Remember Your Great Rescue

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"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care" 1 Peter 1:10

Main Readings: Isaiah 53 & Luke 24:12-53

Supporting Readings: Psalm 22 & 1 Peter 1

This morning Peter wants to talk to us about Salvation. That’s how he opens these verses – ‘concerning this salvation’.

He already referred to this ‘salvation’ back in verse 9. And we saw last time that he had in mind, there, ongoing, day-to-day, salvation.

So, I want us to start where Peter starts this morning.

Imagine with me for a few minutes about salvation.

Let’s imagine that somehow you find yourself lost at sea.

Imagine you’re floating – just about keeping your head above water – the waves thrashing around you.

You’re on your back to stay afloat. But that’s as much as you can do to survive.

You have no idea if anyone knows you’re missing. And you have no reason to hope that you’ll be found in this massive ocean.

Imagine, now, your family being told that you’re lost at sea and, so far, unaccounted for.

You’re hopeless in this situation. You know that your little head bobbing around in the frothing sea is about as findable as a needle in a haystack.

But imagine, then, that out of the blue, you hear the whirring of a helicopter.

And waving your arms madly in the air, whilst kicking hard to stay afloat, the helicopter somehow hovers right over the spot where you are.

The next thing you know, there’s an able seaman being lowered on a rope from the helicopter into the sea to rescue you.

And he does! Suddenly you’re grabbed; your life preserved, and winched to the helicopter hovering above.

Imagine the feeling of getting aboard that rescue vehicle in the sky. Imagine the relief!

The pilot says, ‘we’ve got you – you’re safe now’.

And imagine the pilot radios to the shore to tell your family that you’re saved!

Your family members are ecstatic of course. This is the news they were waiting for, but hardly dared believe could happen.

And with that confirmation that you’re safe, they all finish their cups of tea, jump in their cars, and drive home.

Is that what would happen? It’s probably not what you were expecting.

In fact, it is not what would happen is it?

What those relatives would do is wait with bated breath – even though they know you’ve been rescued – until you are with them, where they are, and they can throw their arms around you.

Any other outcome, would be frankly, bizarre!

Well, this is what salvation with God is like. It’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s like it.

Our great God-salvation has a start, a middle and an end.

It has a moment of rescue at the start.

It has an unfolding middle, where every moment is an expression of salvation – like being in the helicopter.

And it has an end when, the fulness of being with our heavenly Father is realised and the whole thing is completed.

You could say it like this: you’re being saved from something, through something, and to something.

From the peril of the sea, through the helicopter journey, and into the loving embrace of family on dry land.

The real-world scenario is like this: every person on the planet is in eternal danger – not just mortal danger – but eternal danger.

They don’t necessarily know it, but they are.

They are in danger of the wrath, and anger and punishment of an offended God.

Their very own sins have put them in that position.

Without rescue they will perish under the waves of their own guilt forever.

Hell is their destination. And once this life is over there’s no coming back.

Sink under the waves of death in that state, and the miry depths is home forever.

Not an unconscious annihilation. But a conscious, bodily, torment and terror that has no let up. Forever.

But what’s amazing about the salvation Peter is speaking of, is that it is free – like the helicopter rescue – that is amazing is not? Free salvation.

But also, it is a rescue by God, from God, for God.

God is the one who organises, supplies and executes the rescue.

The rescue is from his very own punishment. And the rescue is intothe arms of his very self.

In God, a person who is saved from their sins, has a singular momentary rescue experience.

They have an ongoing day by day experience that they are beingrescued.

And they have moment they look forward to in the future when they will fall into the arms of their Heavenly Father and know the fulness of their salvation.

It's this salvation that the bible is centrally concerned with. And indeed, it is this salvation that God is centrally concerned with, in respect to people.

He is not desirous that any should perish (under his wrath in hell forever), but that all should come to repentance. Repentance that leads to eternal life (in his embrace in heaven forever). That’s in Peter’s second letter.

Now Peter has been labouring on the reality of the middle section of this salvation for the last 4 verses.

He’s been saying, ‘this middle section looks like trials and tribulations, but don’t let that create doubt in you about your great salvation’.

That’s his thrust here too.

To put it in terms of our illustration. When you’re in the helicopter, your rescue experience is in light of what could have happened to you – in that salvation you greatly rejoice!

But it’s still attended by problems right: the unshakable shivers; the cold wet clothes; the painful cramps from the hours of treading water. And hunger. And nausea. And the shaking of the helicopter. In other words, there are still trials, even after the moment of rescue.

