What prophets searched for and angels desired
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2010 · 7 February 2010
Often times we live and take many things for granted. Just living in a house and being able to buy food seemed to be something that everyone should have until an earthquake suddenly strikes and takes all that away. Isn’t it true that we don’t know what we have until it is gone.
Especially living here in the US where we have so much makes us callous about many things. And among church goers too we live as if salvation is just something that is there and not that terribly important. Most of us live our daily lives not thinking very much about salvation.
But the apostle Peter here wants to remind us again of how great and wonderful our salvation really is. How valuable the Word of God is in explaining the promises of God regarding our salvation and having the Holy Spirit reside in us. Let us read what he tells us in 1 Peter 1:10-12.
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”
Jesus said to his disciples once in Matthew 13:16-17, "Blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Not even the most faithful and most righteous saints of the Old Testament were given the insights that the apostles and every believer since have been given the privilege of having. Yes that means you and me know much more than the prophets of old.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16, “However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.”
So every Christian who searches God’s Word and relies on the Holy Spirit within him is promised divine illumination. As Christians we not only have God’s completed revelation in Scripture but the very author of that Scripture living inside of our hearts, to explain and interpret and apply these truths.
In other words, to experience something that great and wise and holy that people in those days longed to experience but couldn't, should make us feel blessed and thankful. That's the same logic we have in our text this evening, 1 Peter 1:10-12.
Peter wants us to feel more gratitude and wonder for our salvation because the prophets of God and even the angels of heaven longed to see what we have now experienced through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Verses 10-11, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.” In other words, the prophets themselves were searching and longing and desiring to see what they were being moved to predict the grace of salvation.
It was revealed to them in verse 10 that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
Angels are different beings from us and God also is treating them different from us. Once they were given a choice before we were created and those who are angels now did not sin and are forever with God and us in heaven. So salvation and the process by which we are saved is a foreign process for them. And not just prophets, but angels themselves longed to see this salvation.
So the main point of this paragraph is that we should be amazed at the greatness of our salvation and that this greatness is shown by the fact that prophets of God and angels of heaven long to look into it.
So let me say a word about the idea of salvation and then look very briefly at five reasons that show the greatness [or value] of our salvation and the gratitude we should have for it. A question we should ask first is, "Do I need to be saved?" The question is not, "Do we think we need to be saved?"
You can need to be saved and not know it. For example, if a jet taking off from the airport were losing altitude and heading straight for this sanctuary right now, you would need to be saved; but you wouldn't know it unless someone came running in here and shouted what was happening.
So you can see that feeling safe is no proof that you are safe. You may desperately need salvation and not feel in any danger at all. So we ask again, "Do we need to be saved?" Is there a future life and joy that we are about to throw away if we are not saved?
Let's let Peter have his say from this letter and you judge about your own need. And may the Spirit of God help you to be honest. What Do We Need to Be Saved from?
In 1 Peter 2:24 he says, "[Christ] Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." We need to be saved from our sins because they are like a terminal disease that will kill us for ever. Christ's wounds can heal that disease.
In 1 Peter 3:18 he says, "Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God." Our sins separate us from God. So Christ died for our sins to bring us back to God.
In 1 Peter 4:17 he says, "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" Sin is also terminal guilt that deserves judgment. The gospel is the good news that Christ bears the judgment of all who trust him.
In 1 Peter 5:8 Peter says, "Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." In other words, you need to be saved from the devil who is a liar and a murderer and is trying to destroy as many human beings as he can so that he is not alone in hell.
He is a lion, which means he is far more powerful than you or I. So we need salvation from him. The Bible says that the Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). And Peter says resist him in our faith.
So Peter's answer is, we need to be saved from disease and guilt of sin, from the judgment of God, and from the destruction of the devil. The question you need to answer now is: Are you in danger? Is Peter telling the truth? Do you need to be saved?
