Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
After Jesus gave His Great Commission to His Disciples, it would have taken a while for Jesus' Gospels and Teachings to make their Way around the entire world and to the ends of the earth...And we know that Jesus teaches us that Eternal Life is believing in God and the One that He sent to earth...So faith and believing are a very important part of God's Plan...By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”...For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God...And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He Exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him...We see the importance of faith in God and His Son...
We might ask how were those people saved as the followers of Jesus and His Apostles made their Way around the world - those who had not heard about Jesus yet -what would have happened to them from a Heaven standpoint?...
St. Paul told the Romans: How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in?...And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard?...And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?...And how can anyone preach unless they are sent out to others who have not heard about Jesus?...As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”...
So as St. Paul spoke and wrote these words about Jesus and the gospel, people outside Israel and on the other side of the world would not have heard about Jesus yet (right after His Great Commission) and His Teachings...St. Paul knew the answer was if they had not heard about Jesus until someone had told them about Him...No one can be saved without hearing the gospel....And since the Only Way to God is through Jesus, it is very, very difficult to have gotten word to others in the first hundred years, with transportation and communications being what they were...So whether it is a native american, those in Africa, a parent, or anybody hearing the gospel, if the gospel had not been heard by them -they would have trouble getting to know God through Jesus and His gospel...
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible...We are given hints of the importance of faith, by Jesus on the definition of Eternal Life, and when Enoch was taken by God to heaven...St. Paul also taught this about Creation, we see God and can believe that Creation had a Source or Divine Being create all things...The wrath of God is thus revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the Truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them...For since the Creation of the world God’s Invisible Qualities—His Eternal Power and Divine Nature—have been clearly seen in Nature and all the things we see around us on earth...And this being understood from what has been made on earth, no one or person is without an excuse in believing in a Source or Designer of God's Creation...
And, I might add they would have faith in the Creation's Creator and the universe about...God has set the universe's foundations, and has laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sing together and all the sons of God shout for joy...We can see God's glory in the heavens...Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?...Do you not know?...Have you not heard?...Has it not been told you from the beginning?...Have you not understood since the earth was founded?...God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers...He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in...He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing...No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff...“To whom will you compare Me?...Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One...Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?...He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name...Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing...Why do you complain, Jacob?...Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?...Do you not know?...Have you not heard?...The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth...He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom...He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak...Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength...They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint...
We know that Enoch lived a total of 365 years...Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away...So God LOVED Enoch and Enoch walked faithfully with Him, and God took Enoch to Heaven...So we can see that faith in God got Enoch to Heaven...And something similar happened to the Prophet Elijah...When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal...Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”...But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”...So they went down to Bethel...The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”...“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”...Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.”...And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”...So they went to Jericho...The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”...“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”...Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.”...And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”...So the two of them walked on...Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan...Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it...The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground...When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”...“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied...“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”...As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind...Elisha saw this and cried out, “My Father! My Father!...The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”...And Elisha saw him no more...Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two...
I think we also have to look at God's Grace...God is the same yesterday, today, and forever...So characteristics have never left Him...God has always been LOVE...He has always been Truth, and He has always been Full of Grace...God has always been forgiving...God has always been merciful...God has always wanted us to seek Him...
St. Paul also speaks of Grace to the Ephesians...He tells the Ephesians that they were dead in your transgressions and sins before they knew Jesus, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the Spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient...All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts...Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath...But because of God's Great LOVE for us, God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive with Jesus even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by God's Grace you have been saved...And God raised us up with Jesus and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His Grace, expressed in His Kindness to us in Christ Jesus...For it is by God's Grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, Grace is the Gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast...For we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do...And later he speaks of God's Grace to Titus...St. Paul tells Titus at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures...We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another...But when the kindness and LOVE of God and our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His Mercy...He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His Grace, we might become heirs having the hope of Eternal Life...This is a trustworthy saying...And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good...These things are excellent and profitable for everyone...
Before Jesus those who had followed the Law where saved by believing in God and following the Laws of Moses...The Old Testament was not easily given and read to everyone on earth...But the Old Testament teaches us that God is merciful, forgiving, and gracious....He is Full of Grace and Truth...He may have saved some people before Jesus through other means, such as through their sincere desire to do good or through their response to his General Revelation (the things that he has revealed about Himself through nature and conscience)...Part of this General Revolution may have been that they believed Someone or Something is behind the Creation of all things and believing in the One who is over Creation is part of the Salvation Answer, before everyone got to hear the gospel...They had faith in the One who is our Creator...They would have believed directly or indirectly that Grace and LOVE are a part of life...Ultimately, only God knows how He saved people before Jesus and right after the Great Commission...The important thing is that salvation is available to all people, regardless of when they lived or how much they knew about God, because of His LOVING, Forgiving, Gracious qualities...Now by faith in Jesus, everyone can be saved from sin and its consequences and have Eternal Life...God can do all things...Jesus by fulfilling Scripture has made all things possible...