The Greatest Achievement of Mankind

What did you expect to see?

The discovery of nuclear energy? The achievement of flight? The invention of air conditioning? Or perhaps the birth of artificial intelligence?

I must admit, human beings are extraordinarily capable creatures. We have accomplished remarkable things throughout the history of civilization. From the discovery of fire to the exploration of space, mankind has continuously pushed the boundaries of what was once thought impossible.

With so many extraordinary accomplishments, it is difficult to crown any single one as the “greatest”.  Yet, I would argue that many of these achievements were discoveries waiting to happen. Given enough time, curiosity, and opportunity, humanity would eventually uncover the mysteries of the physical world.

But among all our achievements, there is one so extraordinary that mankind could never have accomplished through human effort alone. This is why for me:

The greatest achievement of mankind is knowing God

We may infer that God exists by observing His creation. We may contemplate the universe and conclude that there must be a Creator. The Apostle Paul said that we can clearly see God in nature (Romans 1:20).  But to discover who God truly is, to know His character, His will, His love, and His ways, is supposedly something far beyond the reach of human intelligence and capability.

It is nothing short of miraculous to know God (as opposed to knowing that there is God). 

For mankind could never have truly known God unless God Himself had chosen to reveal Himself to us.

We Were Born Into a World Against God

The Apostle John tells us that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).  From the moment we enter this world, we are surrounded by its influences, its distractions, its falsehoods, and its distorted understanding of reality.

Have a look around, how much of what we see in this world truly reflects the character and holiness of God?

Throughout history, humanity has repeatedly turned away from its Creator.
Didn’t Adam and Eve rebel against God right then and there at the Garden?
Didn’t the world reject Jesus Christ when He came?
Have people not attempted, time and again, to suppress, discredit, or destroy the testimony of God's Word?

We have been presented with false gods, false teachings, and countless philosophies that promised enlightenment while leading us further away from the truth.  The world overwhelms us with distractions. We become consumed by our work, our ambitions, our anxieties, our possessions, and the endless pursuit of things that ultimately perish.  We become so occupied with the temporary that we lose sight of the eternal.

And yet, despite all of this, we found Jesus Christ.
Or perhaps I should say: “The Shepherd found His sheep.”

We were buried beneath layers upon layers of lies, deception, and worldly influences. We became so convinced of our own greatness that we entertained the ancient temptation of believing that we could become gods ourselves.

Yet somehow, beyond the wars and violence, we discovered His love.
Beyond death and emptiness, we saw His light.
And beyond the countless deceiving voices of this world, we heard the voice of our Shepherd.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me"
John 10:27

Our Fallen Nature Makes This Discovery Even More Extraordinary

We are fleshly, worldly creatures attempting to comprehend the things of the Spirit.

Like Adam and Eve, humanity has repeatedly listened to the serpent's ancient deception: that we could become like God, determining good and evil for ourselves (Genesis 3:5).

Our pride persuades us that we are self-sufficient. Our desires convince us that our own happiness is the highest good. Our limited understanding tempts us to believe that we possess all the answers.  We are so focused on ourselves that we often fail even to consider the One who created us.

The person without the Spirit does not accept
the things that come from the Spirit of God
but considers them foolishness,
and cannot understand them because
they are discerned only through the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14

Consider the magnitude of this problem that none of us was even qualified to even think of God.  How could creatures so deeply influenced by the world, so easily deceived, and so limited in understanding ever hope to discover the infinite and holy God?

How could we distinguish His voice from the countless voices competing for our attention?

How could we recognize the truth when we have spent so much of our lives surrounded by falsehood?

Left entirely to ourselves, we could never have discovered the fullness of who God is.

Yet God did not leave us to ourselves.

We Should Never Have Been Able to See God

In our fallen and confused condition, the discovery of God should have been beyond our reach.  Our understanding is limited. Our perception distorted. Our hearts are easily led astray.  And yet, against these overwhelming obstacles, we came to know the Gospel.