So, Peter wants to do all in his power to reassure you that the salvation is real and it’s valuable; and certainly not to be doubted.

Now, you might be well acquainted with how this great salvation from death to life came about, but I’m going to remind you, because Peter reminds us.

First of all, he says it was grace (v.10). What does that mean?

It means there was nothing especially deserving in us that attracted God’s attention to us.

Rather, it was God’s good favour that brought about our salvation.

The helicopter didn’t come to rescue the stranded soul lost at sea because they were virtuous.

They didn’t check the records first and decide, ‘this one’s worthy of saving’.

No. In the case of the air and sea rescue it was their duty. And in the case of God, it was his grace – which he lavished on undeserving people like us.

And it’s not like the one stranded at sea was an enemy of the search and rescue pilot. They were neutral – neither known nor having been known.

But in the case of God, he knew everything about us – even down to our inmost thoughts and desires.

And what he found, was not someone neutral towards him, but someone opposed to him.

Born opposed to him. And passively, or even actively, opposed to him all their lives.

That serves to heighten grace. God comes to people who have no merit and who are his enemies – and he rescues them freely!

So that’s the first thing about this salvation – it’s grace to the lost person.

Second, Peter says it was accomplished by the ‘sufferings of the messiah’.

He’s talking about Jesus. It was Jesus who God sent to carry out the rescue mission.

Now granted, the search and rescue crew member had to risk life and limb for the lost at sea.

He or she, had to descend on that rope and pluck the stranded from the water.

But Jesus had to suffer! And when Peter says ‘suffer’ he means all the way to death. There’s nothing kept back in this great salvation. The Son of God was spent for sinners.

Without the shedding of blood there is no removal of sins. And without the wiping away of sins there is no salvation.

That’s because salvation is unto a relationship. What is love? John says, ‘This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins’.

Salvation is an act of love unto a loving relationship with God

That’s why Peter adds ‘and the glories that would follow’.

He’s referring to a resurrected relationship with God.

Salvation restores what was lost at the beginning in the garden – when Adam and Eve walked with God.

When they enjoyed his company. When they walked in step with him and revered him. And thus, glorified him.

Salvation restores that relationship.

Sin makes us enemies of God. And so, forgiven sins makes us friendsof God.

Therefore, with sins forgiven we can enjoy the fulness of the glories that will follow when we enter into heaven. Salvation is for that.

Jesus laid down his life and in so doing, took on himself our sin, making our account sin-free, and so restoring us to God’s favour. And so, bringing us back into relationship with him.

Thanks be to God for our great salvation!

How did we know about this salvation? Peter tells us. The helicopter hovered above us and the loudspeaker bellowed to us ‘we’re here to rescue you’.

In other words, it was announced to us. Peter calls it ‘preaching’. He says, we have had the ‘gospel preached to us’.

What is the gospel? Some of you were talking about this on Thursday night.

The gospel is the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. The message of forgiveness of our sins for a relationship with God forever.

So, this salvation is grace. It’s by the sufferings of God’s chosen instrument, Jesus. It’s for the restoration of relationship with God. And it’s communicated by the announcement of all this good news to sinners like us!

This is how we came to be saved. We heard that good news and we believed it.

Do you believe it? If you know that you’re a sinner and there’s nothing lovely in you, but that God has come to rescue you nonetheless. Then you believe in grace.

If you know that Jesus Christ is God’s chosen instrument to save you. If you know he was sinless and laid down his life for you – a sinner.

And he took your sin on himself. And made you lovely in the sight of God again. Then you believe in Jesus Christ the saviour of sinners.

If you know that Jesus came to restore a relationship between you and God forever. Not just a ticket out of hell. Not just a holiday in heaven. But a personal, experiential, happy friendship and walk with God forever. Then you believe in the glories to be revealed.

If you heard it all by someone telling you that you were a sinner. That you needed saving. That God sent Jesus to do that for you. That Jesus died for you on that cross. And you received it as life and not as hot air. Then you believe in the good news of salvation.

In other words, Peter spells out salvation for us here.

Now the question Peter is wanting to address is a natural question that he expects to arise when trials are coming – like they are.

It’s like being in a green meadow, but every now and then a thistle stings you on the leg. Sometimes you stumble into a whole patch of thistles. And you start to ask: ‘is the meadow worth it when it has thistles in it like this?’

‘Is this great salvation worth it when there are trials attached?’ This Christian might wonder.

Well Peter told us last time that the thistles are there to ensure we make it to the other side of the meadow.

But supposing you start to doubt that. And you need even moreconfirmation that the meadow is worth it.

