“Concerning this salvation the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully…” 

1 Peter 1:10

Nothing beats a pandemic when it comes to effective catalysts of the maniac researcher that lies dormant in all of us. We scour the internet, we talk with friends, we share discoveries, we read articles, we open and carefully consider WhatsApp warnings from our aunties. We develop our own narratives and theories and come up with our own models to project the spread and peak of infections. Time, energy and focus are eagerly availed for the task at hand.

Peter wants his audience to revive their “research” abilities for a different task. 1 Peter 10-12 serve as a summary of the preceding section and an introduction to the next. Peter wants his readers to have a grand view of their salvation. He wants their minds occupied with varied thoughts about their multifaceted salvation and their hearts filled with thankfulness and joy in the God of their salvation. There is grace in the midst of suffering for the saint who is captivated by the magnitude of his salvation. Hope will defiantly abide in our hearts if we marvel at the full participation of the Trinity in our salvation, rest in the historicity of the Resurrection which secured our salvation, be assured of the indestructible nature of our inheritance, be encouraged by the preserving activity of the Father and take comfort in the sanctifying purpose of our suffering. 

Peter in our verses this morning points to the greatness of our salvation by focusing on the actions of the prophets; they searched and inquired carefully. Those who prophesied about the gospel were filled with holy curiosity directed at the salvation that Jesus accomplished for us. The word “searched” means ‘to exert effort to find out or learn something’, while the word translated as “inquired” means “to make careful inquiry, to try to find out (BDAG).” Your salvation was of enough interest to the prophets to motivate the exertion of effort aimed at increased learning and a careful inquiry. If that was not enough to peak our interest in our own salvation, Peter ends the section by stating that Angels long to look into these things! Your salvation is at the center of God’s plan to display his glory.  When key personalities in Israel’s history appear on the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:30-31), the topic of interest is the same as that of the prophets. We occupy a privileged position in salvation history (I Peter 1:12a) being those who are living in the end times where the next thing we are waiting for in God’s salvation plan is the consummation of all things. 

Believers in the midst of suffering can easily be more impressed by the greatness of their suffering than they are impressed by the greatness of their salvation. As their, effort and energy are given to their troubles, their hearts can easily grow cold as a clear view of their Savior grows faint. Hope can be traded for despair and joy for fear. For Peter, the job begins with turning the minds of these elect exiles to something which we can easily lose sight of when the journey gets hard. 

We cannot properly heed any of the instructions that will follow before we are captured and recaptured by the greatness of our salvation. This greatness is what informs our fight for faith in the midst of temptation. The saint who understands how precious his salvation is will not cheaply trade it without fighting the passions of his flesh. Our task is clear, exert effort to look into and learn about the salvation by which you have been saved. Allow it to encourage, comfort, instruct, empower and refresh you. Do not despise the front row view you have to a salvation that history and heaven eagerly desire to look into. 

 

Reflection Questions

 

 

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