The Foretelling of the New Birth - 1 Peter 1:10-12

Introduction

We are in week 4 of 1 Peter, and so far it has been a rich journey and I hope that it will continue to be so as we work our way through verse 10 through 12 of chapter 1 tonight.

As we have seen, Peter’s primary theme here is living and suffering for the hope of glory. What Peter is doing through this epistle is multi-layered. On the first layer, he is really walking his readers through the Christian life, presenting a kind of theological chronology of the Christian life.

He begins in verse 3 by speaking of the new birth, and spends the rest of chapter 1 dealing with the implications and theology of the new birth. Then, with the assumption that we sufficiently understand ourselves as spiritual newborns, he transitions directly into the dynamics of growth in salvation in 2:2, or what we might call sanctification, and he anchors that sanctification in the word of God. He continues through chapter 2 using words like being built up, and then describes the Godly character of the growing, built-up Christian, and then by the time he gets to chapter 4, he speaks of just how near the end of all things is, and then in chapter 5, he addresses those who were babies in chapter 1 as elders in chapter 5. So on one level we see Peter painting a picture of the Christian life for us in all it’s fullness.

On another level, Peter is writing with the intent to encourage scattered Christians in their walk with the Lord, and this theme is especially apparent here in this opening chapter.

So as we consider these verses tonight I would encourage you to hear Peter as if he is your pastor, encouraging you as a new Christian or reminding you as a mature Christian of all the benefits that come to those who have been born again, benefits that aid us in holding fast to the gracious covenant God has made with us despite life’s fiery trials and despite the growing pains that are necessary for us to move from babies to elders in our Christian maturity.

Up to this point, by way of reminder, Peter kicked off his epistle by declaring the new birth as a matter of fact. Peter further, back in verse 5, draws an equivalence between the state of being born again and the state of salvation. For Peter, the two are synonymous and equal, but they do differ in one key way: being born again is something that took place in the past, salvation is something yet to be looked forward to, as we see in verse 5 - salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. To be born again is be brought into the covenant promise of eschatological salvation - in other words, if you are in Christ by the new birth now, you will attain to the living hope, to the imperishable, unfading, undefiled inheritance - no questions, no comments, no concerns.

In 3-5 Peter thus positions the new birth as the gateway to the hope of glory. In 6-9, the new birth is also the gateway to the joy of suffering. This is an ironic twist for Peter, but one that he wants to make sure we are fully aware of. Only because of the new birth and it’s associated final salvation can we have the joy to endure trials and tribulations in this life, and in fact Peter can concur with James that suffering trials in this life is a joyful occasion not because of the trials themselves but because the trials are what validates, verifies, and confirms our faith, with the final outcome of salvation.

So Peter presents here a kind of future view of the new birth, a present view of the new birth, and now before us this even is a past view of the new birth. In other words, we’ve seen how the new birth lays the groundwork for future glory. We’ve seen how the new birth lays the foundation for our present joy. And now we will see that the new birth was the object of past prophecy.

For Peter this truth is immensely encouraging, and he presents it in such a way that the hearts of these scattered believers cannot help but well up with joy, knowing that what the prophets longed for, they have received in fullness. And that overflowing joy ought to be our response as well, for we also have received in fullness that which the prophets saw and longed for. So with that in mind, let’s work our way through the text.

As to this salvation

Peter begins by connecting his next idea with the previous two sections. This word soterias in the Greek has already occurred twice for Peter. In the first section, in verse 5, Peter uses it to refer to the eschatological hope of bodily resurrection. While he doesn’t use the phrase “salvation of your bodies,” we can infer that it is intended for two reasons:

In the near context, he has just spoken of the confirmation our future hope being the resurrection of Christ. Progressing logically, if our hope is secured by the resurrection of Christ, and is uniquely and intimately bound up with that resurrection, it stands to reason that we also will receive that resurrection. This would also be confirmed by other teaching in the New Testament, that as Christ rose, so we will rise.