I mean more confirmation than knowing that your identity is God-given.

More confirmation than knowing that there is an inheritance stored up for you in heaven.

More confirmation than knowing that trials are proving and improving your faith so that your faith doesn’t flounder before the end of this journey.

I mean, if you need further confirmation yet still!

Then Peter says, ‘yes, I’ll give it you’. Why? ‘Because I want you to know how much more valuable is your salvation than is the cost of it.

The cost of it is nothing in comparison with its surpassing worth! I want you to know that!’

So, what Peter does to convince you of the worth of your salvation is to show how the Godly people of old longed for it.

To show how the superpowers of heaven marvel at it. To show how the power of Holy Spirit accompanies it. And to show how you live in it.

So, let’s track with him and see if we find our souls mightily strengthened in the knowledge of our salvation by the end of it.

Peter says, ‘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 in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and glories that would follow’.

Right, so we’ve already established that our salvation came through the sufferings and the death of Jesus.

What Peter’s telling us now, is that Jesus’ suffering - and the grace that would come to us through his suffering - was spoken of, searched out, studied, carefully examined, poured over by the prophets that came before him.

The things that they wrote down – Peter says, ‘spoke of’ - were not their own ideas. Peter points out that the Spirit of Jesus, way before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, was actively working in the prophets to predict the sufferings and the glories of Jesus.

And then they – the very prophets in whom Jesus’ Spirit had been working to write the prophesies they wrote about Jesus – they, themselves, sat down with those very prophesies and tried to interpret and understand the time and circumstances surrounding the arrival of Jesus, and his sufferings, and his glories.

In other words, this salvation – this grace – brought by the Lord Jesus Christ, seemed of such massive significance and such immense glory to them, that they were totally compelled to give themselves at length, with great effort, with lots of time and attention, with application, to the interpretation of those prophesies.

They really badly wanted to know about this salvation!

They thought it worth their while to spend hours pouring over the very prophesies the Holy Spirit had worked in them to write down.

Think of Moses – he was called a prophet. He wrote Genesis 3:15. ‘He (Jesus) will crush your head (satan on the cross) and you (Satan) will strike his heal (when he dies on the cross)’.

That’s just about the oldest reference Peter could have had in his mind when he wrote these verses.

And it goes back all the way to the beginning of the world!

Right there, at the beginning, Jesus’ sufferings were on the pen of the prophet Moses. Amazing!

Think of King David in Psalm 22. ‘He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one’…’All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment’…’All the ends of the earth will remember and turnto the Lord, and all families of nations will bow down before him’. Make no mistake, David has Jesus in view – even though he did not know it at the time. But, according to Peter, there were those who read that longed to know what it referred to.

Think of Isaiah the prophet. His chapter 53, ‘He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering…’

And then the glories of Isaiah’s 9^th chapter. ‘Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end’. Isaiah spoke of Jesus too.

Or take the prophet Zechariah and his 12^th chapter. ‘They will look on me, the one they have pierced’. And in chapter 9, ‘He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth’. And did not Zechariah have Jesus on his lips when he spoke these words? He did!

And Peter says, these and the other prophets, searched their own and their fellow prophets’ writings to find out when Jesus would appear. And how he would bring about this salvation. And what glories would follow it.

You see they thought salvation central to all God’s plans and purposes. Indeed, we can say, central to all history!

And therefore, worthy of their time, effort, attention and care.

In other words, Peter is showing us that our salvation is no small thing.Can you hear that?

But Peter won’t let it go without striving even harder to deepen our appreciation of this salvation further. He says, in verse 12, ‘even angels long to look into these things’.

The word ‘even’ implies that you might not expect angels to be interested in this kind of thing, given what they already know and experience.

So, if they are interested – not just interested - they long to look Peter says!

If that’s the case, the magnitude of this salvation must be massive. Because let’s face it, what angels gaze into and look at every day would blow our minds! That’s Peter’s argument.

Think of what angels already know and see!

Isaiah 6 says the angels’ worship before God’s throne.

Jesus says in Matthew 18 that the angels ‘always see the face of my Father in heaven’.

Psalm 103 says they are mighty ones ‘who do God’s bidding’.

In Daniel 6, angels shut the mouths of lions.

In Hebrews 1 they are ‘flames of fire’.

Angels are not accustomed to hum-drum, everyday-human-type experiences!

They are awesome beings who encounter awesome things. And yet, Peter says, they long to look into this!

So that indicates, loud and clear, to us, that this salvation of ours is awesome in nature. It is high and holy. It is deep and beautiful. It is mighty and glorious.

