The Salvation Spectacular
I Peter 1:10-12
We all love a spectacular presentation. There is always a spectacular opening to the Olympics. They put a big show on at the halftime of the super bowl. This year: Bruce Springsteen. . .
But, however spectacular man-made spectaculars are, they are like a square dance at a rest home compared to the salvation spectacular we find in 1 Peter 1:10-12.
In I Corinthians 4, verse 9, the Bible says something to the effect that the apostles in Paul's day were a spectacle unto the world and to men and to angels.
The word spectacle is where we get our word spectacular and where we get our word spectacles. The Greek word is the word theatron from which we get the word theater which means something seen. The statement there is that God is working out a spectacular which is going to touch the entire universe.
Peter just can't get away from this subject of salvation. In every conceivable way, salvation is indeed a spectacular. He talked about it in the second verse where he talked about the work of the Trinity in salvation. He says that salvation is based upon the determination of God the Father, the sanctification of God the Holy Spirit, and the substitution or redemption of God the Son.
When you move down through verses 3 through 9, he talks about salvation again and how it brings into our life the three essentials of life. It brings into our life a living hope for the future. It brings an enduring faith which cares for our past, and it also brings a captivating love which has to do with our present. He just keeps coming back to this whole matter of salvation and how spectacular it is.
In these verses we are going to consider today, the Apostle Peter begins to talk about this salvation spectacular, this drama, this theater, which is played out before a universal audience that embraces all of eternity, but it also fills all of time, our past, present and future; and in these verses he tells us the part that you and I have to play in this salvation spectacular.
Follow the thinking as Peter begins to unfold the meaning of the salvation experience in the successive verses as we're going to look at them, building to the great drama of redemption.
I. Salvation Is the Subject of Prophetic Expectation.
First of all he makes it very clear to us in these opening statements that salvation is the subject of prophetic expectation. In these opening verses he talks about the writings of the Old Testament prophets. He says to us in verse 10 that these Old Testament prophets were writing about salvation.
The great theme of the Bible, the great purpose of the Bible, is salvation. It is what God has done to make it possible to keep you and me from going to hell and to go to heaven when we die.
The great work of salvation which comes into our life is the great theme which ties the Old Testament and the New Testament together. Someone has said that the New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed, and the unifying theme of all the Bible is this great theme of salvation.
It is really neat the way the Holy Spirit uses Simon Peter to lay out the work of the prophets in expecting this great plan of salvation.
For instance, he says in verse 11 that the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, was active and was working in the hearts and lives of these Old Testament prophets. In the Old Testament God used these men, Isaiah and Jeremiah and Micah and Jonah and Habakkuk and Zechariah to write down scriptures. In these scriptures were predictions about the future and what God was going to do in order to make salvation possible to mankind.
He says, "The Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." In other words, the Spirit of Christ inspired them and pointed them toward the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that is exactly what the Bible is intended to do.
The purpose of the Old Testament prophets' writings was to point to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit inspired these prophets to write, but not only that, it says in verse 10 that these prophets inquired and searched diligently, searching in verse 11 it says, "What, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ did signify that would happen."
What he's saying is that these prophets themselves studied what they wrote.
Sometimes those prophets would write about things that were going to be fulfilled in the future and they didn't even understand what they themselves wrote. They would search writings of their contemporaries. They would search some of their own writings, puzzled about what the meaning of it all was and puzzled about what they themselves had been given from God to write. The Bible says they were inquiring. They were searching diligently.
Here you have the beautiful combination of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the investigation of the prophets of God, looking forward to the future. God was revealing to them that some great plan was going to be worked out. It was going to be a plan that would reach to the eternities. It was going to be a plan that was going to be acted out on the stage of human history. They began to study their own writings and began to see what was there.
Then it says that they began to write, in verse 11, "Beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." In other words, God revealed to them ahead of time about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ and about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that would follow.
As you listen to the writings of the Old Testament and as you listen to the things that these prophets put down, in their words you will hear the wail of the cross and you will hear the hallelujah of the empty tomb.
W.A. Criswell wrote of the “Scarlet Thread of Redemption” that runs through the Bible. Actually, you will find two threads in everything the OT prophets wrote:
There is the crimson thread of
These Old Testament prophets couldn't figure out how it is that the Savior could suffer and on the other hand how He could also be a King. They wrote about the kingdom of the Messiah and then they wrote about the suffering of the Messiah, and they couldn't put it altogether. It didn't all make sense.
Then it was revealed to them in verse 12 that it would not be unto them that it would come to pass, but that rather it would be for a future day.
Verse 12 says, "Unto whom it was revealed that, not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you."
It's saying that finally these Old Testament prophets got the message that these things would be fulfilled, not in their day, not by anybody that would be living in their time, but that it would be revealed to people of a future day. One day God would send the Savior of the world, and this Savior would come at the right time. He would come at the right place. He would come to the right people. He would come to the right family. These Old Testament saints rejoiced to see the day of Christ.