Peter parallels the salvation of verse 5 with the salvation of verse 9, and there he explicitly says “the salvation of your souls,” thus drawing our minds to the inference that previously he was referring to the salvation of your bodies.

So verse 5 is dealing with bodily salvation, and he is the clear that that hope is future, it is eschatological, in other words we do not necessarily experience that physical renewal now. This is why, just as a sidenote, any preacher who you see on TV claiming to be able to heal people and provide bodily salvation to people doesn’t ultimately understand the doctrine of the resurrection or Peter’s teaching here or even the gospel itself. But that’s a conversation for another time.

Before Peter now is the salvation from the preceding verse, verse 9, which he calls “the salvation of your souls.” What does this salvation look like? He describes it in verse 8: loving Christ, trusting Christ, rejoicing in Christ, glorying in Christ.

We have there a simple test of salvation. Oftentimes we get caught up, wondering about our salvation and our assurance. How can I know I’m saved? Ask this: Do I love Christ? Do I trust Christ? Do I rejoice in Christ? Do I glory in Christ? If you can answer those questions yes, you’ve captured experientially what it means to have faith in Christ, and the outcome of that faith is soul-salvation.

So it is this loving, trusting, rejoicing, glorying, soul-salvation that Peter wants to dig further into here, and he specifically wants to dig into the relationship that the prophets of the Old Testament had to this salvation.

The prophets

So what does Peter mean by the prophets? I quick lexical search will reveal that by and large in the New Testament, prophets refer to the Old Testament authors, those men specifically endowed by God with the gift of divine revelation, those men who are able to say with authority “thus saith the Lord.” This phrase is used regularly in the gospels, we typically hear it as “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet” followed by a quote from the Old Testament.

So effectively what Peter is doing here is establishing a strong link between the Old and New Testaments. This is vital in our day. As we’ve said before and will continue to say from up front, we are whole Bible Christians. We believe that all of God’s Word is expired, breathed out by God, and we believe that all of it is profitable, and that equally so. To prioritize the New Testament at the expense of the Old, at least for Peter here in these verses, is to rob the believer of the great encouragement and joy to be had upon reflection on the value placed by the prophets on the salvation of the believer. You all certainly know that we extol the value of the Old Testament on all fronts, but here for Peter specifically we need to see that he understands the Old Testament as a source of great encouragement to the believer.

So as we continue, we want to see just how Peter identifies the prophets. Who are they? For Peter they are marked by three characteristics:

They prophesied.

Makes enough sense. A prophet who prophesies. It’s important to note here though that Peter specifically has in mind predictive prophecy, or foretelling, in other words, speaking about the future, about events that have not occurred yet.

They prophesied of grace.

This is also important to know. Many people misconstrue the Old Testament and claim that grace is only to be found in the New Testament, and the Old Testament is all law and judgment and wrath. That is simply not true. Peter here asserts what we might call a covenantal continuity, an unbroken thread of redemptive grace poured out by God upon His people. This word charis here, translated grace, would have been a common word in Peter’s Bible, appearing some 310 times throughout the Greek translation of the Old Testament utilized in Peter’s time. Most notably, the charis seen in the Old Testament and no doubt in Peter’s view here, is in reference to the favor poured out by God upon notable figures such as Noah, Abraham, and David. Without delving much deeper into it than that, Peter is clear: the new covenant, the covenant that consummates all the gracious covenants of God in the Old Testament, was predicted and prefigured by the prophets long before it came to fruition in Christ.

What’s further interesting about this is that Peter presupposes this. He makes no effort to prove or defend this assertion, he simply states it as a matter of fact. This presupposition is compelling for us in an age in which everything is questioned and certainly nothing moreso than the Old Testament and the accounts of God contained therein.

