[In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ]… which was not made known to people in other generations
Summary: Today’s passage raises the question, “What about the people who died before Jesus was born?” The answer to that question begs another question about ghosts; “Are they real?”
Do you believe in ghosts?
When I was a kid, other kids would ask that question as a kind of litmus test. It really meant, “Are you gullible?” The premise behind the “test” was that there are no ghosts. Modern science being what it is tells us that there is no such thing as a ghost, so therefore there are no ghosts.
Right?
Well, no. “Modern science” doesn’t know everything. The nature of science is to ask questions and discover new things. That means that the nature of science is to be open to change, and the possibility that what we believe is true today might not be the whole truth.
The question about “ghosts” is misleading because the premise is based on a kind of cartoon “ghost.” Cartoon ghosts come out of the woodwork and scare people. Cartoon ghosts float around the room with their heads cut off, moaning and groaning. One of the more famous cartoon ghosts is Jacob Marley. Remember him? He was Scrooge’s former partner who had died and presumably gone to hell. He returned to warn Scrooge that three more ghosts would visit him. The book was Charles Dickens’s 1843 classic, “A Christmas Carol.”
The 1984 film “Ghostbusters” is another example of cartoon ghosts. Although intended as a comedy, the film raised questions about the spiritual realm and what or who exists there. An interesting twist in this film is the use of “technology” to manipulate the spiritual realm.
All of this leads back to the question, “What are ghosts?” Are they real? Can they frighten us? Do they have any influence in the world of the living?
As Christians, we have had to wrestle with this question. The Bible is full of stories about spiritual beings visiting people on earth. In the Old Testament, these beings were primarily seen as angels who showed up in the form of men. Then, there is the story of King Saul trying to contact the dead because he was no longer getting answers from God. In the New Testament, we are confronted by spiritual beings called “demons.” These creatures inhabit the minds and bodies of certain people and can only be removed by God or one of his authorized representatives.
But, I digress…
The reason I bring all this up is because Paul points out that the Gospel message ”was not made known to people in other generations.” If these people have not heard the Gospel, how can they be saved?
One of my favorite Old Testament passages speaks to this very issue. The Book of Job records Job as saying:
I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19: 25-27)
Somehow, Job is aware that God will provide a redeemer.
Then, Jesus tells us:
“Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)
Later, Peter affirms this in his first letter when he writes:
“For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:6)
Do I believe in ghosts? Yes! Not cartoon ghosts, but real ones.
Application: If you were worried about the generations who lived before Jesus was born, don’t be.
Food for Thought: Why did God hide the mystery of Christ from the generations that lived before Jesus?
Jeff, sometime you ask questions that send me into a spiral that only God’s Word can bring me out of. Today’s spiral is like a black hole in space. Wow! 😁 On a Monday too! Double wow.
Lets turn to the light!
Luke 7:50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Mankind has this never ending need to KNOW. Only God KNOWS.
KNOWS your heart. KNOWS your faith. God is faithful. He will not let the ones who love Him and have faith in Him perish. He gives us the measure of His goodness according to His will. And His will is that none should perish that call upon His name.
There is a great peace that comes with this.
Ezekiel 18:21-32
“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?”
Sorry, Chris!
I didn’t mean to hit you with a “Double WOW” on Monday! 🙂
Good answer, though! You are on your game today!
One of the things about your answer that is important and has been an ongoing theme here at Three Minute Bible for many years is the question of righteousness.
The passage from Ezekiel 18 that you quoted is an important one. It points us to the nature of righteousness. Many of us wrestle with the question of ‘works righteousness’ because we are looking at righteousness through a human lens. This is natural. We humans are not able to “see” into the heart of other humans, so we judge by what we see on the outside, the “works.” God, on the other hand is not impressed with what we do on the outside, in the flesh. God sees the heart. God knows what we are all about. When a wicked person “turns away from all his sins” God knows.
God’s timing is, well – God’s timing. Something is a mystery, or unknown, until it is revealed. He has to reveal it at some point for it to be known.
The details of the Messiah were revealed at the correct time (Galatians 4:4). But the idea of one born of a woman who would save was revealed long ago ( Genesis 3:15). And then more was revealed throughout the OT. To the point that even as early as Abraham, people (at least Abraham) rejoiced at the thought of seeing Jesus’ day (John 8:56). And through Jesus even sins committed beforehand were paid for (Romans 3: 21 – 26). So although God hid some of the details. The idea of a Savior was there for many years (Isaiah 53).
Rich,
Thank you!
You raise some interesting points! There are subtle differences between something being “made known” and being available in the Scriptures.
The Isaiah 53 passage is a powerful example.
All of this has to do with having “eyes that see.”
“Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.‘” (Luke 10:23-24)
05-08-2023, Why did God hide the mystery of Christ from the generations that lived before Jesus?
I would suggest Christ was not a mystery in the Old Testament, but possible the Centerpiece of the Old Testament.
He is God’s promise to mankind beginning in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”
Isiah wrote:“The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” Isiah 7:14. Immanuel, meaning “God with us,”
The Magi studied the O.T. and came, searching with gifts, to find and worship the new born King of the Jews, while King Herod asked them to report their findings to him so he could kill the rightful King.
Matthew 2:1-12.
Jesus spoke, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself, Luke 24:25–27.
Paul wrote, “So I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles” Acts 26:22b–23.
Ron,
Thank you! You make your case well.
Perhaps the difference between the passages you referenced and Paul’s “made known” comment is similar to a road map.
I can have a road map showing me where I need to go, but until I go there, the destination has not been “made known” to me. So in a sense the folks in the Old Testament times had the road map, but until Christ walked the earth there was no way they could really “know” what the destination was going to look like.
Great point Jeff!
Thanks,
Ron