We encountered the testimony of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
We heard His words, recognized the truth, believed in Him, and received the gift of salvation.
Amidst all our mistakes, failures, and foolishness, we made the most important decision of our lives.

We chose to believe in Jesus Christ

And through faith in Him, we received what no human accomplishment, scientific discovery, or technological advancement could ever provide: reconciliation with God and the promise of eternal life.

But even this extraordinary discovery was made possible only by God's grace.
For we could never have known Him had He not first made Himself known to us.

The Blind Were Finally Able to See

When the Lord Jesus walked among us, He performed many extraordinary miracles.
Among them, He gave sight to the blind.  These miracles were not merely demonstrations of His divine power. They also reveal a profound spiritual truth:

Humanity itself was spiritually blind.

https://youtube.com/shorts/dpG7dbLk53Y?si=97xbmGvBN6UOybGH

We were unable to see beyond the illusions of this world. We mistook falsehood for truth, darkness for light, and temporary pleasures for lasting fulfillment.  Yet Jesus Christ came as the Light of the world.

"I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life."
John 8:12 (ESV)

Consider the healing of the man born blind in John 9.  Jesus restored his physical sight, but the encounter also led the man towards a greater recognition of who Jesus truly was. This is a powerful picture of what happens when we come to know Christ.

The false lenses through which we once viewed reality begin to fall away.
The illusions that once held us captive lose their power.
We begin to recognize the truth of God's Word, understand His ways, and see the world through the light of His revelation.

What was once hidden becomes known.
What was once darkness becomes light.
By God's grace, the blind were finally able to see.

We Found the God We Had Been Searching For

Consider the long history of humanity.

Across civilizations, people have searched for the divine.  Some worshipped animals. Others worshipped trees, mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, and the stars.  Humanity looked toward creation in its search for the Creator.

The Apostle Paul described this very condition when he addressed the Athenians, who had even erected an altar to an unknown god.

"What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
Acts 17:23 (ESV)

The God whom mankind had struggled to understand had made Himself known. And His fullest revelation came through The Man Jesus Christ.  As He Himself declared:

"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."
John 14:9

Through Jesus Christ, we no longer have to wonder endlessly about the character of God.

We have seen His compassion.
We have witnessed His holiness.
We have heard His teachings.
We have come to understand His mercy, His justice, and His extraordinary love for mankind.

And through His death and resurrection, we have discovered the way to be reconciled with our Creator.

We are creatures of dust, living upon a tiny planet in an unimaginably vast universe. Yet the Creator of that universe has made Himself known to us. Not merely so that we might know about Him, but so that we might actually know Him.

The Greatest Achievement Was Made Possible by God Himself

We have learned to fly.
We have harnessed the power of the atom.
We have sent machines beyond our planet.
We have developed technologies that would have seemed miraculous to earlier generations.
And perhaps we will accomplish even greater things in the centuries ahead.
But none of these achievements can compare with the discovery of God.

For what is the value of understanding the universe if we never come to know the One who created it?
What is the value of conquering the skies if we remain strangers to heaven?
What is the value of extending human life if we never discover the source of eternal life?
All our inventions, discoveries, and accomplishments belong to a world that will eventually pass away.

But knowing God has spiritual and therefore eternal significance.
And this is what makes our greatest achievement so remarkable.
We did not discover God because we were intelligent enough.
We did not find Him because we were righteous enough.
We did not come to know Him because humanity had finally reached some extraordinary level of civilization.

We discovered God because God, in His grace, chose to reveal Himself to us.
Because of Jesus Christ, the seemingly impossible became possible.
We came to know the One whom no human mind could ever fully comprehend.
And through Him, we were given the opportunity not merely to discover God, but to enter into an everlasting relationship with Him.

Of all the accomplishments of mankind, I can think of none greater.

The greatest achievement of mankind was made possible by the greatest Man the world has ever had the privilege of knowing.

Jesus Christ, The Lord.