I think we would do well to look at Peter’s presuppostions about the Old Testament and adopt them for ourselves. Peter assumes that the Old Testament contains the gospel. Peter assumes that the Old Testament communicates grace. Peter assumes that the Old Testament should be read in light of the New. Peter assumes that the Old Testament should be understood in reference to the one in whom the fullness of grace and truth dwelt in bodily form, the God-man Jesus Christ.

They prophesied of future, personal grace.

Peter’s assumption is that the prophets, as they prophesied of grace, did so in a way that looked forward specifically to the future covenant people of God. Peter believed that as the prophets spoke they were doing so with a view to the new covenant people of God who would walk, much as they did, as exiles in a land that was not their own. Contextually, Peter believes that this prophesied grace consists in the love, faith, joy and glory of the church and is centered upon, fulfilled in, and delivered by Christ Himself.

This is Peter’s first great encouragement, and one that he will build upon over the course of these verses: the prophets looked forward to the new covenant in Christ, to that day when their faith would be made sight.

Eve looked forward to her son, the head-crusher.

Noah looked forward to his ark, the rest-giver.

Abraham looked forward to his seed, the son of promise.

Judah looked forward to his scepter, the ruler of nations.

Ruth looked forward to her redeemer, the bridegroom.

David looked forward to his temple, the foundation of his eternal house.

All these, as the book of Hebrews says, died in faith. They looked forward to that grace. But Peter is clear: that grace has now come to the scattered believers in the dispersion. That grace has come to you. That grace has come to me.

Friends, does that encourage you? Does that warm your heart? Today you may well feel alone. Your worldview is bombarded by falsehoods and lies, skeptics throw stones at your beliefs and convictions, you’re told you’re on the wrong side of history because you believe in one way, one truth, one life, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Peter’s word to you tonight is this: you do not stand alone, for look at how great a cloud of witnesses stand alongside you on the way, having foretold by their words and by their works that grace would come to you. Peter says to you tonight that you now possess that grace. It has been poured out like anointing oil upon your head. What the prophets saw in types and shadows you now see in Christ, though dimly. And what you see now dimly you look forward with sure and certain hope, that you will see it in it’s fullness, in the light that’s brighter than day.

So we’ve seen Peter’s threefold assumption regarding the prophets. But what did they actually do? How does Peter describe their actions?

Careful searches, careful inquiries

The work of the prophet in their prophesying of grace is defined here by Peter as carefully searching and inquiring. This is the work of a scholar, the work of an exegete. But this is not merely brain work. It is heart work. The Greek words used here, ekzeteo and exeraunao are used in the Septuagint to describe the person who searches or seeks after God. It’s most numerous use in the Old Testament is in Psalm 119, where it is used almost a dozen times as David extols God’s Word, seeks for God’s help in interpreting it, and declares that his desire is to mine it’s riches for spiritual treasures.

This is the job of the prophet. They are a student of the Word even as they declare the word.

This is something that I think ought to inform the way that we think about Scripture and the way that we read it and study it. I think too often we shortsell the Biblical authors and assume that they were just these random guys, and while we might say God spoke through them or God spoke to them, we kind of stop short. We tend to put the Biblical authors in a vacuum and assume that they were unaware of the developments that had led up to their prophetic ministry or that they were somehow ignorant of the Scriptures that had been written up to that point.

Peter tells us the exact opposite here. Peter’s burden is to ensure that we understand that the Biblical authors, and specifically the Old Testament prophets, are master exegetes and master theologians, who not only understand the content of God’s Word but love and extol it in their hearts like David.

This is why, in my preaching and teaching, you will regularly hear me cite Old Testament references and foundations. That conviction comes from passages like this, where Peter clearly demonstrates the intellectual and theological acuity of the Biblical writers. We should be careful not to assume that we know more than they did, and in fact we would do well to actually assume the opposite: that because of their careful searching and inquiring, they likely knew and were aware of far more than we give them credit for.

The times and seasons

Peter now digs in and clarifies: what specifically were the prophets searching and inquiring in reference to?

