 3, Paul writes, “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” The apostles’ words echo a number of familiar texts from the Psalter. “Blessed be God” is found throughout the Psalter (Psalms 17, 27, 30, 40, 41, 65, 66 and 72). In true rabbinic fashion, Paul is giving thanks for the fact that God has blessed his people with every spiritual blessing, “in Christ.” All of God’s spiritual blessings given to his people are given in virtue of the fact that believers are “in Christ.” That is, through faith in Jesus, God’s people are united to the Risen Christ through a bond effected by the Holy Spirit. We are on earth and Jesus is in heaven, but nevertheless, we are truly united to him.
This is why Paul can say that these blessings are “in the heavenlies” because this is where Christ is—at the right hand of God, ruling and reigning over all things. As Paul will later say in Ephesians 2:6-7, God “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” To be a believer is to be “in Christ” and a recipient of every blessing (not just a few blessings, but “every blessing”) which God has secured for us.
God’s Blessings Are “in Christ”
As Paul continues his doxology, in verses 4-6, he restates his basic theme of God’s blessings being bestowed “in Christ.” But at this point, Paul takes us back to eternity past and the mysteries of the inter-Trinitarian relationship. “Even as he chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” In what Reformed Christians call the covenant of redemption, the Father chose the Son to be the mediator of the covenant of grace and thereby the Savior of all the elect. This inter-Trinitarian purpose was established before the creation of the world, and all of human history is the outworking of the triune God’s eternal purpose as decreed within the eternal covenant.
Paul then goes on to tell us that if we believe in Jesus, it is because we were chosen “in Christ” by the Father. Paul also tells us that God has determined the end to which this gracious decision will take us–to be holy and blameless. The implication is that we were considered to be sinners when God chose us since the goal of his choice is to render us “not guilty,” or “holy.” Paul is also clear that all of this is grounded in God’s love for lost and fallen sinners and not because God sees anything good in us which causes him to choose us.
Predestination Is Not the Reformed Central Dogma—The Person and Work of Jesus Christ Is
The only reason any one of us are rescued from sin, is because of something good in God and not because of anything good in us. God pours out his grace upon us, in and through the person of his Son. This is why those who argue that the “central dogma” of Calvinism is predestination, miss the point entirely. Yes, God chooses us to be saved–and this choice is the foundation for everything else. But he does so “in Christ,” who was himself chosen by the Father to be our Savior. You cannot separate God’s sovereign grace and mercy from the person of Jesus. Election and the person of Jesus are inseparably linked because we are said to be chosen “in Christ.”
In verses 7-8, Paul moves from his focus upon the Father choosing us in Christ, to the work of Christ, logically moving from the work of the Father to the work of the Son, the so-called economic Trinity (opera ad extra). In doing so, Paul seamlessly makes the transition from eternity past to the city of Jerusalem about 30 CE. Still emphasizing the fact that the gracious blessings from God all come to us through the person of Jesus Christ, Paul writes, “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.” Jesus Christ redeemed us by dying for us, shedding his blood so that our sins might be forgiven.
What God decreed to do from all eternity came to fruition in the historical events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And all of this is because God poured out the riches of his grace upon us in his Son, who is the supreme revelation of the wisdom of God. In looking to the saving work of Christ on our behalf, Paul says, we discover the ground of our salvation (the person and work of Christ, and nothing in us) and in doing so we discover the ultimate meaning of history as God brings all things to their divinely appointed ends.
Because we have been redeemed in Christ–who left eternity past and who entered time and space by taking a true human nature to himself in the incarnation–Paul will now explain the connection between God’s decree and the work of Christ. God is “making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” In order to understand what God is doing, we must see all of history as the outworking of God’s will (his purpose), so that in the end, all things (in heaven and on earth) will be brought into submission under one head–who is Christ. This is why in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” One day it will!
The Goal of History—Our Redemption and God’s Glory
This, then, is God’s explanation of the goal of history. History is not bunk. It is not the mere succession of one unconnected thing after another. History is the outworking of God’s eternal purpose, which, in God’s appointed time, is to bring all things together in Christ. Everything that happens throughout the ages is God bringing all things toward his appointed goal. This is why everything has purpose and meaning. Everything that happens is part of God’s plan, moving everything forward to God’s appointed goal.
In verse 11, Paul now turns to the individual believer’s place in this great drama. “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” God not only chose us in Christ because he loved us, but he is also directing everything in our lives so that we might bring God honor and glory.
