Tuesday, January 17, 2006
1 Peter 1:10-12 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, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; things which angels desire to look into.
WE HAVE THIS BOOK, THIS MESSAGE!
Note two things Peter says of the Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit spoke through the Old Testament prophets as they talked about the coming Savior. Second, the Holy Spirit is speaking right now through the Gospel preachers of the New Testament. So the prophets themselves did not fully understand, and neither did their generation. But they were told they were writing for the people of God of the future. They were writing for us, yes, for us Christians living today. We have the writings of David and Isaiah, and we know that they were foretelling the sufferings of our Savior for our salvation, and the glories that followed that suffering: His resurrection, His ascension, His great victory over Satan and all our enemies, so that we have forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal salvation.
But the Holy Spirit kept on doing His work also after Christ rose from the dead. Peter says that the good news brought to his readers was brought to them by persons who preached the Gospel "by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven." Peter himself was given the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel and get it right. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down in a special way on Jesus' apostles and empowered them to preach the Gospel of Christ to the people living in their time. And we living today are the ones who have all of these goodies, these spiritual goodies, laid out before us in our Bibles, the Old Testament inspired by the Holy Spirit, the New Testament inspired by the Holy Spirit. Here we have in this book the wonderful word of our salvation intended for the whole world. Peter says that this message is so wonderful that even the angels of God are eager to hear what we hear! May we ever truly appreciate the Holy Spirit's book, the Old Testament, the New Testament, both with the same contents: the suffering and resurrection of Christ for our eternal salvation.
