Our Great Salvation
I Peter 1:10-12
Introduction: It was over a decade ago, so perhaps you
have forgotten the story. A cave in at the San Jose’ copper mine in northern
Chile on August 5, 2010 trapped 33 miners a half mile underground. For two
weeks it was feared they were dead. But they had made it to an emergency
“refuge” room, a reinforced safety area supplied with some survival necessities
including food and water. It would take over two months for them to be
rescued... Three different plans were initially worked side by side to save the
men. Finally, after over two months, a
narrow shaft was drilled down to them, and one by one they were brought up in a
small rescue capsule. Each emerged to
the television cameras and cheers of the crowds. That was one of the greatest
mine rescues in history. It brought joy to the miners, their families, and to
many around the world who followed the story. However, even that was not the
greatest rescue plan ever accomplished. The greatest rescue story in human
history was carried out long before, nearly 2000 years earlier, on a hill just
outside the city walls of Jerusalem. In
that case there was only one plan, no backup plan, no plan “B.” There was only
one way, and it would make possible the rescue of not only thirty people, but of
millions through the ages. It was a plan devised in the council of the Triune
God in eternity past, carried out in the incarnation, death, and resurrection
of Jesus, and applied to the hearts of humans throughout the ages by grace
through faith.
Today is week five of our
series Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World, and we look at the
foundation of the hope and joy with which pilgrims are able to live in this
fallen world: Our Great Salvation. In these opening verses, Peter has already
twice mentioned the salvation that God has provided for all who believe. We
read in 1 Pet 1:5, that believers, “…by God's power are being guarded
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” In
verses 8-9, immediately before today’s text, he had spoken of the
inexpressible, glorious joy that our salvation brings. The sure hope that our
future is certain is surely the greatest reason for rejoicing as we live in
this fallen world.
The BIG Idea: God has planned and carried out an amazing rescue
mission, doing for us what we could not possibly do for ourselves, sending the
Son to die as our substitute, paying for our sins.
I. Salvation
by grace was Predicted by the
prophets (10). Even they anticipated that it could
only be by grace through faith. God’s rescue plan was woven into the Old Testament (10).
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets
who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and
inquired carefully, 11inquiring what person or time the Spirit of
Christ in them was indicating...
Throughout
the Old Testament (OT) God had revealed the hope of a coming Rescuer. The prophets were God’s
spokesmen to his people ages before the coming of Christ (Heb 1:1). In the OT period
their primarily mission was to call the people to walk in obedience to God and
to remind them that unfaithfulness would bring God’s chastening on the nation. History
revealed the need for a Rescuer. Moses and Joshua couldn’t keep the people from
idolatry and unbelief. The Judges couldn’t do it, even the best of the human
kings fell short. The prophets spoke of a Coming Savior. Along with urging the
people to faith and obedience, the prophets also spoke about the
future. They prophesied of imminent disaster and exile, but they also looked far ahead
and gave hope that a remnant would return to the land. Israel was warned they would
be unfaithful and incur God’s chastening. But God is faithful, He keeps His promises, and
in the fullness of time He would send forth His Son, the promised One who would
be a Rescuer.
But notice
this great salvation must be personally applied. Not everyone is going
to heaven! In fact, Jesus made it clear that it is a small minority of
humanity that are finally saved. He said, “Broad is the way that
leads to destruction, and many are going that way. Narrow is the way that leads
to life, and few there are that find it.”
Remember the tower of Babel? The people thought they could build a tower
to heaven, that they could come to God on their own terms, by their own effort.
That is what many people imagine today. Notice that Peter tells us that the
prophets prophesied about the “grace”
that would be yours. Paul spoke of it in his letters as well, for example
in Ephesians 2:8,9...
“For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God. Not as a
result of works, that no man may boast...”
“Grace” is
contrasted with “works.” Grace
is receiving what we don’t deserve. We don’t make ourselves good enough and then
come to Christ. We can’t be good enough. So, we turn to Him, acknowledging our
weakness, confessing our sin. We trust Him, and we entrust ourselves to Him. And
like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, God is waiting, watching,
and He runs out to meet us. That is grace! God has planned and carried out an
unimaginable rescue mission, doing for us what we could not possibly do for
ourselves, sending the Son to die as our substitute, paying for our sins. That salvation was predicted by the prophets, and...