It’s important to note here that there is some question on translation of the Greek here. The NASB will says that they were seeking to know the time and person indicated by the Spirit. If you’re reading the NIV it says the times and circumstances. I tend to favor the NIV as it seems to me to fit the Old Testament data better. There was no question for the OT prophets on the person to whom they looked forward, and in fact Peter makes it clear at the end of the verse that they were inquiring about the Christ. Their question was on timing. Circumstances. Seasons. Epochs. When would the Messiah burst on the scene? This is a natural and logical question to ask. These prophets understood the gravity and centrality of the coming Messiah. From Eve onward those who spoke prophetically both by predictive proclamation and by typological record, looked forward to the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head, and their prayer and hope was consistently that they would see that grace appear with their own eyes, in their own lifetimes. Moses’ record of Cain’s birth suggests that Eve hoped that Cain would be the one to rise and crush the serpent’s head. Those same linguistic markers indicate that Abraham thought the same of Isaac, Jacob thought it of Joseph, and David thought it of Solomon. All these hoped to see the Messiah in their day.

This is the very same hope and anticipation that captivated Simeon as he worshiped in the temple, and it is the reason he was able to die in peace, having finally seen the Messiah in his day.

Predictions of suffering to glory

Peter further explains the searching and inquiring of the prophets. It was concerning the Spirit’s predictions of the sufferings of Christ and the glories of Christ.

By his grammatical construction here Peter is linking the sufferings and glories of Christ to the grace that would come to the scattered believers in verse 10. This is the message of Paul in Romans 8:16-17

Romans 8:16–17 NASB95

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Peter’s prophesied grace is the grace to be heirs of God with Christ by our union with him in his suffering and in his glory. Thus the predictions of the sufferings and glories of Christ are predictions also of the sufferings and glories of the believer in Christ. Therefore the prophets spoke with power into not only the Christological path of suffering to glory, but also the Christian path from suffering to glory.

Let me provide some examples of this:

Psalm 22 NASB95

For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.” Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. They open wide their mouth at me, 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 within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots. But You, O Lord, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me. I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. From You comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s And He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive. Posterity will serve Him; It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

This was David’s experience. This is Christ’s experience. This is our experience. The word of David in his prophetic office is distinctly Christological and distinctly Christian.

And this is not only a teaching of Peter, Jesus himself affirms this verbatim in Luke 24:25-27:

Luke 24:25–27 NASB95

And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

The Scriptures bear continual witness to the path of Christ from suffering to glory, and his path is our path.

The trials and tribulations of this life that Peter mentioned in verses 6-9 were predicted by the prophets, and thus they stand in solidarity with us, for they were also persecuted and abandoned and forsaken.

This too is an encouragement for our hearts. We are not alone in the tribulation. We are not alone in the trial. For as we stand in the midst of the furnace, the fourth man is always there, having withstood the flames himself, and is able to help us in our weakness.

The purpose of the prophets

In verse 12 now Peter begins to conclude his brief excursus on the ministry of the prophets by tying all of this together in this purpose statement: the ministry of the prophets was not first and foremost for themselves, it was not for their times and seasons, but it was for you, the scattered believers of the dispersion.

This flies in the face of many modern students of the Bible who would try to claim that the primary ministry of the prophets was in their own day, and only by a sort of secondary, sensus plenior, fuller meaning, did the prophets speak into Peter’s day and into our day. Peter says that’s foolishness. The prophets throughout the Old Testament were keenly aware that they were ministering to believers in the eschaton, to the people of God living in the days when all they spoke of would be fulfilled.

Thus we again, as we often do, see the abiding value and treasure of the Old Testament for the modern Christian. Our understanding is more fully developed and our hearts are more hopefully encouraged as we see the Old Testament continually confirmed and revealed in our own time, as the covenant of grace continues to be applied to God’s people today.

