While our study of history outside of the Bible is merely human, the reality of history is controlled by the God of the Bible and is therefore wise and meaningful. Every strand of history has been woven into the larger fabric of reality according to the almighty will of the Lord.⁵ God causes all things to work together to bring His elect to the glory of Christ (Rom. 8:28–30). God works through means and coordinates all events to bring history to its decreed goals. 

Men and women are historical beings, immersed in the flow of time. History, as the first-century BC Roman orator Cicero rightly observed, is “the director of life.”¹ One cannot escape the effects of history. Even to think nonhistorically for any length of time is a difficult task. We are part of history; indeed, we are part of one human family that extends throughout history. The Bible tells us that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). Each human being is part of something much larger, for the entire human race descended from one man and one woman and expanded across the world through the ages. God is executing His sovereign plan for our lives not as isolated atoms of humanity, but as descendants of our ancestors, parents of future generations, and members of present-day communities and nations.

Our participation in history is especially meaningful if we are vital members of the church of Jesus Christ. Then we are bound together by faith in Christ, the head over all things, for whom all things exist (Eph. 1:10, 22– 23; Col. 1:16). Also, we are bound together in “one Spirit” with all Christians (Eph. 4:4) and are “members one of another” (Rom. 12:5) in a manner that transcends time. We are no longer strangers and aliens, but members of the ancient people of God’s promise, united in the peace purchased by Christ’s blood (Eph. 2:12–13, 19). When we read about believers and churches from times past, we are reading our family history— the stories of our brothers and sisters.

For the Christian community, history is the stage on which the drama of redemption is displayed. At the beginning is the fall; at the end is the last judgment. In between, the most crucial event is the entry of the eternal God into time as a man, Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate. From the perspective of the New Testament, the incarnation is the culmination of the history of salvation sketched in the Old Testament (Gal. 4:4; Heb. 1:1–2). The incarnation has hallowed history and initiated a history of salvation that embraces not only Israel but the entire world (Matt. 28:18–20; Mark 16:15– 16).

From the Christian perspective, God is undoubtedly active in history, working all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). Tom Wells says, “When we study history we are studying the activity of God.”² And it is right and proper to study history for that reason alone. God does not want His works to be forgotten, but “hath made his wonderful works to be remembered” (Ps. 111:4).

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