“He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” (1 Peter 1:20)
I love a good mystery. You probably do, too. But a good mystery has rules. For one, it has to keep us guessing right up until the truth is revealed. But it also has to make sense; we have to be able to think back over the story and see how the answer was in there all along. It’s not a satisfying story if the writer didn’t plant real clues along the way.
God’s story of humanity was built on a mystery: How would he ever be able to bring his sinful, willful, stubborn characters (humans) back into relationship with himself, the holy, sinless God who loves them so much? It seemed impossible, but he kept promising it would happen.
Like all the great writers, he built the solution right into the story. All the clues were there from the beginning right through the Old Testament. The Hero was even chosen before the first word was written. And when he was revealed, those reading the story said, “Of course! What a great story. What a great God! How much he loves us!”
But this is no fairy tale. The solution to the mystery demands a response from the readers. Come back tomorrow.
Think: If someone asked you to briefly describe God’s story of time and humanity, how would you do it? How would you describe the great mystery in the middle of the story and its resolution?
Pray: Thank God for revealing the mystery of Jesus in these last times for your sake.
Do: Next time you watch or read a good mystery, notice how the storyteller plants the clues to the answer along the way – and think about how God did the same with Jesus in his story.