1. Creatio ex nihilo
Naturally, the creation of the world itself would be first on the list! In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Creatio ex nihilo is Latin for creation from nothing, which means God created the world, not from pre-existing material, but from nothing. There was nothing. He spoke. And there was something.
Hebrews 11:3 the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
It is really amazing to read through Genesis 1 and see the pattern: And God said…and it was so. There was nothing. He spoke. And there was something. Oh the power! Oh the wisdom! Oh the glory that belongs to the Creator!
Furthermore He created all things by His Son:
Colossians 1:12-17 For by him [the Son] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2:7; 21-22 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Man was not spoken into existence, but was formed of the dust of the ground; and the woman was made from one of Adam’s ribs. See how this unites us to the earth and to one another!
Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
What a beginning! What a wonderful world He handed to Adam and Eve! But they sinned, and when they sinned there was a drastic change. What was very good was now corrupted and subject to death. Therefore God promised a Savior, a Deliverer, who would redeem and restore mankind and creation to Himself. The rest of the Old Testament is the story of God preparing the way and setting the stage for the Redeemer to come.
Which brings us to the second greatest event in the history of the world
2. Incarnatione De Verbi Dei
Athanasius (296-373), a bishop and theologian, wrote a great little book, De Incarnatione De Verbi Dei.* Latin makes it sound impressive, doesn’t it? Well, it is! In English the title is, The Incarnation of the Word of God.
The Word of God is the Son of God. This is the Redeemer promised throughout the Old Testament! The Incarnation was when the Son of God was made flesh. He was made man that he might redeem us from sin and death. This indeed was a momentous event in the history of the world!
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us
How did this happen?
Luke 1:26-35 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
What are we talking about here? The Son of God, the Creator of all things visible and invisible, was made flesh. He became a man. He was really hungry and tired, He really bled when pierced with a spear and nailed to the cross, he really died and was buried.
As Athanasius explained it in his book:
“But He comes in condescension to show loving-kindness upon us, and to visit us. And seeing the race of rational creatures in the way to perish, and death reigning over them by corruption; seeing, once more, the unseemliness of what had come to pass: that the things whereof He Himself was Artificer were passing away: seeing, further, the exceeding wickedness of men, and how little by little they had increased it to an intolerable pitch against themselves: and seeing, lastly, how all men were under penalty of death: He took pity on our race, and had mercy on our infirmity, and condescended to our corruption, and, unable to bear that death should have the mastery — lest the creature should perish, and His Father's handiwork in men be spent for nought — He takes unto Himself a body, and that of no different sort from ours. He takes a body of our kind, and not merely so, but from a spotless and stainless virgin, knowing not a man, a body clean and in very truth pure from intercourse of men. For being Himself mighty, and Artificer of everything, He prepares the body in the Virgin as a temple unto Himself, and makes it His very own as an instrument, in it manifested, and in it dwelling. And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father.”
Amen! The Incarnation leads to the cross. The work of salvation begins with the Incarnation, with the Word being made flesh. The Son of God became a man that he might restore us to God through his death on the cross.
The greatest event in the history of the world since creation!
* Athansaius originally wrote this book in Greek and in Greek the title is,
Λογος Περι Της Ενανθρωπησεως Του Λογου Και Της Δια Σωματος Προς Ημας Επιφανεις Αυτου
I don’t know why that never caught on! My rough translation into English would be, A Word Concerning The Word Becoming Man And His Manifestation To Us Through His Body. I like this much better!
Tomorrow: The Three Greatest Events In The History Of The World Part 2
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