The Goal of Biblical History

We will speak of the goal of all history as the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Simply put, we will speak of biblical history as the process by which God will be ultimately glorified before every creature by extending his kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Now although every event in the universe moves toward this grand end, the Scriptures themselves focus especially on events that are at the center of God’s ultimate purpose. They trace how certain historical events are crucial to reaching the goal of spreading God’s kingdom throughout the world.

There can be little doubt as we read portions of Scripture that God moved history toward many rather immediate goals. At each stage of biblical history, God had specific purposes or goals that guided his act and word revelation.

In the days of Noah, he acted to bring a new beginning to the world. His goal in revealing himself to Abraham was to call a special people to himself. The goal of Old Testament Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was to establish his special people in the Old Testament as a nation in the Promised Land. The goal of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was to secure eternal salvation for God’s people. In Romans 11:36, the apostle Paul pointed to the ultimate goal of history:

For from [God] and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

As Paul put it here, all things are from God in the beginning. All things continue their existence now through the sustaining power of God. And all things are “to him,” that is, they are for God’s glory and praise. In a word, God so orders the history of his creation that it will ultimately bring him immeasurable glory.

God’s revelations in Scripture were not random, disconnected or contradictory. God’s revelations not only gave his people insight into particular events but also ways of understanding, behaving, and feeling about him, themselves and the rest of creation.

The divine goal of all world history is the extension of God’s perfect heavenly reign to every corner of the earth. When God’s will is done as perfectly on earth as it is in heaven, every creature will bow before God and honor him as the divine king, the supreme Creator of all. At that time, the ultimate goal of history will be fulfilled.