1 Peter 1:10-12 - Historical Perspective

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, (V11) 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. (V12) 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.”

Umm…yeah. Some verses are pretty easy to write about, and other verses are a little more complicated. These three verses make up one discussion detailing a historical perspective of Christ’s act of redemption. I perused about 10 commentaries to get an idea of what Peter is saying, and the following are the main points:

The first thought is the OT prophets wrote about God’s salvation at the behest and direction of the Holy Spirit; as a matter of fact, the gospel comes from the Holy Spirit (v12 - …preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit…), not man. All scripture, from Genesis to Revelation points to Jesus and his act of redemption.

The prophets were very interested in and often spoke of the coming Messiah. They intently searched the scriptures looking for signs that would point to His coming, and they didn’t understand why the victorious Christ would have to suffer. In other words, they didn’t necessarily understand what God was writing through them. On this side of the cross, we understand that God was after forgiveness of sins, not simply the salvation of Israel from her enemies. On the other side of the cross, that was impossible to imagine.

The Spirit revealed to the prophets that the Christ was coming not in their time, but in a time to come (v12 - it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you); specifically, the time of Peter’s original audience. What an amazing privilege for Peter’s audience – to live in the time of Christ!

This salvation is so incredible that even the angels are intensely interested… though they are not fallen and have no need for redemption. Does your salvation still amaze you? Or have you become so used to it, that it has become as normal as brushing your teeth?

And one final thought, verse 11 says that Christ suffered, but glories followed. By joining in Christ’s suffering, glories will also follow for the faithful. That is a great source of hope then, just as it is a great hope for you and me today. Hope is a wonderful thing!