In John 8, verse 56, the Lord Jesus put it this way, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." God revealed it to them that the Savior was going to come.
All of the Old Testament was intended to predict the coming of the Lord Jesus and to get you and me ready for the coming of the Savior. The Bible says, "To him give all the prophets witness that through faith in his name, whosoever believeth in him should have remission of sins."
II. Salvation Is the Subject of Apostolic Proclamation.
This salvation spectacular is first of all the subject of a prophetic expectation. The second thing these verses unveil to us is salvation is the subject of apostolic proclamation.
In the middle of verse 12 he says that it was revealed unto these prophets that unto us they did "Minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven."
He's saying in this verse that they were living in an unusual day. They were living in a day of grace. They were living in a day of unusual opportunity because in the days of the Apostle Peter and in the day of those early apostles, they were allowed to live in the very time when the coming of Christ was fulfilled. Everything that the prophet said was going to happen did happen.
In Matthew 13, verse 16, Jesus said, "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear." Then in verse 17 He says, "For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."
Jesus was saying that you have been unusually blessed of God. God is letting you see some things that the prophets through the ages have wanted to see. When these apostles began to preach, they preached what had been predicted, being fulfilled before their very eyes.
You and I are also blessed because we have been blessed to live in this age of grace so that you and I have heard this same message that the apostles preached in the first century. Every time I stand up here to preach, I'm preaching the same message that Paul preached 2,000 years ago. Every time I open the Bible and preach, I'm preaching the same message that the saints of God have preached all through the ages and I preach in the power of the same Holy Spirit, and the same Holy Spirit who inspired the prophets to write it, the same Holy Spirit who inspired the apostles to preach it, is the Holy Spirit of God who gives me the message to preach today.
It is the same message that we have been preaching in the Christian church for 2,000 years, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. I am preaching today the good news of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. Every time we preach the cross and every time we sing about the cross, we are declaring the sufferings of Jesus. We never ever should get over what Jesus suffered when He died on the cross for us.
Think about all that Jesus went through physically when He suffered on that cross. Think of all the emotional pain that the Lord Jesus went through when He suffered emotionally on that cross.
Think of the spiritual agony and suffering that our Lord experienced when He died on that cross.
In the third chapter of I Peter, verse 18, it says, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." The statement means that the sufferings of Jesus Christ were for sins. When Jesus suffered like He did on the cross, He was suffering for sin. He was paying the price for sin.
In the second chapter, verse 21, it says, "For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us." He suffered for sins. He suffered for us. Jesus, when He died on the cross, was suffering for your sins and for mine.
It ought to break our hearts when we think about what Jesus went through for our sins. When I think about the mistakes and the sins that I have committed, it ought to break my heart; and it ought to break your heart when you think about your sins and all of the things that you and I have done that added to the load of Jesus Christ on the cross of
He not only says the sufferings of Christ but the glory that should follow. In the Old Testament and the message that you and I preach today, there's not only the suffering of the crucifixion, but there is also the glory of the resurrection. When Jesus Christ died and He was buried and for three days and three nights He was in the tomb, the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ did not stay in that tomb.
But on the third day, the Bible says that Christ Jesus rose again from the dead and the announcement came from the angels, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"
The good news of the gospel is that Jesus suffered on the cross for our sins, but then came glory three days later out of the tomb in victorious resurrection, through the clouds in glorious ascension, to the throne in magnificent exultation and into the hearts of lost people to save them in marvelous salvation. That's the glories that should follow.
I get to preach that every Sunday and you get to hear that and you get to receive that. Our message of the salvation spectacular is the subject of prophetic expectation. It is the subject of apostolic and current proclamation.
III. Salvation Is the Subject of Angelic Fascination.
Now we're getting ready for the drama to begin. Salvation is the subject of angelic fascination.
At the end of verse 12 it says, "Which things (salvation) the angels desire to look into." Isn't that an amazing statement in the Bible? Did you know that was in the Bible? "Which things (the things of salvation) the angels desire to look into."
The Bible teaches that there are angels. There are spirit beings. You don't see them unless the Lord chooses to manifest them visible to the human eye. But the Bible tells us that there are myriads and myriads of angels. The Bible says that these angels desire to look into the things of salvation.
The word "look into" is an interesting word. It's the same word that was used in John 20 when Peter and John had heard the news about the resurrection of the Lord and they took off running to the tomb. I don't know if Peter was just backslidden and couldn't run as fast or if he was overweight, but John beat him to the tomb; and the Bible says that when John got to the tomb, he didn't go in.
The Bible says that he looked into the tomb. It's the same word that is used here in I Peter. Later on in that same scene the Bible says that Mary Magdalene looked into the tomb to see where the Lord Jesus Christ had been. It is the same word that is used in I Peter. "Which things the angels desire to look into." It means to stoop down and examine.
