We live in the part of history the Bible calls the “last days” (Acts 2:17; Hebrews 1:2). During Old Testament times, much was hidden. Even the most faith-filled people knew little of what was planned. But Christ has come and made God’s purposes clear (2 Timothy 1:9-10). So, we enjoy an enormous advantage. We stand in a position where we can look back along the river of time. We can see the flow of history, how God was working all along.
Because He has revealed so much for our age, we can know more than the best prophets of the Old Testament knew. Those prophets who foretold future events did not fully grasp what their prophecies meant. Now, we have the privilege of understanding what angels and prophets wished to see.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look…. [Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. (1 Peter 1:10-12, 20)
History is “His Story.” In another sense, it is your story. As Peter says, those great prophets were not serving themselves, they were serving “you” (1 Peter 1:12). “Before the foundation of the world,” God knew He would send His Son, the Christ. But why did Christ come? Why was He shown (“made manifest’) to the world in these last days? “For the sake of you” (1 Peter 1:20). Far from being dry or irrelevant, biblical history is about you and your choices right now. This history leads directly to you and your restoration.