II.
Salvation would be Provided by a
Righteous Substitute (11). …A Suffering
Servant who would enter history as the Lamb of God, He would be our substitute.
11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ
in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the
subsequent glories...
The
prophets spoke of a suffering servant. We read of a Righteous Sufferer in the Psalms,
of sacrifices in the Law, even of substitutes. In Genesis 22 God told Abraham
to take the son of his old age, Isaac, the son of promise, the heir, to Mount
Moriah, and to offer him as a burnt offering. It was a test for Abraham to be
sure, and just as he raised his hand, ready to plunge the knife into his son,
God intervened. And when they turned there was a ram caught in the thicket. God
Himself had provided the sacrifice for the burnt offering. Abraham offered the
ram instead of his son. 2000 years later another Son would carry
the wood on which he would be sacrificed up a hill outside Jerusalem, but this
time it was shaped like a cross, and there would be no intervention... God gave His only Son... The Son
was also the Lamb. We see the parallels more clearly than Moses possibly could
have as he wrote down the stories of the patriarchs. The “thread of redemption”
was there, and the prophets searched diligently to understand the full import
of their own words. Perhaps nowhere does the picture of a figure who would save
us from our sins become so explicit as it did with the suffering Servant in
Isaiah 52:13-53:12. The ESV reads...
52:13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be
high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you- his appearance was so
marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of
mankind- 15 so shall he
sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that
which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they
understand.
53:1Who has believed what they heard from us? And to
whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a
root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not. 4
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was
crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us
peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 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. 7 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened
not his mouth. 8 By
oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the
transgression of my people? 9
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he
has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his
offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his
hand. 11 Out of the anguish
of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous
one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their
iniquities. 12 Therefore I
will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the
transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the
transgressors.
It’s a long quotation, but such a beautiful “pre”-telling
of the work of Jesus, innocent yet rejected, sinless, yet bearing the sins of
many. Isaiah wrote this 700 years
before Jesus was born! But God in
his grace made it known to the prophet, so that he could write it down and over
the centuries the people could wait for the coming of this Servant, and puzzle
over how it could be that He would bear the sins of many. It was an unimaginable plan. It revealed indescribable love. Yet before
the universe was created, God had it all laid out. He had designed it all. For
us. God has planned and carried out an amazing rescue mission, in our helpless
and hopeless situation, He sent the Son to redeem us, to die as our substitute,
paying for our sins. That Great Salvation was predicted by the prophets, and in the fulness of time, it was provided by the Son, in his death and resurrection. Finally...
III.
Salvation Anticipated by angels and Proclaimed by men (in the fullness of time): The prophets looked ahead to the Coming One –
“How long O Lord?” The apostles
proclaimed, “The Messiah, the Deliverer for whom we have been so long waiting,
has come. He is Jesus.” Read verse 12,
12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not
themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you
through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent
from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
The
church is tasked with preaching the Good News to the world: The Rescuer has
come! Jesus will save all who believe. Peter could tell his readers that
this salvation, this “rescue plan” which was preached to them, was predicted by
the prophets and preached by the apostles, the “Gospel” of Christ, is the
message that saves, and it’s the message that has been entrusted to us. If we
have believed that message and received Him, God is not simply a part of our
life, He is the Author of Life. Believers should live in the light of the Gospel, they should live a Gospel-Centered life.
This Good News changes everything for those who believe!
If only we can grasp the magnitude of what God has done for us, we will be changed! Perhaps
you’ve heard the story of the old preacher who was visiting a church one Sunday
evening, and the pastor of the church told the congregation that the old man was
a dear childhood friend. He asked the older visitor if he would like to share a
greeting, or whatever was on his heart, with the congregation. The elderly minister stepped up to the pulpit
and began to speak. He told a story...
A father, his son and a friend of the son were sailing
off the pacific coast. Suddenly a fast approaching storm over took them and
blocked any way of them getting to shore. The storm worsened and the waves were
so high that even though the father was an experienced sailor he could not keep
the boat upright and it capsized.
