In the first nine verses of his first letter, the Apostle Peter encourages his readers by reminding them of the many blessings that they have because of their faith in Jesus Christ. The greatest of these blessings is that they are receiving the salvation of their souls. In verses ten through twelve, Peter writes:
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.”
Today we are blessed in that we have access to God’s completed revelation. It is easy to forget that this was not always so. In previous ages only a small portion of God’s will was revealed to His people. For God revealed His plan only gradually and slowly over a period of thousands of years. God reveals Himself to a certain extent through creation. As the Apostle Paul points out: “For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity…” (Romans 1:20) But while we can learn certain things about God from studying the creation, by itself it is not enough to teach us God’s will. For that, language is needed. And so, through the centuries God disclosed His word through prophets. Sometimes God revealed His word to the prophets through dreams, sometimes through visions, sometimes by means of angels and sometimes He spoke to them face to face. But whatever method God used, Peter tells us a very important fact. The Spirit of Christ was in them. This is very appropriate because one of Christ’s names is the Word. When we read the prophets, we are in fact reading a message from Christ. The words that God sent to the prophets have been collected and are available to us in the Bible. Now, instead of being able to see only a small portion of God’s plan like each of the prophets, we have the privilege of viewing all that He has revealed. We can see how God’s message to each prophet points to the salvation that God was preparing through Jesus Christ.
Notice that Peter refers to the Spirit of Christ by the name ‘Holy Spirit’ as well. In chapter 4, verse 14, Peter also uses the terms ‘Spirit of glory’ and ‘Spirit of God.’ In the beginning of his letter Peter mentioned the roles of the various personalities of God, “…chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.” (1:2 NIV) But here, by the use of different titles for the Spirit, Peter demonstrates the unity of God. The Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God are one and the same as the Spirit of glory and the Holy Spirit. This gives us a very valuable test to apply to men’s actions. Through the centuries and up to the present time, many things have been done in the name of Christ. We can say with assurance however, that if an action is not holy; if it is not a reflection of or if it is not an addition to God’s glory, then it is not from Christ regardless of the claims of men. For the Spirit of Christ is holy, and is the Spirit of glory. It is this same glorious Holy Spirit of Christ that motivated the prophets to speak of the salvation that God was bringing to mankind.
Peter says that the prophets “…sought and searched diligently…” when trying to find out more about the salvation that God was predicting through them. From this we can see that the prophets greatly valued the message that was given to them. If it was important to them, it should be important to us as well. Scripture says: “Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesies.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20) If we reject the words of the prophets we are in fact rejecting Christ. Revelation 19:10 says, “…for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.”
Also notice that the message concerning the coming salvation was not revealed to only one prophet. It was revealed to many, living in different places and in different centuries. But in spite of this, all of the messages agree. There is no contradiction in any of them. And all are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
The careful and intent search of the prophets should be a source of assurance to us. Because of their care we can have confidence that the message given to the prophets was preserved. Many people have made the claim that in the passage of time, God’s message has somehow been changed. But, because the prophets valued what was revealed to them so highly, we can be sure that the message we have today was carefully preserved and is the same as that which was given to them.
Peter writes that the prophets tried to find out in “who or what kind of time” the salvation that God promised would come to pass. In one sense God’s plan of salvation has always been in effect. For example, Ephesians 1:4 says, “…he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love.” On the other hand, God waited until just the right moment to put His plan into effect. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.” And Romans 5:6 says, “For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” The prophets who predicted that God would send a savior could only look forward in faith and in hope. We should be very grateful that we have the privilege of knowing that the savior has already come to redeem us from the power of sin. The question is, will we accept the salvation that God freely offers us? Or, will we reject the message that the prophets so carefully preserved and investigated?