“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”
The salvation we have through Jesus is historically new. When we think back to the prophets, we think of the greats — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah along with Elijah and Elisha. So many amazing messengers of God who endured so much struggle. Prophetic life was dangerous and lonely. What we have today through the gift of the Holy Spirit, sent after Jesus returned to Heaven, is something they could only wonder about. They saw it, felt it, knew it deep in their souls, but they did not experience it quite like we do.
Together as post-Pentecost, end-times believers we share a power like the world had not seen before. 2,000 years seems like a long time, but in the big picture of human history it is the tail end of a very long story of struggle, confusion, and wondering. God was with his people, but he lived in a tent (called the tabernacle). Today, your heart is the tent in which God dwells. He’s camping out in the depth of your soul.
Here’s your freedom for today: you are part of a story that has been unfolding for thousands of years. The prophets, the angels, all of human history was on the edge of their seats waiting for these times. Salvation offered to the whole world, not just to the Jewish people. God himself coming to dwell in, around, and through his people. God inhabits you when you open the door to Jesus. And more accurately, he inhabits us as the church, bringing about an ending so glorious we can only wonder about what is to come. In that way, we can relate to the prophets who could only imagine the coming of Christ. Here we sit in that same place, waiting for his second arrival. Get busy, it could be soon.