The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact
with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service started,
looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued...
Both boys had been thrown away from the boat. Grabbing
a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his
life: to which boy would he throw the other end of the lifeline? He had only
seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and
he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of the decision could not
be matched by the torrent of the waves. As the father yelled out, “I love you
son!” he threw the line to his son’s friend. By the time he had pulled the
friend back to the capsized boat his son had disappeared beneath the raging
swells into the blackness. His body was never recovered.
By this time the two teenagers were leaning forward in
their seats, hanging on every word as the old man spoke. He continued,
The Father knew
his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought
of the son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he
sacrificed his son to save his son’s friend.
With that the old man sat down in his chair and the
room grew silent. The pastor walked
slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief message. Within minutes of the service ending the two
teens walked up to the old man. Politely one of them said,
“That
was a nice story, but I don’t think it was realistic for a father to give up
his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”
“Well,
you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied as he glanced down at his
worn Bible. “It sure isn’t realistic, is
it? But I am standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of
what it must have been like for God to give up His only Son for me. You see...
I was the father, and your pastor was my son’s friend.”
His experience
was a living gospel illustration. But if you know Jesus, your story is also a
witness to the Gospel. You’ve been rescued by the Father, who spared not His
own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. That is a rescue plan that we would
not have imagined, but it was in the mind of God from before the creation of
the world. And you were a part of God's plan!
Even
angels “long to look...” The word
here translated “look” is not a common NT word. It is also used of describing the first witnesses of the
resurrection stooping down and looking with awe into the tomb (Lk 24:12; Jn 20:5,11).
The disciples stooped down, and looked intently, with wonder, into the empty tomb,
they saw the grave clothes, they questioned in their minds and hearts what this
could mean. Our salvation is that amazing, even to the angels of heaven!
Edmund Clowney eloquently said that in
our text Peter pictures “...angels
peering, as it were, over the battlements of heaven to behold what God has done
in Jesus Christ” (Clowney, The Message of I Peter).
How much did the angels understand, and when? The Bible doesn’t tell us.
Peter here pictures angels looking searchingly, inquisitively, with longing and
wonder, at God’s astounding rescue plan. Such is the Father’s love for us, love
beyond all measure!
What is God
saying to me in this passage? God planned and carried out an amazing rescue,
sending the Son to die as our substitute, paying for our sins so that by faith,
we could be reconciled to God.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Are you overwhelmed by the truth of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ? Could it be that you are here today and have not yet received the new life God is offering you in Jesus? If so, it is not by chance. This is a divine appointment. God planned this moment in your life. You are one of those miners trapped under a half mile of solid rock. God has devised a rescue plan, a way out of the darkness and into the light. You are the Son’s friend in the stormy sea, and the Father has sacrificed his Son and thrown you a lifeline, will you take it? Faith is the hand of a beggar, reaching out to receive the gift of a King. Take the lifeline! Unbelief turns away, “It’s not that far to land,” or “I can dig myself out...” Really? He gave his Son for you! Take hold of the lifeline! The message is as simple as it is astounding: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him...” (I John 4:9). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life...” (John 3:16). Paul said, “Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved...” You can do that now, where you sit. What must you do to be saved? “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved...” (Acts 16:31).
And
believer, could it be that you have been trying to compartmentalize your faith,
keeping God off in a corner, thinking, “I’ll give God my Sunday morning, but
what does that have to do with the rest of the week?” You know better. The
time has come to stand up and say, “I
have decided to follow Jesus...” There is no call for half-hearted
Christianity in the Bible. Jesus said count the cost. “Take up your cross and follow me...”
Recognizing
our need and putting our trust in Jesus is the biggest decision any of us will
ever make. You are saying, “I am His, and He is my Savior and Lord.” So, we
trust Him, and we entrust ourselves to Him. If this is true, and it is, it also
means we should choose to live in the light of the Gospel. Forgiving,
because we have been forgiven. Loving one another, because He has loved us, and
loving our neighbor, even though they might not love us back. We can be
gracious, because we have been shown grace.
And he has entrusted a message, the Good News, to us. Who are the people
in your life who need to hear? Throw out
a lifeline by holding forth the Word of Life!
AMEN.
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