Deeper Reflection
The Lord has “made known…His saving power among all nations” (Psa 67:2), “made known his salvation” and “revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations” (Psa 98:2²⁶ ). The nations can know God’s salvation only because God has first revealed it; we may know the Saviour only because God has made Him known.Paul refers to this as “the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and…made known to all the nations” (Rom 16:25,26²⁷ ). And what is this “mystery”? It is the Gospel that was entrusted to Paul and the preaching about Jesus Christ (Rom 16:25). Jesus is Saviour of the nations because God has made Jesus known to the nations. This mystery, our salvation, has now been revealed by God’s hand. Jesus, too, made known (“opened their minds to understand”) that everything written about the Christ in the Scriptures had been fulfilled in Himself. The repentance for the forgiveness of sins, that brings salvation, must be proclaimed in Jesus’ name. The name of Jesus must be proclaimed to all nations, without exception (vv.44–47)!Jesus clearly reveals God’s heart for the nations. In His last words, Jesus commissioned His disciples to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). This comes as a stark reminder of His earlier revelation to them, that the Gospel of the kingdom must first have been “proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” before He will come again (Matt 24:14). No nation must be left out. Instead, every nation must be reached by God’s hand!

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²⁶ Emphasis is the writer’s ²⁷ Emphasis is the writer’s