History can seem like a bad word.
What else can so quickly deflate the ego of a scientist who has to accept how many scientific findings have later been disproven; the Bible scholar who has to face how many possibilities, have been suggested over the years for meanings of biblical words and statements; or the follower of Jesus who discovers that the reputation of Christians is the excuse most people use for not accepting Christ?
Yet, the very history that so quickly humbles us is what makes the record of the Bible so good for us.
The Book that gives us the history our failures is the book that, looking back, shows how our God uses our weakness to show his strength; our sins to bring us to his mercy; and our inability to explain the fairness of life to remind us that the H word that brings us to the injustice of the crucifixion of Christ is not a bad word.
In words of surprising celebration, a messenger of the Cross sums up the tragic history of human failure with a rescue that, looking back, is merciful beyond description (Rom 3:22-28); and, looking forward, is reason to think that the undisclosed judgments and plans of God will be far worse than we feared– but eventually far better than we could ever have ever hoped or thought (Rom 11:33-36).