In 1 Peter 2:25 Peter says, "You were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls." Salvation means being brought home to a loving Shepherd who will lead us in green pastures and by still waters.
Then in 1 Peter 5:4 he says, "When [this] Chief Shepherd appears [at his second coming], you will receive the unfading crown of glory." This is the "unfading" inheritance of verse 1:4. So we are saved for an inheritance of glory. No more shame, but honor. No more humiliation but the revelation of the glory of the children of God.
1 Peter 5:10 says that: "The God of all grace, has called you to His eternal glory in Christ." We are saved to share in the glory of Christ. And the result of this will, of course, be everlasting joy. "To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation (1 Peter 4:13).”
The word of God this evening—not the word of the newspaper editorialists, not the word of the television, not the word of public schools, not the word of state universities—but the word of the apostle Peter, speaking on behalf of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who expresses the very mind of God is: We do need to be saved.
We need to be saved from our sin and Satan and judgment. And we are saved for: a personal relationship with Christ the Shepherd of our soul, a participation in the eternal glory of God, and a joy and exultation as eternal as His glory.
So in verse 10 when Peter says, "Concerning this salvation . . ." we now have some idea of what he's talking about. His aim in verses 10-12 is to intensify our gratitude and fill us with joy and worship for the infinite value of this great salvation.
He does this by telling us five amazing things about our salvation—things that we may have never thought of before. I will briefly mention them and pray they will stick in your heart and bear the fruit of faith and thanksgiving.
1. Peter points out the amazing fact that Christ himself—the Spirit of Christ—hundreds of years before his own death and resurrection, was predicting his own death and resurrection. Look at the middle of verse 11: "The Spirit of Christ within [the prophets] . . . predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow." Christ predicted the sufferings of Christ.
Which means that Christ, the Son of God in heaven, has been contemplating his suffering and his death for us for centuries. Indeed as far back as the plan of salvation reaches in the mind of God, so far back has Christ been willing and ready to give himself for our sins. You were not loved for just a bloody moment of sacrifice in history. You have been loved for endless ages in the eternal plan of the Father and the Son to save sinners who trust in him.
2. Peter highlights the worth of our salvation by telling us how the prophets longed to be a part of it. Verse 11: "The prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time [Christ was indicating]."
Christ came to Isaiah seven hundred years before the incarnation and said in Isaiah 53:5-6, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
When the Spirit of Christ told Isaiah to write He said in Isaiah 6:11, “Then Isaiah said, “Lord, how long?” That searching and inquiring and longing is an echo of the indescribable worth of our salvation in the hearts of the holy men of old.
3. The Lord's answer is given in verse 12: "It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you." The Spirit of Christ said to Isaiah, "Be patient, you're not serving yourself or even merely your own generation. You are serving saints hundreds of years from now. They will see in your prophecy of me the proof that I am who I say I am. And its truth will make its infinite value unshakable in their lives. You will not have lived in vain."
4. The next thing Peter says to highlight the value of our salvation is that angels love to look into it. Verse 12 at the end says, "Things into which angels long to look." It means they want to because in a sense they are outsiders to the drama of sin and redemption since they never sinned and they love to watch the great work of God's salvation unfold in history and in the lives of the saints.
Peter's point is this: if angels get excited about our salvation, how much more should we who are the very beneficiaries of that salvation (not just onlookers) love to look into it and be thankful for it and say with Peter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . ."
5. Finally, Peter highlights the value of our salvation by telling us in verse 12 that the Holy Spirit himself sent from heaven has brought us the news of our salvation through the gospel. "These things . . . now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven."
This is what is happening right now. I am preaching to you the gospel—the good news that Christ came into the world to save sinners, with a salvation of tremendous value—far more valuable than anything else you own or know.
But it is not just me that is calling your attention to the worth of Christ and of salvation; it is the Holy Spirit sent from heaven speaking through me. And my prayer is that you will open yourself to believe and to experience an ever-growing gratitude for such a great salvation. Let us pray.