On January 25, 1905, diamond mine superintendent Frederick Wells inspected the walls of the Premier Diamond Mine in South Africa—as usual. Suddenly his practiced eye caught a telltale glimmer in the rock.
Workmen cut free the luminous stone that very day, then took it to be weighed in the office of mine owner Thomas Cullinan.
The miners knew the fist-sized gem was a stellar find, but no one expected what the scale revealed. Before them lay the largest diamond ever found—3,106 carats worth, and a perfectly clear specimen except for one black spot in the middle.
Named for the mine owner, the Cullinan Diamond was sold to the Transvaal provincial government and eventually presented as a birthday present to England’s King Edward VII in 1907.
King Edward hired master-lapidary I. J. Asscher of Amsterdam to divide the stone. Asscher studied the Cullinan for six months before making the first cut, and subsequently created nine major stones along with ninety-six smaller ones.
The largest diamond is called the “Star of Africa I” or “Cullinan I” and sits atop the British royal scepter; Star of Africa II is part of the Imperial State Crown.[1]
Why did God create diamonds? For the same reason he created everything in the universe: to display his glory.[2]
Diamonds offer a magnificent example of God’s creative power, as he applied heat and pressure to simple black carbon and created mesmerizing stones.
Of course, it takes tremendous pressure (50,000 times more than that at the earth’s surface) and severe heat (2000 degrees Farenheit) for the transformation to take place. Such extreme conditions only occur deep in the ground—at least 90 miles below the surface.
Humans have only been able to drill a little over seven miles into the earth. So how were diamonds even discovered? Because of another spectacular display of God’s power: volcanoes, which spew them up to the surface.
And though raw diamonds do glimmer, their full magnificence is not released until the lapidary cuts the stones on all sides, to maximize the refraction and reflection of light. Today’s popular brilliant cut requires 58 facets. The process takes up to two weeks.
The ancient Greeks believed that a diamond was a chip of star that had fallen to earth. We smile at their naiveté until we learn astronomers discovered a star in 2009 that has cooled and compressed into a massive diamond—10 billion trillion trillion carats worth!
Imagine the smile on God’s face as the scientists proved lyricist Jane Taylor closer to truth than she knew: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star . . . like a diamond in the sky” (1806).
With Job, we can affirm:
In addition to displaying God’s glory, diamonds also provide valuable lessons—much as he’s used trees, sheep, and ants to teach us.[3] At least two lessons have been encapsulated in memorable quotes.
Lesson #1:
You know what else makes God smile? Transforming black-carbon lives into radiant diamond-people. Think of those like Kirk Cameron, George W. Bush, and Franklin Graham, all of whom once lived in dark rebellion and now reflect the light of Christ.
Such transformations require a lengthy process, and most often the heat and pressure of difficult circumstances, but the results are quite spectacular.[4]
Lesson #2:
A lapidary reminds us of our Heavenly Father. He chips away at our self-centeredness and pride until we’re Stars of Heaven, fit for his crown and radiating his glory in brilliant perfection.[5]
So, my fellow stars-in-process, “let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown will be set on the head of the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory will stream from you”—Charles Spurgeon.
Notes
[1] https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/worlds-largest-diamond-found# and https://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/blog/2017/01/worlds-largest-diamond-the-cullinan/
[2] Psalm 19:1
[3] Jeremiah 17:7-8; Psalm 23; Proverbs 6:6-8
[4] Hebrews 12:5-11
[5] Zechariah 9:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18
Photo images: http://www.wikimedia.org; http://www.flickr.com (2); http://www.wikipedia.org; http://www.canva.com (2); http://www.wikimedia.org.
From the Inside Out 
What a beautiful post, in so many more ways than one. Multi-faceted thoughts that blessed me so much, Nancy! Thank you!
Thank you for your kind comments, Patty. What a privilege for me to bless you. I have to admit that as of yesterday morning this post wasn’t coming together well. But God planted the seed of an idea (the Cullinan Diamond story) to add some luster. Praise God for his inspiration!
What a fantastic analogy, Nancy! Yes, may God so transform our darkness into sparkling light that we may all shine like diamonds for His kingdom.
Blessings!
Amen, Martha! Can’t imagine the glow we’ll create when we’re all sparkling together!
Sometimes I don’t want to be a diamond. Sometimes I want to be a Lincoln Log. But I know that’s no way to think or be!
And why would you like to be a Lincoln Log, Kevin? Please explain!
Lovely.
Thank you, Anna. Praise God for the way he brings posts together!
What a great illustration Nancy. And, the timing is perfect reminding us at Easter the one who endured the most pressure and took all our impurities. what a treasure to follow and become like.
Amen, Gary! I love your added observations that fit the diamond allegory.
diamonds are a chips of the stars. What a neat thought and I didn’t know about that planet. You always share such good stuff, Nancy!
Thank you, Jean. So glad you found good stuff here! (I enjoyed the discovery process myself while doing the research.)
Nancy,
What a great lesson in diamonds. Love it. The Lord has filled creation with wondrous things yet to be discovered! We are God’s workmanship in process.
In Christ,
Gary
Amen, Gary! You’ve addressed one of the things I love about God and all he has made; there’s always more to discover. As his workmanship, there’s always more potential for growth also. What an awesome God we serve!
It’s amazing now, think what it will be when things are set right in God’s kingdom.
Beautiful post, Nancy! Thank you…
Thank YOU, Pam. Delighted you found beauty here; praise God for his inspiration! ( He gave me an EXTRA boost on this post!!)
Brilliant post, Nancy! (Pun intended.) Aside from the neat history lesson the way God uses incidents in our lives to enable us to better reflect His glory as He works in our lives is a wonderful blessing.
Thank you, Cheri. (Love the pun!) Praise God for engineering the incidents of our lives to make us into better reflections of his glory. That understanding alone moves us toward a positive perspective of our circumstances–something I wish I’d known when I was younger!
I often don’t want to wait for the diamond to develop, but in God’s timing it’s always worth the wait! “Such transformations require a lengthy process, and most often the heat and pressure of difficult circumstances, but the results are quite spectacular.” Amen, Nancy.
Yes, the process is rarely fun. It helps to keep focused on the end result though, doesn’t it! Thank you for stopping by and taking time to comment, Lisa.