Probably few of us have never at some point in our lives entertained the notion of time travel. In fact, given the number of books and movies on this subject, it would seem quite the opposite.
Will we ever be able to travel through time? Some of us have ideas about where we would go, what era of history. Some would like to travel into the future and others wish to back into time, maybe wishing to correct earlier mistakes of world history or earlier mistakes of their personal history.
My younger son Nicholas used to be pretty introverted. He just enjoyed keeping to himself and doing his own thing. But in later years he had grown to regret his earlier, introverted ways. And so one day, in a moment of philosophical reflection, Nicholas said, “I wish I could go back in time and slap my young self!” Maybe you can relate to that.
Peter says in these verses that that there were Old Testament prophets of the past who looked into the future. And as they prophesied about events that would come, we get the sense that they longed to see the fulfillment of the things they proclaimed, namely the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of Christ and His work on the cross to accomplish our salvation.
The Old Testament prophets lived in the era before Christ–BC. They proclaimed prophecies about the coming of Christ and the years of Christ–AD; anno domini, the year of the Lord.
While these two designations (BC, AD) are being replaced with the politically correct BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era), most of us continue to use BC and AD to mark that pivotal moment in time (Christ’s advent and resurrection) that separates the two eras.
While many may wish to travel back in time–back to the BC era–Peter indicates to us in 1 Peter 1:10-12 that it is far better for us to be living in this present era. He would say: “AD is much better than BC!”
Before we study these verses in the first chapter of Peter’s first letter, let’s recall the context from previous posts:
Peter has been writing about salvation since as far back as verse 3 where he said that God, according to His abundant mercy, has “begotten us again to a living hope.” God has given us new life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw last time that Peter teaches us to remember our salvation when we go through difficult and dark days. When you struggle, remember your salvation. Remember that you are a pilgrim, sojourning on through this temporary land; this land is not your final destination.
So when you struggle, remember your salvation. If you will remember your salvation when the going gets tough then you can “Rejoice AND Suffer” at the same time.
This remains Peter’s point in the following verses; it’s just that he expounds a bit more on the greatness of our salvation. We can get through anything when we think about the amazing greatness of our salvation. And we should be marveling at our salvation not just when the going gets tough, but frequently throughout each and every day.
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, (verse 10)
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow (verse 11)
Peter is writing about Old Testament prophets, prophets living several hundred years before Christ. He says that these folks in the Old Testament were prophesying by way of–verse 11–“the Spirit of Christ who was in them.” Christ who was in them even before the incarnation.
Remember that the Son of God has always been. There’s never been a time the Son was not. The Second Person of the Trinity has always been. By way of the Holy Spirit, the pre-existent Christ was within the Old Testament prophets indicating when He would come to do His work of salvation upon the cross.
The Son of God spoke through prophets such as Isaiah in Isaiah 53 who prophesied of the sufferings of Christ when he wrote in Isaiah 53:5, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Isaiah was writing, says Peter in verse 10, “of this salvation.” He was prophesying–last part of verse 10–“of the grace that would come to you” through the work of Christ.
When David was prophesying in Psalm 22, he was also foretelling of the grace that would come to us through the sufferings of Christ. A thousand years before Christ, David is prophesying in Psalm 22 and, speaking for Christ at His crucifixion, says in Psalm 22:16, “They pierced My hands and My feet.”
This is a remarkable prophecy for at least two reasons: first not only was it prophesied 1,000 years before Christ, but secondly, it was prophesied hundreds of years before crucifixion had even been invented as a means of execution.
And again, Peter’s point is that we who live in the AD world are better off than those who lived in the BC world. We Christians are blessed to be living in a time when the predictions of these prophets have come to pass.
It’s very much like what Jesus said to His disciples after telling the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. He said to them in Matthew 13:16-17, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Peter is echoing Jesus’ thoughts: AD is better than BC.
To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. (verse 12)
“To them (the prophets) it was revealed that, not to themselves (BC) but to us (AD) they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.”
In other words, the prophets were talking about this great salvation that would come through the sufferings of Christ. These prophets were reporting things that would come not to themselves in the BC era, but to us in the AD era.
Now, we need to pause for a moment and remember that people living in both eras are saved the same way. People living during the times of the Old Testament are saved the same way people are saved in the New Testament. All are saved through faith in the redemptive work of Christ upon the cross.
Old Testament believers looked forward to the Messiah who would come; we by looking back to the cross look back to the Messiah who has come. The difference, of course, is that we know His name to be Jesus of Nazareth. The Old Testament prophets didn’t know the coming Messiah by name as do we today.
These prophets of the Old Testament–verse 10–“inquired and searched carefully” as they “prophesied of the grace that would come to you.” They–verse 11–“searched (the) manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating.”
In essence, the prophets marveled, “I wonder who the Messiah will be?! I wonder when, exactly, He will come?!”
When our family was on vacation a few summers ago, we bought a jigsaw puzzle of some one thousand pieces. We had it on a table where we were staying and each day one or more of us would sit down for a few minutes and locate a piece and fit it into the other pieces. The puzzle remained on the table for several days as we came and went.
I felt sure we’d get the whole thing put together before we checked out at the end of our stay, but it remained unfinished. There was this puzzle, better than halfway put together, but unfinished.
That’s the way it was for the prophets of the Old Testament; BC. These prophets each prophesied about the coming of Christ. Each time they prophesied about the future, they were “fitting a piece into the jigsaw puzzle.”
But at the end of their days, the puzzle remained unfinished. They didn’t know the name of their Messiah. They didn’t know of His teachings, and so forth. But when we get into the New Testament, the pieces are now all fitted together and the picture is complete: the Messiah is Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
These are things, Peter says at the end of verse 12, “things which angels desire to look into.” These things about our salvation in Christ cause the angels to scratch their heads in wonder and amazement as they gaze upon the splendor and the riches of human redemption.
This brings us to two questions to consider by way of application:
- Do I Treasure My Salvation?
- Do I Treasure The Scriptures?
Take some time to think about these two questions and we’ll return to them in tomorrow’s post.
What About You?
- How would you answer a question about how people living before Christ were saved?
- Why do you think angels “desire to look into” the things prophesied about Christian salvation?
- Consider taking a few moments right now to reflect upon whether you really treasure both your salvation and the Scriptures.
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