John Piper in “History is God’s Story,”:
The Point Paul Was Making in Preaching This Way
Now think about all this for a moment. Don’t take this kind of narration of history for granted. Let it strike you as strange as it really is. Is this the way you tell stories about what happened? When you tell somebody about the past, do you say, “God did this and God did that and God did that and God did that, etc.”? Do you say that God did virtually everything? Probably not. So Paul didn’t have to either. He chose to preach this way. He consciously chose to narrate history this way. He was making a statement. One that we need to listen to again and again today.
He was saying, There is a great and glorious God. Know him. Reckon with him. Think about him. He was saying that God is really working in history. He is the main Worker in history. He is the explanation for, the meaning of, everything.
The Superficial and Naïve Age in Which We Live
We live in an age where this is not believed. Therefore it is a superficial and naïve age. It is superficial and naïve to discuss events and never deal with their most important connections, namely, their connections with God and his purposes. Check yourself on this. Are you as superficially secular and naïve as most people?
Virtually all our communication media and educational enterprises are superficial because they don’t deal with the most important aspects of their subject, namely, their connections with God and his purposes. Almost all news reports are superficial. Almost all history books are superficial. Virtually all public education in America is superficial. Almost all editorial and news commentary is superficial. All this because of the incredible, unimaginable disregard for God—the main Reality in the universe, the explanation behind everything, and without which all understandings are superficial. When the main thing is missing, the thing is superficial whatever it is.
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 