Served By the Son of God
In his letter, the Apostle Peter will teach his original readers (and us) how to live faithfully in a hostile world, but first he wants us to understand something that will change our perspective. Even though they were exiles, these Christians were blessed with unimaginable privilege.
That's Peter's point in 1:10-12. Yes, life hurts from one perspective. But from an eternal perspective Christians are privileged beyond belief. This week we haved learned we are privileged because we have been served by the prophets, served by evangelists, and served by the Holy Spirit. Today we'll learn a final reason.
We Have Been Served By Jesus
Notice 1 Peter 1:11, “inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”
How quickly do we allow ourselves to become numb to this amazing truth. Jesus, the eternal Son of God . . . suffering. Perhaps the hymnwriter can help liven our senses...
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, See Him dying on the tree!
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected, Yes, my soul, ‘tis He, ‘tis He!
‘Tis the long-expected Prophet, David’s son, yet David’s Lord
By His Son God now has spoken, ‘Tis the true and faithful Word
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning, Foes insulting His distress
Many hands were raised to wound Him, None would interpose to save
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him, Was the stroke that Justice gave
Ye who think of sin but lightly, Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly, Here its guilt may estimate
Mark the sacrifice appointed, See who bears the awful load
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God
Here we have a firm foundation, Here the refuge of the lost
Christ, the Rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded, Who on Him their hope have built.[i]
There’s a scene in Peter Jackson’s Return of the King where Pippin and Gandalf are in the city of Gondor, awaiting a deadly battle. Pippin comments on how quiet the city is, and Gandalf replies “It’s the deep breath before the plunge.” To which Pippin responds, “I don’t want to be in a battle. But waiting on the edge of one I can’t escape is even worse.” We understand that, don’t we? It’s miserable to wait on the edge of a pain that you cannot escape. And yet that’s exactly how our Jesus has served us.
These prophets “predicted the sufferings of Christ.” Peter is saying that long before His crucifixion, Jesus was contemplating His death. John Piper puts it this way: “Christ, the Son of God in heaven, has been contemplating his suffering and his death for us for centuries. Indeed as far back as the plan of salvation reaches in the mind of God, so far back has Christ been willing and ready to give himself for our sins. You were not loved for just a bloody moment of sacrifice in history. You have been loved for endless ages in the eternal plan of the Father and the Son to save sinners who trust in him.”[ii]
Even though we are exiles, all Christians are blessed with unimaginable privilege because we have been served by the prophets, by evangelists, by the Spirit and by Jesus Christ.
Peter sums up our privilege in verse 12 by saying these are “things into which angels long to look.” During the Renaissance, a painter named Jacopo Tintoretto created a beautiful version of the Last Supper. Leonardo Da Vinci’s version is far more popular, but Tintoretto shows us something different. Above the table where Jesus and the disciples sit, an oil lamp gives off clouds of smoke. Tintoretto painted angels in the smoke, watching from above, marveling at what Jesus is about to do.
Why do angels long to look? Because they cannot experience what you and I experience. Angels have experienced glory, but they cannot experience grace. They’ve seen the Father, but they’ve never seen forgiveness. They know Jesus, but they don’t know how it feels to be justified. They’ve experienced the Spirit, but they’ve never experienced salvation. They know what it’s like to be loved, but not adopted. And so, there’s a very real sense in which you and I are privileged beyond even the angels in heaven. Even though we are exiles, all Christians are blessed with unimaginable privilege.
[i] Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted. https://sovereigngracemusic.org/music/songs/stricken-smitten-and-afflicted/ Accessed August 16, 2020.
[ii] John Piper, What the Prophets Sought and Angels Desired (Bethlehem Baptist Church, 1993), https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/what-the-prophets-sought-and-angels-desired.