Columbus Improved my Chances of Knowing Christ

Columbus discovered what became the The New World, the Americas in 1492, landing on what we now believe is San Salvadore. He sought a new route to Asia going the opposite direction that others were going. In seeking a shortcut he mistook the western hemisphere for India. Columbus was so certain that the world is round that he staked his reputation on it and was able to convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain that he was right.

Columbus has been denigrated now by history revision. Modern peoples just can't stand the thought that Columbus battled pagans and introduced civilization to the uncivilized. However, Columbus was a man of noble character and was little different than any adventurer of that age except for one thing: He believed the Bible to be so true that he ignored science and experience! Whereas, the people believed that the earth is flat and a foolish adventurer would fall off the edge, Columbus believed that the earth is round and that the origin of a journey may be found by circumnavigating the world until the origin is again reached! What a novel idea... or was it?

Isaiah 40:21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in..."

Columbus read the Bible. He believed what he read! He recognized that God knows what he's talking about because God created it all. God sits "upon the circle of the earth"!  It was revealed to Isaiah by God before 800 B.C. that the earth is circular, of course in all directions, making it a sphere. Isaiah knew that the world is round while everybody, but Columbus that is, still believed the earth to be flat 2300 years later. Is that  due to God's omnipotence or what! Columbus "got out of the box" and stepped out. He was right, but if he had been wrong, then he would have made the Spanish Court a bunch of idiots and God's word would have been erroneous! However, Columbus was right because God is truth.

As a result of Columbus believing God's Word the entire western hemisphere is "Christian". No, everyone in the Americas is not Christian, but Christ is taught in all the Americas and has been since Columbus infringed upon the life of the heathen. Because Columbus believed God, the heathen then had a chance to believe! Millions of souls have entered heaven because Columbus believed God's Word!

As for Columbus the man, he wasn't a follower of people; he was a disciple of Christ, Although an imperfect Christian, his heart was right. He had faith and faith is what saves. As a non-believer buries the Old Person and with baptism becomes a New Creature with a new life, the Old World was buried and the New World became the focal point of Christianity. Yes, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands along with Catholic Europe were our forerunners, but America is where Christ was foremost in the hearts of our countryman. Because Columbus found a New Life for many in a New World, Europe drove their downtrodden and liberty seekers to our shores. Those seeking liberty were looking for a place to worship God without interference. That's"The Great Commission" and here's what it says:

Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

The eleven disciples carried the word to what was then to the far ends of the world. Some went east and some went to Africa, but Rome became the center of Christian life. Columbus was a Christian because faithful apostles carried the word to the center of the empire. Wales in Great Britain got the gospel in the time of Paul thanks to Roman military excursions. God used a crooked stick and persecution to spread the gospel, Thanks to the faithful apostles Columbus heard the word and believed what it said. He put belief in God into action!

Thanks to Columbus my own destiny was Christianity. I am a Christian because of what I was taught. I was taught about Christ because of my Christian heritage. My forebears were Christian because they brought their faith from Europe. My antecedents came to America because Columbus found the New World. Columbus found the New World because he had faith! Columbus had faith because of scripture. Like the world, my access to faith is a circle. "The Great Commission" followed the "circle of the earth" of which Isaiah spoke knowledgeably!

I am a New Person in Christ living in this New World. Isn't it ironic that just as God gives me a new land, since I now live in the Kingdom of God, that I got here through his sharing the truth of a New World! God knew what he was doing. All we have to do is believe!