It's used another time too. In James 1 that same word is used significantly in another place. In verse 25 it says, "But whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth in it, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
It's the same word and it's a picture of what you and I ought to do on a daily basis. The perfect law of liberty is God's precious Word. The Bible says that you and I are to look into it, that is, we are to stoop. We are to humble ourselves before God's Word and we are to examine it. We are to look into it.
In that blessed book we see the Lord Jesus Christ; and as we look into the Word and become a doer of the Word, we become more like the Lord Jesus Christ. "Which things the angels desire to look into."
According to the Bible, the angels do not share salvation but they study it. The angels do not receive salvation, but they rejoice when people receive salvation. So salvation is the subject of angelic fascination. We are made a spectacle. We are made a theater. We are made a spectacular to the world; the Bible says to men, and then the Bible says to angels.
We do know that the angels were present in creation. And that they rejoiced in creation. In the book of Job there is an interesting verse.
In chapter 38, verse 7, it talks about the creation of the universe and then it says, "When the morning stars," that's generally believed to be a reference to the angels, "sang together, and all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?"
The picture evidently is when God created this universe, the morning stars sang and the angels of God shouted for joy when they saw the great creation work of God and they saw the manifestation of the mighty power of God in creation.
Soon the angels fell silence because sin entered into God's creation. Man sinned and brought sin into God's creation and spoiled God's creation. It is time for the salvation spectacular to begin.
Imagine for a moment that God the Father called a conference of the angels in glory. Can you see those angels as they marched into heaven's conference room that day?
All of the angels are there, Gabriel and Michael and of all the other archangels and the cherubim and the seraphim, and the principalities and the powers, all of the myriads of them come marching into heaven's celestial conference room.
The Heavenly Father says to the angels, "My creation has fallen into sin. There must be some way of saving My creation. There must be some way of redeeming My fallen humanity.
Then God the Father says, "I want you to gather around the celestial windows and look. The great salvation spectacular is getting ready to begin." All of the heavens rush to heaven's windows and with inquisitive eyes they begin to look down as the great salvation spectacular is going to unfold on this earth.
They look at all the Old Testament prophecies that they made about the coming of the plan of salvation into the earth. They see all of the sacrifices that were made, pictures ahead of time of the sacrifice that would be made for the sins of the world. The angels are absolutely dumbfounded as they see all of this taking place.
The look into the Holy of Holies and they see a mercy seat, a golden slab. They see two cherubim, images of some of them, looking over that mercy seat. They follow those prophecies of the Old Testament, and they are absolutely astonished at what they are seeing.
Then they move into the New Testament era. God the Father says to one of His archangels, Gabriel, "Gabriel, I want you to go down to a little village names
There's a little virgin girl down there named Mary." So the angel Gabriel comes down to
Mary said, "Be it unto me, even unto thy handmaid." Gabriel flies back to heaven and the angels are waiting there and he shouts to heaven, "She has accepted," and he looks over at heavens orchestra and he says, "You've got nine months to get in tune. We're going to have a baby born in nine months."
Nine months later, all of heaven's orchestra and music and assemble angels come flying down to a hill outside of
Then you see the life of the Lord Jesus Christ beginning to unfold before them and all of the things the prophets had prophesied begin to come before the angels and the angels are looking into all of this. There is a garden, and there they see this Jesus and drops of blood are pouring from Jesus and they look at one another with puzzled faces. Has something gone wrong in God's salvation plan?
Then there is a cross, and they really do wonder what's going on there. There are twelve legions of angels with swords drawn ready to charge the hill of Golgotha and deliver the Son of God.
"He could have called ten thousand angels to redeem the world and set Him free. He could have called ten thousand angels but He died alone for you and me."
In a little while they put the Son of God into a tomb and it is silent before the angels in glory. For three days and three nights it is silent in glory. Then on that third morning the Lord says to an angel, "Earthquake angel, go down to that tomb." The earthquake angel comes down to that tomb, and when the angels comes he rolls the stone away with a mighty earthquake and Jesus Christ comes out of that tomb alive forevermore!
Several days later two angels escort Him from the
Did you know that the angels go to church? You may be sitting by an angel right now. You look over and say, "No, I don't think that's an angel!" But angels come to church. There's a verse in I Corinthians 11, verse 10, that says that the woman ought to have power on her head because of the angels. Paraphrasing that, you ought to be very careful how you dress. You don't want to shock the angels when you come to church!
In Ephesians 3, verse 10, it says, "Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." He's saying that God plays out this whole salvation story, this whole salvation drama on the stage of His church, and I imagine it goes something like this.
On a Sunday morning a boy named Billy has decided that he will come to church. Some people from the
You did know you have guardian angels. Jesus put it this way. He said in Matthew 18, verse 10, "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, who is in heaven."
Billy's got an angel that brings him into the house of God. They're singing in the church, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." The angels are singing along. It gives a heavenly flavor to the music. You can tell when the angels are singing. It gets a little heavenly in the building.