The unity of prophecy and preaching

Peter makes another important statement here: the prophets were serving you as they announced the same things that the gospel preachers also announced to you, and they did so by the same Holy Spirit.

Peter thus declares a unity between Old Testament prophecy and New Testament preaching. Both are vehicles of grace. Both are the means by which our love and faith and joy and glory come to pass. Both are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

This unity implores us to treasure the Old Testament, and not only to treasure it but to see it for what it is: equally applicable, equally important, equally vital for our lives as Christians as the New Testament.

The curiosity of angels

Peter makes a final addendum here. This salvation, this grace, this love, this joy, this faith, this glory, is something into which angels long to look. To put it in the vernacular, angels are envious of the benefits of believers.

How can this be? Angels know God as his servants only. Christians know God as His sons and daughters. Angels know God in His holiness only. Christians know God in His grace and mercy.

Thus Christians have received a greater benefit that angels have. Here’s what’s even more interesting: this passage supports an old doctrine known in Latin as the felix culpa, the fortunate fall. How can the fall be fortunate? From the perspective of angels, it is fortunate because it is only in the context of the fall, in the context of sin, in the context of evil, that we can truly and experientially understand and know and love God in His grace and mercy and salvation and redemption. No fall, no grace. No black backdrop of sin, no gleaming diamond of salvation. No Adam, no Christ. The glory of grace is necessitated logically by the evil of of the fall, and thus we can say with Ambrose, Augustine, and Aquinas: O felix culpa! O happy fault! Praise God that it pleased Him to bring greater good out of evil rather than not allow evil to exist at all.

Christians experience this greater good. Angels simply long to look into it.

Conclusion

Peter’s intent is to encourage these scattered believers, and by extension to encourage you and me this evening. He does by declaring that the ministry of prophets and angels looks forward and looks up to the grace that we have received. It is so great, so matchless, so divine that prophets inquired and searched for it and angels long to look into it. We experience it. We live it. We walk in the fulfillment of love and faith and joy and glory that the prophets predicted and the angels long to know.

So I want to leave us with a few consequences of this doctrine tonight as we close:

Let your mind be strengthened by Peter’s conviction that the Old Testament is full of God’s grace and is intended to serve our faith as Christians today. Peter refuses to unhitch from the Old Testament because he sees in it a unity, a consistency in declaring grace not only in it’s own time but in our time.

Let your heart be warmed by the knowledge that we know by experience what the prophets knew only by prediction. What a great encouragement for believers. What a privilege and benefit we have, to live on the backside of the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension. To be able to look back on historical realities rather than only forward to prophetic realities. We can stand strong and firm therefore, knowing that what the prophets spoke of has been fulfilled, and not only in an abstract sense but in our very lives. We need look no further than our own presence here tonight, studying the word of God with joy and diligence, to see the proof that the grace that the prophets spoke of has come to fruition.

Let your lives be enriched by careful study of the Old Testament. Peter is clear: the Old Testament was given in service to you and your salvation and your sanctification. Do not neglect it. Receive it with the same joy and care you receive the rest of God’s Word. Pore over it and ponder it and soak in it, allowing the words to penetrate your spiritual pores and refresh and cleanse you.

Worship Christ as the clamp. Jesus is at the center of all this. His sufferings and glory were predicted by the prophets and fulfilled by him. He is the one who embodies the grace promised in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is primarily and singularly about Him. He is therefore the glue that holds it all together, the hinge upon which it all turns. He is the Christological clamp. Therefore, when reading the Old Testament, commit yourself to searching and inquiring for the ways in which Christ fulfills it. When reading the gospels, commit yourself to searching and inquiring for the ways in which Christ fulfills the Old Testament. Commit yourself to the clamp that holds it all together.

May we be encouraged tonight by Peter’s words, as we have seen the future reality of our salvation, the present reality of our salvation, and the past reality of our salvation.

What do we do now? Peter will tell us next week: