"The Greatness of Salvation"

Dr. Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex intellectuals of the twentieth century. He wrote volume after massive volume on the meaning of life and faith. On one occasion when Barth was visiting in America, a student at a theological seminary asked him in this question "Dr. Barth, what was the greatest thought that has ever crossed your mind"? Every one was on edge to see what Barth would say. He waited a long time. Then he lifted his head slowly, and he said, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."…

Salvation... there is no greater word in the English language! The subject of salvation is so deep that the greatest theologians cannot fully explain it. And at the same time it is simple enough for a young child to understand… Salvation is defined as "the rescue of the human soul from sin, death, hell and Satan".

The Bible tells us that man is guilty of sin. As a result of his guilt he is headed for judgment . Without salvation, man is destined to spend an eternity in the Lake of Fire. Because of this fact, man desperately needs to be rescued. He cannot attain this deliverance on his own... he cannot save himself.

The message of salvation is that while man cannot save himself from eternal torment as a punishment for his sin, God can… and He will... This is the message that He sent through the prophets, It is the very essence of the work of the Apostles. It is the message that has been handed down throughout the ages. And it is the message that God has for you today!

We have been talking about salvation, for the past few months, in our Sunday Evening Bible Study… In fact tonight, we are going to be starting to talk about the security of our salvation.

Peter has very briefly mentioned our salvation in the first couple paragraphs of this letter… and now he talks about our Salvation at a greater depth. He now talks about “The Greatness of Salvation”

Read 1 Peter 1:10-12…

Meat:

Peter's goal in these 3 verses is to describe just how great salvation is. Keep in mind that Peter is writing to Christians who were suffering immense trials and difficulties. He has already encouraged them to have joy, to rejoice and to persevere. In verses 10-12 he reminds them of how great their salvation is.

This in and of itself should be an encouragement to all of us… Sometimes the best way to make it through times of great trouble is to focus on the good things that God has done for us. We have some great examples from God’s Word that we can follow… Even at the point of death Christians can rejoice because of the great salvation they possess.

1) As Stephen was being stoned because of his faith in Christ, he was able to rejoice and proclaim "I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father" because of his position in Christ.

2) Paul and Silas were imprisoned for their ministry and at midnight they sang praises in the jailhouse.

3) Even Peter himself was arrested and scheduled to be beheaded and he could sleep in peace in the prison because of his salvation.

Folks, if you have put your faith in Christ, you possess the exact same salvation that they did… you are indwelt with the exact same Holy Spirit that they were.

In there few verses that we read... Peter goes a long way in describing this great salvation.

Salvation is Great because...

Peter gives us some reasons why our salvation is so great and that is what we are going to look at this morning…

First of all… we know Salvation is great because…

1. The Prophets Studied It

1 peter 1:10 “10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,”

The phrase “Searched Carefully” comes from a Greek word that means … “to examine or consider in even greater detail or over a lengthier period of time”.

Peter is referring to OT prophets. After having written their prophecies, they began to diligently pour over them to gain further insight and deeper knowledge about the specifics of their fulfillments.

They didn’t just receive the word of God, write it down and walk away… There are times that we have a tendency to get our “check marks” for the day…

I read my Bible… Check

I said my prayers… Check

I went to Sunday Morning Service… Check

Don’t get me wrong… These are all important things for us to do. But are we doing them because we want to grow in our knowledge and relationship with Jesus?? Or are we doing it, just so that we can say… we did??

Verse 11 Tells us what they were trying to find out…

1 Peter 1:11 “11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

The Old Testament Prophets wanted to gain more…

1.1 Information about the Messiah

The Time of His arrival

The circumstances leading up to His Arrival

What would happen after His Arrival

His Sufferings

His Glory

Jesus tells his disciples this very thing…

Luke 10:24 NASB95

24 for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

God chose certain men throughout history to tell of the coming Messiah. Peter says that even though they were chosen to prophecy of the salvation that God had planned for His people.... they wanted to know more!… They hungered for more…

Do you have that type of hunger?? When you are reading through Scripture does it wet your appetite and give you the desire to learn more about what you are reading?? Do you have a hunger to learn more about our Heavenly Father, His attributes, His requirements for our lives??

These prophets did, and God kept feeding them… with revelation after revelation…

Just to the Prophet Isaiah, it was revealed that the Messiah would be…

1) Born of a virgin (7:14)

2) He would be rejected (53:1-3)

3) He would bear our sins and sorrows (53:4-5)

4) Would be spat on and struck (50:6)

5) He would be disfigured by suffering (52:14)

6) He would make a blood atonement (53:5)

7) He would be our substitute (53:6)

8) He would save those who believe in Him (53:12)

9) He would heal the brokenhearted (61:1-2)

To the Prophet Jeremiah …

1. The Messiah would be a descendant of David (23:5-6)

2. The Messiah would be both God and Man (23:5-6)

3. Jeremiah also proclaimed that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (31:22)

4. He said that the Messiah would be the New Covenant (31:31)

-The Prophet Zechariah told us that:

1) The Messiah would be God's servant (3:8)

2) The Messiah would be Priest and King (6:12-13)

3) He would be greeted with rejoicing in Jerusalem (9:9)

4) He would bring salvation (9:9)

5) The Messiah would come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey (9:9)

6) The Messiah would be the cornerstone (10:4)

There were many other Prophets and many other prophecies. Here’s something to think about… With all they knew, the Prophets did not know what we do! And Peter says that they desired to know more about this salvation. But what they did know...THEY TOLD TO OTHERS!! These men spent their lives telling the people about God's process of salvation… And How Great A Salvation it is!

That is our second point today… we know Salvation is great because…

2. The Apostles Shared It

v. 12 “To them (The OT Prophets) it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us (The People that saw Jesus) they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you (The Church) through those (The Apostles) who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven”

Peter shifts his focus from the Old Testament prophets to the New Testament Apostles. Jesus Himself had commissioned His Apostles to preach the Gospel in…

Mark 16:15 NKJV

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

The Apostles were able to share and spread the Gospel of Christ…

2.1 Through the Power of the Holy Spirit

The Apostles were inspired and indwelt by the Holy Spirit… and they continued the work of the Old Testament prophets. Their task was the same, tell people that there is a way of salvation. Though their task was the same, their viewpoint was different. The Apostles saw the Messiah with their own eyes. They heard His teaching. They witnessed the miracles. Peter says, in chapter 5, that he was a personal "witness of the sufferings of Christ"… Not only did they see all of these things with their own eyes, they experienced first hand this great salvation.

From the time of Christ's ascension until they gave their life for His cause, these men shared the good news… They were doing exactly what Christ had Commissioned them to do…

They were going, they were teaching, they were baptizing… Jesus did not have to force these men to share the message of salvation. It was so real to them that they had to share it!

Even when the religious rulers and governmental authorities threatened them...Even when trouble, suffering and persecution came...Even in the face of death...Salvation was so great that these Apostles had to share it!

It was not just for them to share though… If we have partaken in this salvation, then the great commission applies to us as well… We are those that now preach the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit. This doesn’t mean you are responsible to win them, but that you are responsible to share with them.

Just sharing your own testimony, your own story, is the easiest way to share the gospel with someone… start with who you were before you met Christ, maybe a few things that you struggled with (doesn’t need to be graphically detailed), share who or what it was that revealed your need of salvation, and share who you are now and how Christ has changed your life… Nobody knows your story better than you do…

We can also share our faith on a daily basis by living out what we say we believe. The things we say, places we go, the way we react to certain situations… all of that can be ways to minister to people.

I think that George Whitfield had the right mentality when he said “God forbid that I be with someone a quarter of an hour without sharing Christ with them.”

If you truly knew and felt the greatness of Salvation… you to would have a strong desire to share it with others, just as the OT prophets and the NT Apostles did…

The last part of verse 12 says… “things which angels desire to look into.”

We know Salvation is great because…

3. Angels Desire To See It

The NASB Translates it this way “things into which angels long to look”

In the Greek this is the same phrase used do describe Peter "stooping down and looking into Christ's empty tomb"… You want to get as close to something as you can in order to examine it… My wife does this when there are rocks around… maybe one catches her eye and she bends over, she stoops down to pick it so she can take a closer look.

