Throughout all the centuries, God has been sovereign over human culture on the earth. The history of the human race is divided by the birth of Christ. Before Christ there were four thousand years, and after Christ until now there have been almost two thousand years. The incarnation of God in humanity became the very dividing line of human history. Although we can see God’s sovereignty over human culture in the first four thousand years, it is even more apparent in these last two thousand years.
The rise of the Roman Empire was not an accident; it was sovereignly arranged by God’s authority. Only about thirty years before Christ was born, the Roman Empire was founded. The Roman Empire not only prepared the way for the spreading of the gospel, but it also helped in the formation of the gospel. The gospel was formed and accomplished by Christ’s death, and Christ’s death was through the crucifixion carried out by the Roman Empire. In this way the Roman Empire was used by God, not only for the spreading of the gospel, but also for the formation of the gospel. The professors in the universities know the historical facts, but they may not have this heavenly vision. We need to have the heavenly sight with which to see human history, not from the human point of view but from the divine point of view.
Western culture is composed and constituted with three elements: the Hebrew religion, the Greek culture and philosophy, and the Roman politics and law. When Pilate was executing the Lord Jesus by crucifying Him, he wrote a title above the cross in three languages-in Hebrew, representing the Hebrew religion; in Greek, representing the Greek philosophy, the Greek culture; and in Latin, representing Roman government, Roman politics, and Roman law (John 19:19-22). This signifies that the combined western culture helped in the formation of the gospel.
That these three languages were used together shows that the Roman Empire had been unified. It had unified the Jewish world, the Greek world, and the Roman world altogether into one empire. The known world first included Mesopotamia, the river culture, before the time of Abraham. When Abraham was called and moved to Canaan on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, culture went on from the two rivers to the sea. This may be called the sea culture. Then the Greeks came and under Alexander the Great invaded Palestine. Later, Julius Caesar conquered all the nations around the great sea and prepared the way for the Roman Empire. Jesus was born under the reign of the grandnephew and adopted son of Caesar-Augustus (Luke 2:1).
It was through God’s sovereignty that the Roman Empire was prepared for the purpose of the gospel. Firstly, God used the Roman Empire in the formation of the gospel, and afterwards, God used the Roman Empire for the spreading of the glad tidings. Within less than a half century the gospel was spread to “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5), the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. By the formation and propagation of the gospel the church was brought forth. Even after the decline of the church, it still had its center in Rome. Rome was the center of the “gospel world.” Although the Roman Empire was actually against God, it was unknowingly used by God for the formation and spreading of the gospel. We have to thank God for the Roman Empire. We need the heavenly view to see this.
Following the formation and spread of the gospel, the church declined until it fell into the Dark Ages. Then in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, God was sovereign over two great events-the reformation of the church and the discovery of the new land. These should be considered as the second major step in the history of the last two thousand years. These events first served to liberate the human mentality which had been imprisoned under Catholicism. Second, it was through these two accomplishments that the European culture was carried to other continents, including America and Asia. However, this culture was too much related to Catholicism. The spreading of the European culture was very much under the influence of Catholicism. This is the reason why the Central and South American countries are primarily Catholic. Wherever Catholicism went, there was darkness. Even today so many Central American and South American countries are still under the darkness of Catholicism.
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