Our Place in God's Grand Plan

For those who suffer health challenges and medical conditions, it’s easy to complain. You may complain about the cost of healthcare, confusing professional advice, the side effects of certain prescriptions or treatments, or long waits in the office. Yet, compare what you experience to medical conditions in centuries gone by.

People frequently died from conditions we treat today with over-the-counter drugs or vaccinations today. Psychiatric wards performed all sorts of procedures which today we would consider torture. For surgical procedures from a tooth extractions, to internal operations, to amputations all occurred by strapping the patient to a table, administering whiskey, applying a tourniquet, and using the most rudimentary instruments and tools.

As frustrating as medical challenges may be today, the challenges were significantly greater in the past. We should be grateful for the advances that we enjoy today, despite the challenges we face. What’s more, it’s through the more primitive and rudimentary experiences and practices of the past that we enjoy a better experience today!

That’s what Peter is teaching us here in 1 Pet 1:10-12. Just as we suffer through health challenges today yet with many advantages over previous generations, so we suffer as followers of Christ today yet with significant advantages over previous generations of those who followed him. Recognizing this fact should encourage us to keep on following Christ no matter how difficult our suffering may be. Despite our suffering, we are in a much more desirable position than believers from years gone by.

Our experience is better than the Old Testament prophets.

Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time …

“This salvation” refers to what Peter said in his previous sentence, “the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet 1:9). This salvation refers to how God delivers us – followers of Christ from all ethnic backgrounds – from the penalty and power of our sins, placing us into a close relationship with him and into a permanent place in his kingdom forever.

“The prophets” refers to those believers who lived centuries and millennia before Christ whom God granted the special ability to give us revelation. These men like Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and more not only revealed God’s judgments and plans for the nation of Israel, but they also revealed God’s plans for the people of the world, both in this world and the world that is to come.

Peter describes this salvation as “the grace to you,” which tells us that this salvation would come as an undeserved, supernatural blessing from God. It also tells us that they knew this blessing would come to a future generation of followers but not to them.

To be clear, this does not mean that God did not extend his saving grace to people who were born and died before Christ, including the Old Testament prophets. God has always provided salvation from sin and death through grace alone. This has always been true, and it has never been any other way.

The difference between God’s saving grace today and his saving grace before Christ came into the world is that Old Testament believers received God’s grace by trusting that he would one day send a Messiah to deliver them from their sins. Today, we no longer look forward to this by faith, but we look back at this by faith knowing not that it would happen but that it did happen and how. Here’s an example from Dan 12:8-9:

Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

To “inquire and search carefully” means to examine or investigate something closely and seriously, doing one’s best to figure things out. And what were they trying to figure out? “What or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating.”

As Peter Davids explains, “The data the prophets lacked in particular were time (“what time”) and context (“what manner of time”), which were needed to give full understanding of their words.”

Since they were prophets (someone who spoke the words of God to people), they announced or witnessed “beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.” In other words, they announced and predicted at least three things:

that God would provide a deliverer for his people

that this deliverer would suffer greatly

that amazing and marvelous things would occur through and after his suffering

We know this because throughout the Old Testament (the first 39 books of the Bible which precede the coming of Christ), we find predictions of all three of these things. Predictions of a Savior, predictions of his suffering, and predictions of his future triumph and kingdom. Here’s one example at the end of the well-known “Suffering Servant” prophecy of Isaiah 53 (v. 12):

I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

In this prophecy (incl. the full chapter) we see the promised deliverer, that this deliverer would suffer, and that this deliverer would triumph.

Despite these clear and frequent prophecies throughout the Old Testament, the prophets knew that these things would happen, but they didn’t know exactly when they would happen or how. The question here is over the point in time or the season of time when God would provide us with our deliverer who would suffer.

It seemed important for them to figure out the timing of this occasion because they knew that all of God’s promises pertaining to our final deliverance from sin and the full coming of his eternal kingdom could not take place until after this deliverer had come and after he had first suffered.

Can you see the sequence here – it’s important. For all of God’s people Christ’s suffering must come before he delivers us. Suffering precedes glory.

Or as David Kingdom says, “Suffering prepares us for glory.”

And Warren Wiersbe says, “Calvary is God’s great proof that suffering in the will of God always leads to glory.”

We are experiencing what the prophets foretold.

To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you.

Peter repeats what he said about “the grace that would come to you.” The prophets became aware that they were revealing things about the future, things which would happen in a future era, generation, and time beyond their own. They understood that they would not experience in their lifetime the things of which they spoke.

From this, we understand that no matter how much we suffer, we are experiencing salvation from a special and privileged position.

Through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

This refers to New Testament apostles and prophets – like John, Paul, and Peter – who had announced and proclaimed to that first generation of believers that Christ had come – that he had both died and resurrected to deliver them.

It’s important to notice how Peter describes the way that both the Old and New Testament prophets received their information. They received their message from same source, called “the Spirit of Christ” and “the Holy Spirit.” Knowing this demonstrates both the authority and unity of Scripture from beginning to end, from Old to New Testaments. The Old Testament is just as important as the New.

