Confused about Jesus

These are serious questions. It is not meant to offend or mock anyone. These are things I am personally confused about.

Some people say Jesus is the only way to heaven. So does that mean that anyone who doesnt believe Jesus is God will automatically go to Hell no matter how much good they have done in their life? What about those who lived before Jesus? They had no knowledge of him so does that mean they dont go to heaven either?


Question: "How were people saved before Jesus died for our sins?"

Answer: Since the fall of man, the basis of salvation has always been the death of Christ. No one, either prior to the cross or since the cross, would ever be saved without that one pivotal event in the history of the world. Christ's death paid the penalty for past sins of Old Testament saints and future sins of New Testament saints.

http://www.gotquestions.org/before-Jesus.html

So according to what this website has stated, that would pretty much mean EVERYONE who came before Jesus is guaranteed Heaven. Does that mean that those who were condemned to Hell before are then sent off to Heaven once Jesus died? Since they lived and died before Jesus was born, they could not accept him so what makes those people any different from the people who exist now that do good and believe in a higher power but dont call that higher power Jesus or Christ or any other moniker?