Since we know that God holds time and eternity in his hand and that all things occur according to God’s plan, we are to live our lives accordingly. There is nothing left to chance. There are not random molecules out there floating around which will ruin everything. There are no cosmic forces beyond God’s control. Not even Satan can thwart God’s ultimate purpose. In fact, Satan’s rage against the Creator was decreed by God, and only serves to bring history to God’s appointed goal. This is why we affirm with the greatest of confidence that God is working all things together for good (Romans 8:28).
Throughout the Old Testament, there are a number of passages where God’s eternal purpose is spelled out almost as clearly as Paul does in Ephesians 1. In explaining God’s sovereignty as the basis of history, Paul is drawing upon the earlier chapters of the story, in effect, reminding the Christians in Ephesus of what has gone before. As but one example, in Deuteronomy 10:14-22, Moses exhorted Israel to obey the Lord’s commands and decrees and to serve YHWH with their whole heart, because “to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.” Because everything belongs to the Lord, we are to worship, obey, and serve him. God’s sovereignty is the basis for Israel’s very existence.
Indeed, God’s sovereignty is the basis of Israel’s salvation. Despite Israel’s sin and rebellion, Moses goes on to say,
yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Just as God called sinful people to faith in Jesus Christ in the city of Ephesus, previously he had set his affection upon Israel, despite Israel’s sin and faithlessness. This is but one of numerous examples in the Old Testament of how God sovereignly directs historical events so that his purposes come to pass. So much so that even the exile in Egypt served God’s ultimate purpose–the increase of his people and to bring about the coming of the Messiah. This kind of Old Testament passage is clearly in the background when Paul tells the Ephesians that God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
The Trinitarian Focus of Our Redemption
Finally then, in verses 13-14 of Ephesians 1, Paul brings God’s eternal decree and Christ’s redemptive work into the life of every Ephesian believer and to ours as well–the past becomes the basis for life in the “here and now.” Once again, Paul’s Trinitarian focus seamlessly moves from the person and work of the Son to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, “in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” With this, Paul has given us a panoramic sweep of redemptive history. All those who have been chosen by God from before the foundation of the world (eternity past) and for whom Christ has performed his redemptive work (in Jerusalem about 30 CE), are also called to faith in Jesus Christ at a particular moment in time when the gospel is proclaimed to us and we believe. But hearing and believing are not the end of the story.
Paul goes on to remind the Ephesians that having believed the gospel and now “included in Christ,” they are indwelt and marked with a seal, the blessed Holy Spirit, who is the pledge that our bodies will be redeemed on the day of resurrection. In one long Greek sentence Paul has taken us from eternity past, to the person and work of Christ, to the moment each believer first hears the gospel and then responds, to the great day of the resurrection of our bodies at the end of the age. This panoramic view of history moves Paul to say that all of this is to the praise of his glory, just as our discussion of this should move us to do the same. How can we hear this glorious explanation of our salvation and not be moved to praise God for all that he has done? Blessed be!
All of God’s blessings come to us through Jesus Christ, in whom we are chosen. It is Jesus who died for our sins, was raised for our justification, and who was preached to us so that we believed. And he who redeems us from our sins is that same one in whom we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit until Jesus returns from heaven at the end of the age to raise immortal our sinful flesh from the dust of the earth. God’s decree lies at the very foundation of all of life.
Jesus is The Lord of History
Jesus is the Lord of history. History is not bunk. As God’s eternal purpose unfolds in every day life we find the explanation as to why some have died this past year and others have lived—God’s will, bringing all things to their divinely ordained ends. That Jesus is the Lord of history explains why the wild weather of the past year did so much damage in one place, and why in other places sinners who also deserve to face the wrath of God have been mercifully spared and even prosper. God has ordained whatsoever comes to pass. More importantly for us, God’s sovereign purpose explains why each one of us have believed the gospel and are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
This is why history is so important, and why we have such a wonderful hope for the future–whatever our present circumstances may be. This is why we, as Christians, can look forward to the New Year. For whatever the New Year may hold, God has decreed it in eternity past, and as his decree unfolds in history, God will bring us that much closer to that glorious moment (the final consummation of Christ’s present kingdom) when at long last all things in heaven and on earth are subject to the Lord of history, our blessed Savior, Jesus.
May God grant us all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Amen!