The Most Significant Event in History
A Pew Research Center study in 2016 asked Americans to name the 10 historic events that had the greatest impact on our country. Half of the list had to do with death, whether it was 9/11 (#1), the JFK assassination (#4), the Vietnam War (#5), or the Iraq/Afghanistan wars (#6). We consider the death of someone important or the deaths of many to be significant, partly because these deaths are usually followed by significant change. Air travel has never been the same since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Significant changes were made to the vehicles that the president traveled in and the level of security detail after President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. Significant deaths always bring significant change. When Jesus died on that Good Friday, the most significant event in history would follow.
“But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:1-3)
Jesus has risen from the dead! Is there anything more significant than that? Has anyone else ever raised their own life out of the grave? Jesus’ resurrection brought an end to sin and death; is there anything more significant that Death’s defeat? Jesus rising from the grave, the most significant event in history, brought significant change to everyone: all debts have been paid!
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-15)
The problem is that not everyone knows this and not everyone accepts Jesus’ payment. Before He ascended into Heaven, some forty days after that first Easter morning, Jesus instructed His followers to go into all the world, make disciples, baptize them, and then teach them to obey all the commands Christ has given us. If you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, then you too are tasked with this commission. Go and tell all who God puts in your path about this greatest event in history. Tell them that the charges against them have been cancelled, Jesus has paid their sin debt in full, and tell them how your life has been changed by the most significant event in history.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
—Redeemed
