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Christ's followers saw with new eyes the prophetic references to Him. Whereas before His Coming, one could only guess at their meaning, now there was knowledge of their meaning. Previously, in many cases, the literal meaning was assumed, but now their symbolic meaning became clear. And whereas before, a suffering Messiah could not have been imagined, now God's word seemed to proclaim loudly that this had been His Plan since the beginning of time; a plan that until then, was known only to Him (66:1) This new world, entered into through their belief in Christ, allowed the early Christians not only to understand prophetic references to Him, but also understand the true meaning and purpose of their Scripture as a whole. Thus, everything had new meaning, and it all seemed to revolve around Christ. Christ's ministry represented more than merely three and a half years of time. It signified the consummation of a holy and historical process. All things were looked at in the light of His life: the Passover, the temple, the ten commandments, even creation; all these had new meaning. And not only did Christ fill the believer's world with meaning, but no aspect of history or of one's individual life had meaning without His life and words. No event, no matter how remote, no matter how seemingly insignificant in the life of the individual, was outside of the influence of Christ's divine knowledge and power. To the followers of Christ, He had become their beginning and their end: for they would "live", "move", and have their "being" in Him. All things proclaimed Him. He had become the source of life and its goal (66:2) At Christ's Coming, a world had opened up. Those who had entered it saw clearly the signs of its greatness and power, and looked forward to the blessings it was sure to bestow upon all peoples. This world was as real, nay more real, that what they had previously regarded as the substance of their lives. Their love for Him and their fellowship with one another sustained them through all things. Their world was filled with divine purpose and promise (66:3) What a world it was; and what a world with which it had to contend. Though the world of Faith brought by Christ was clearly a reality to the believer, what those outside this world saw was quite different. From the story presented in the New Testament, it seems that those in the outside world, in fact, simply could not see it. It was, in a sense, invisible to them. The Jewish people had no way of comprehending what was going on in the minds and hearts of the followers of Christ - no way of judging the merits of their new pattern of religious practice, no way of seeing what His followers saw with undoubted clarity: the future rise and triumph of His Faith (66:4) The Jews, who disputed in vain, to invalidate the truth of the appearance of the Christ, remained oblivious of this world of faith. Without the acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, the door was closed to understanding either His words or the significance of events in His life. Without such an understanding, the meaning of the scriptures remained a mystery. And, not understanding the meaning of the Hebrew scriptures, the world and life itself was a mystery to them. At the Coming of the Holy One of Israel, far from responding to the spirit of the world of faith offered to them, the Jewish people viewed as insignificant and troublesome the small band of Christ's followers
(66:5)
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