The Past Revelation
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Over the past two weeks we looked at the lively hope we have in Jesus. We saw the awesome future inheritance we have to look forward to, and how it should bring us a present joy. We saw how our love for and hope in Christ should make us endure through trials so that we will be rewarded with praise, honor, and glory.
This week, we’re going to see one more reason to rejoice in the inheritance we have.
3. The Past Revelation (1:10–12)
As Christians, we are standing on the shoulders of giants. Our salvation is nothing new, but something that was prophesied in Genesis 3 and expounded upon for some 4,000 years.
i. The Old Testament prophets did not understand their own statements concerning Christ. (1:10–11, Daniel 12:8–9, Acts 2:29–31, Isaiah 53:1–9, Psalm 22:1–21, 41:7–9, 69:19–21; Psalm 2, 110)
First, we see “of which salvation.” That’s referring back to verse 9. So this salvation Peter speaks of is not just being saved from hell, but the whole process of being declared righteous before God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and glorified to be like Jesus. It is the wondrous mystery of being a child of God and a joint-heir with Christ.
The next statement is interesting, because we have next to no record of this within the actual writings of the prophets. They almost always spoke with full confidence and without hesitation and did not question the things they were told to speak. But this verse reveals how, even as they prophesied of the coming Messiah and the new age of the world that would follow, they did not understand when or exactly how their words would be fulfilled. They searched “what, or what manner of time” they would come to pass. Their response was probably something like Daniel’s:
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
David also, because of God’s promise that someone in his lineage would reign forever, prophesied of Jesus.
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
It doesn’t seem that David knew all the details of Christ’s death, resurrection, and glorification, and yet it appears several times in the psalms. He saw the shadow but not the real image.
In this passage are three things that they predicted. These are “the grace that should come unto you,” “the sufferings of Christ,” and “the glory that should follow.” Let’s take a minute to look at some of these prophecies.
“The grace that should come unto you”
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
To Old Testament believers, this was huge. Can you imagine trying to keep the law of Moses without the Holy Spirit inside of you, helping you? We can’t even keep it with the Holy Spirit.
“The sufferings of Christ”
He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; 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 hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: For the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his death; Because he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
Many bulls have compassed me: Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, As a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; It is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; And thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: They pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: They look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, And cast lots upon my vesture.
All that hate me whisper together against me: Against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, Which did eat of my bread, Hath lifted up his heel against me.
They gave me also gall for my meat; And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
These kinds of prophecies were the ones most of Israel missed. It must have confused the prophets as well, as they were not able to see the gap between Jesus’ suffering and physical ruling of the world.
“And the glory that should follow”
I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, And I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; For he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the strong; Because he hath poured out his soul unto death: And he was numbered with the transgressors; And he bare the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Information about Jesus to the prophets was like a song you can’t quite remember. They saw little glimpses of His suffering and glorification and caught hints of the inward renewal it would bring and were consumed with desire to be part of it and curiosity for when it would happen.
ii. God has revealed to New Testament Christians the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. (1:12a, Matthew 13:15–17, Romans 15:4; Hebrews 12:1–2, Revelation 19:11–21)
There are two ways of taking this next phrase, depending on what exactly was revealed to the prophets. “It” could refer to the Spirit testifying beforehand (v. 11) or that they did not minister to themselves. But either way, they definitely knew both things. And now that we live in the New Testament age, we are among those that the prophets minister to. We can see the fulfillment of many things, or at least greater revelation about their eventual fulfillment.
For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 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.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Not all prophecies have come to pass, but now we have passages like Revelation 19 to show us how they will happen.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
I could go to many more passages, but hopefully this is enough to make you appreciate the heritage our faith is built upon and also the present blessings we have in Christ that many greater believers did not have.
Our immense privileges are thus brought forth by contrast with theirs, notwithstanding that they had the great honor of Christ’s Spirit speaking in them; and this, as an incentive to still greater earnestness on our part than even they manifested
The faithful men of old, as Hebrews 11 says, subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, remained steadfast during torture, and even died for God. And they never lived to see the fulfillment of their prophecies. They never lived to see Jesus’ birth. Yet they had such faith that they lived as if they had already received the promises. How much more should we, having no more righteousness but greater privileges than them, be faithful when opposition comes?
Another interesting thing to note is how these prophecies were made known to the Christians Peter writes to. They were “reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.”
First, we see that the Gospel is what makes these mysterious things clear. Not only does it shine a light on man’s deeds, but it shines a light on all previous Scripture. If you’ve ever studied Bible interpretation, you know that the central principle is looking at Scripture Christologically—that is, looking for revelations of Jesus in everything. So now, when we look at the Tabernacle described in Exodus, we see Jesus. When we read about the animal sacrifices, we see Jesus. When we read a weird story in Genesis or Judges, we see Jesus. The Bible is all about Jesus, and with the light of the Gospel, we can see that.
iii. Even the angels desire to study the things of salvation. (1:12b)
The word for “desire” isn’t just a casual or halfhearted want, but an intense desire. It’s a longing. The same word is other contexts is translated lusting or coveting. Likewise, “look into” means stooping or bending to get a closer look at something.
Evidently, even the angels looked with wonder and curiosity at God’s promises of a Redeemer. Their desire was probably also that they might be a part of this salvation. The angels got no redemption. There was no reconciliation for the angels who sinned. So, naturally, as they saw this promise foreshadowed and then revealed, it would have been a thing of wonder for them.
B. The New Birth’s Holiness (1:13–2:10)
Having written about the awesome foundation of his audience’s faith, Peter then began to move toward the principle topic of the letter. This next section is not all doctrine or all practical. It is an interweaving of doctrine and practice, like a Venn diagram. Peter moves back and forth between exhortations to holiness and reasons for holiness.
1. The Preparation (1:13–16)
i. Because of a precious inheritance, Christians should remain faithful to the end. (1:13, 1 Timothy 4:8–11, Revelation 1:7)
The first thing of note is the word “wherefore.” This is calling back to everything Peter has said since v. 3. Because of God’s abundant mercy, because he begat them again, because they have a lively hope and an incorruptible, undefiled, and never fading inheritance, because they are kept by the power of God, because they are being refined by trials, because God will praise that refined faith, and because things are revealed to them that the prophets and angels did not understand; Peter exhorts them, and us, to prepare for a fight.
Seeing that the prophets ministered unto you in these high Gospel privileges which they did not themselves fully share in, though “searching” into them, and seeing that even angels “desire to look into” them, how earnest you ought to be and watchful in respect to them!
This should be our response to the inheritance we have. It should not be to just be happy because of it and then go on our merry way. It should stir us to action.
You may know that girding up the loins was someone pulling up the hem of their robe and tucking it into their belt so they could move their legs more freely. It was done by workers, runners, wrestlers, warriors, or anyone who would be engaging in a lot of movement. Blood was not shed, prophecies were not given so they could be frivolous and carefree.
Girding up the loins of the mind means that we should stand up straight, roll up our sleeves, and focus on the task ahead. What that task is we will examine next week, but in a word, it is holiness.
"Sober” does, like in English, refer to not being drunk. But it also, like in English, means that you have your head in the game. You’re alert, watchful, and clear-headed.
“Hope to the end” really means “remain faithful.” Hope in the Bible is expectation, and in this case, the expectation of our bodies being redeemed. As another passage says, “Every many that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.” With the expectation of our bodies being made like Christ’s someday, we should keep living for God and keep pursing sanctification even as we encounter persecution.
For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
“The end” is primarily referring to the finished work of God in His children. The end is when we are complete. It also means the end of God’s plan for the earth in general.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.