Can you imagine an Angel stopping down and looking to the Earth to see more about this great salvation?? Think of all they have seen: They saw the ministry of the Prophets. They saw Jesus fulfill each and every one of the prophecies concerning his birth, life, death and resurrection. But now they have an intense desire to see what is next!

I believe that one of the main reasons they are so interested in it, is because…

3.1 They’ll Never Experience It

What you and I possess, sparks curiosity in even the Angels of God because it is something that they will never experience. They are already in the presence of Almighty God, they don’t need salvation and so they will never know the joy of going from separation from God to being accepted as one of His Children.

They learn about SALVATION from us…

Ephesians 3:10 NASB95

10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Angels are created beings and are not omniscient… God is “educating” the angels by means of the church!… Angels are God’s Messengers and they are servants, but they are also students and we are the curriculum that they are studying.

Here is something that should encourage you…

3.2 They Rejoice About Our Salvation

In Luke 15:10 Jesus Said...“10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

Heaven gets excited to see one sinner who repairs his relationship with God through repentance.

There is a Poem written by a fella named Larry Bryant:

When the Model T first hit the street,

It didn’t bring all heaven to its feet.

And when the first computer was born,

They didn’t blow Old Gabriel’s horn.

There’s only one thing that we’re sure about

That can make those angels jump and shout:

It’s when a sinner makes the Lord his choice;

That’s when the angels rejoice.

Now heaven doesn’t strike up a band

For any old occasion at hand;

It’s got to be a special thing,

to make those angels smile and sing.

Now when the United States became a nation,

There was no angelic celebration.

But when one lost sinner comes back home,

They jump for joy around the throne...

Angels desire to know more and more about the Salvation that we possess... They would love to be in your shoes. I think this indicates that there is much more to salvation than we even realize.

For this last point, I am going to deviate away from our text here in 1 Peter… However, I feel that is important to mention that… We know Salvation is great because…

4. Satan Couldn’t Prevent It

Satan attempted to overthrow God before Adam and Eve were ever created. He planned an invasion of Heaven taking 1/3 of the Angels with him (that account is found Isaiah 14)… When Adam was created Satan was determined to make him fall and succeeded in deceiving man in the Garden of Eden. But God revealed His plan of redemption in...

Genesis 3:15 NASB95

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

This "seed of the woman" is none other than “Our Living Hope”… Jesus Christ!

Satan's only hope of victory was if he could somehow prevent the Savior from being born or to destroy Him after He came into this world. Realizing that, Satan attempted to destroy the whole nation of Israel. The Egyptian Pharaoh ordered all males to be killed. But God raised up Moses to lead His people out of Egypt.

After the birth of Christ in Bethlehem King Herod (obviously inspired by Satan) set out to kill all babies 2 years old and younger.

Satan himself went after Jesus in the wilderness and tempted Him 3 times. Satan was unsuccessful. There were countless plots to kill Christ during His time on earth, all were unsuccessful.

Satan then used one of the Lord's disciples (Judas Iscariot) to betray Him. This led to the events of the crucifixion. There at the cross as Jesus died, Satan must have thought that he had finally succeeded. There on the Cross of Calvary Jesus cried "It is finished" then He "bowed His head and gave up the ghost."

No doubt Satan rejoiced as they placed Jesus' body in the grave. But what Satan celebrated as his ultimate victory was actually his greatest defeat!… Because, as the old Hymn says…

“Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, With His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

At the beginning of the book of Revelation, Jesus says …

Revelation 1:18 NKJV

18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

And that is what makes Salvation so great!

Closing:

With all that we have seen today you would think that it could not get any better. BUT IT CAN!! You may be here today and you do not possess this "Great Salvation"! Maybe you have never put your faith in Christ… The good news is that this Salvation Is Great Because...

5. We Can Possess It!

Everything we have seen today is for you! God gave the message of salvation to the Prophets for you… Jesus came and secured this salvation for you. He continued this work with the Apostles for you.

But, like always... Satan would still like to prevent this salvation from coming to you!… Don't let him succeed! You have the opportunity to partake in something that AMAZES THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN… You have an opportunity to give them a reason to rejoice!

John 3:16-18 “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Acts 16:31 ““Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,...””

That is the process...That is God's plan and That is the way to this Great Salvation!