On Sunday morning John reminded us from 1 Peter 1 of our wonderful salvation. Even in the midst of trials we can praise God for His work in our lives. 1 Peter 1:10-12 says:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
These are staggering verses; we should praise God for those who spoke to us about Jesus – the Holy Spirit was at work in them as they spoke and in us as we heard, and our eyes were opened. But even before this, God was carrying out His plan of salvation throughout all of the Old Testament. The Old Testament authors looked forward to the day the Messiah would come but they could not understand clearly how God would bring it to pass. Yet now as we read the Old Testament, we can see all of it is fulfilled as Jesus was born, lived, died on the cross, rose again and ascended into heaven. No wonder Peter praises God in the midst of suffering – what a great salvation! If you are trusting in Christ, God has been working out his purposes in all of history to bring salvation to you! Let’s rejoice in our wonderful salvation this week.
James Howlett