With these statements, Peter prepared his readers to value the teaching of the Old Testament even though it had been given in a distant past period of time, disconnected from their own by culture and time from centuries before. By making this point clear at the outset of his letter, Peter prepared his readers for the frequent references to the Old Testament he would make throughout this letter.

Even in a second, subsequent letter from Peter, he makes the same point very strongly, saying, “Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:21).

Things which angels desire to look into.

By closing this section of his letter this way, Peter offers a surprising ending, since he seems to add an unexpected, unrelated idea. What do angels have to do with our salvation? According to Peter, angels resemble Old Testament prophets in that they, too, have a strong and insatiable desire to understand how our salvation works.

You see, holy angels do not need to be saved because they have never sinned, and unholy angels cannot be saved once they have sinned. So, from an angel’s perspective, it is deeply fascinating and mind-boggling that God would rescue sinful people from their sins and restore them to a close relationship with him and a place in his eternal kingdom – and how.

To be sure, angels get a front-row seat to God’s plan of salvation. They were involved with Christ’s birth, assisted Christ in the desert during his temptation, were present at the grave at his resurrection, participated in his ascension, and provide supernatural assistance to followers of Christ today.

What’s more, angels rejoice whenever another person chooses to follow Christ (Luke 15:10),

observe attentively when believers suffer in their service for Christ (1 Cor 4:9),

and see all that God is doing through the church today (Eph 3:10) so that they may praise God even more greatly. And they will be very involved and prominent in Christ’s future work of judging the world as explained in Revelation.

Despite their first-hand exposure to all that God is doing to save his people throughout history and time, angels desire to learn more as they watch our lives today so that they may praise God more greatly than ever before.

About this passage, John MacArthur concludes:

No matter how difficult life’s trials are, Christians can face them triumphantly because of the greatness of God’s grace in giving them a salvation the prophets studied, the Holy Spirit inspired, the apostles preached, and the angels continue to investigate.

We should allow this passage of Scripture to affect our lives in at least two ways.

Treasure the Old Testament scriptures.

It’s easy to value the New Testament more than the Old Testament because we feel that the New Testament is more relevant to our lives. To be sure, the New Testament speaks more directly to our times (1) since it was written after the suffering and resurrection of Christ and (2) because it explains with more clarity the things which the Old Testament prophets did not know or understand.

Still, we cannot fully appreciate or understand what the New Testament says about Christ, the salvation he provides, the life he calls us to live, and the future we have to look forward to without a close examination of the Old Testament, too. Just as the Old Testament prophets worked hard to understand what would happen in the future so we should work hard to understand what God did in the past.

In fact, there is a very real sense in which though the Old Testament prophets wrote to their original audience, they wrote to you through their original audience about things which you would experience and not them. You – not them – would be able to look back at their prophecies and even their laws and see how they had been fulfilled through Christ.

While Christ was still on Earth after his resurrection, he said this to his followers (Luke 24:44-48):

“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

As book authors and movie writers know, fans of a book or a movie are always interested in a prequel. As believers, we’re more than fans of Christ – we’re his committed followers who are willing to suffer anything for him. This being the case, we should give careful, close attention to reading and studying the Old Testament.

If the Old Testament seems boring, uninteresting, and irrelevant to you, then perhaps you need to become more serious about your attitude towards the Word of God. The same Holy Spirit has given us both Testaments and we cannot possibly understand the New as well as we could without first understanding the Old. Knowing the Old will bring the New to life!

As Paul also said, “All Scripture [this includes the Old Testament] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16). Deepening and expanding your knowledge of God and his ways through reading and studying the Old Testament will better prepare you to go through suffering and will increase your confidence in God’s saving grace for all ages.

Cherish the sufferings of Christ.

If the Old Testament prophets so intently sought to understand when Christ would come to suffer for us, and if the angels continue to be insatiably fascinated by learning more about the salvation Christ has provided for us through his death on the cross, then how much more should we who can look back at this historical fact and within at this personal reality of a forgiven and changed life show any less interest and enthusiasm than they?

If you have believed on Christ alone as your God and Savior, then you should never get over the wonder of your salvation.

Because of Christ’s suffering your sins are forgiven.

Because of Christ’s suffering you have no fear in death.

Because of Christ’s suffering you have a close relationship with God.

Because of Christ’s suffering you have a new purpose in this life.

Because of Christ’s suffering your future in God’s kingdom is secure.

And these five benefits are only a sample of why the suffering of Christ is significant. Is it any wonder that both of Christ’s ordinances – those two special commands given to his followers which we observe as his church – focus directly on the death of Christ?

As we are baptized, we are reminded of Christ’s death and burial for our sins.

As we observe the Lord’s Supper, we remember the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood in our place.

From this we see that of all things, Christ is primarily concerned that above all else we should not fail to appreciate, consider, remember, and be motivated by his sufferings. The sufferings of Christ and the resurrection which followed should be the driving, motivating factors of our lives. This became the case for Paul, who said (Phil 2:12-14):

What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish … that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Are you, in the decisions you’re making in life, as motivated by the sufferings of Christ as Paul was? When your heart drifts away from the shadow of the cross, your suffering loses meaning and your willingness to suffer fades. Will you ask God to give you a greater interest in the sufferings of Christ and the glories that will follow?

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