It simply must be if angels long to look into it.

So, we’ve seen the prophets indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus delving into it. And now angels from the realms of glory longing to look into it.

And so, I guess we won’t be surprised – or maybe we will if we have low appreciation of our salvation, as Peter thinks we might and is striving to make sure we won’t.

We won’t be surprised to see, hopefully, that when this salvation-good-news goes public it is accompanied by amazing displays of the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

I think Peter has in mind Pentecost and Acts 2 when he says, ‘things now told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven’.

Peter is one such man.

He was a preacher of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ as one indwelt by: the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven at Pentecost.

Peter was there, at Pentecost, and he witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit himself.

Peter, preaching at Pentecost said, ‘God has raised this Jesus to life’.

Do you believe that? Peter did. He saw it!

‘And we are all witnesses of it’, he says. ‘Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear’.

What was Peter talking about?

Luke describes the manifestation of the Holy Spirit that day as soundlike the blowing of a violent wind. And like tongues of fire that came and rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.

It is this same Holy Spirit - mighty and powerful - who took the gospel of salvation, as preached to you, and plunged it into your soul.

If he had not done that, you would not have believed it.

So, it is a measure of the greatness of this salvation that prophets searched for, angels long to look into, and the Holy Spirit sovereignly and powerfully applies it.

It is not whimsical.

It is mighty!

And it is worthy of your very great regard.

Peter has one last thing to convince you with.

All of this, that we’ve heard, is believer focussed.

What do I mean?

I mean the prophets, the angels, the Holy Spirit empowered proclamations, the grace – it’s centred on one person: you the believer.

It’s all working for your benefit!

In other words, it’s not that Peter is thinking of examples he could use to bolster your faith and then writing them down.

It’s not like he says to himself, ‘ok there’s the prophets that would work. And the angels that’s a great idea. And the Holy Spirit, well of course that will do the trick’.

Rather, all these sources of reinforcement are already centred on you the believer. They really are! Let me show you.

About the prophets. Peter says, in verse 12, ‘it was revealed to them[the prophets themselves that is – by the Holy Spirit] that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you’.

Ok, so as the prophets looked into their own writings trying to find out when this salvation would happen and what it would look like. The Holy Spirit revealed to them, that what they wrote down wasn’t serving them – it was serving you!

Can you believe that?!

It's like this, those Old Testament prophecies have got your benefit in mind, primarily. They serve your faith in this salvation of yours.

They are there to convince you of its power, of its depth, its longevity, it purpose, its glory, it’s effectiveness for your life!

That’s amazing! Just think! Isaiah 700 years before Jesus. 2,700 years before you, wrote what he wrote for your sake. And it was revealed to him that it was so! Isn’t that amazing?

David, 1000 years before Jesus and 3000 years before you, wrote what he wrote, for your sake.

Moses, one and half thousand years before Jesus and three and half thousand years before you, wrote what he wrote, for your sake! It’s staggering!

God thought so much of your salvation that he put it in the hearts of those prophets of old to write on your behalf!

Can you have low view of your salvation when you know these things?

Or what about the angels. Hebrews says this about the angels: ‘Are not all angels, ministering spirits sent to serve’ Who? ‘Those who will inherit eternal life’.

That’s you, if you believe in Jesus!

So that means that angels longing to look into your salvation, and what that does for your psychology about your salvation, is a functionof what God has designed the angels for - which is to serve you.

They are ministering spirits sent to serve you with their longing to look into your salvation.

And also, with the Holy Spirit-empowered proclamation of the good news of salvation in Jesus – it was told you so that you might believe it and receive it.

It was not with weak or feeble things that this great salvation was proclaimed to you but with the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven and displayed at Pentecost.

And lastly, this grace was always intended for you. The prophets – ‘they spoke of the grace to be brought to you’, verse 10 says.

There is no part of what Peter has written that wasn’t intended by God to be for you.

And therefore, not only are the prophets and the angels, and the Holy Spirit testimonies to the worth of our great salvation; they have also actually been designed by God to convey that worth to us.

They are all serving us in our appreciation of our salvation.

So, Peter says I think, ‘if you find yourself this week assaulted on every side by trials of various kinds. And you find yourself wondering if this salvation is worth it, know this:

in the helicopter of our salvation, in the midst of shivering, and cramping, and hunger, there are blankets and flasks of hot tea designed to convince us that our salvation is worth persevering in with every fibre of our being, until this helicopter lands’.

Peter urges you: remember the prophets, remember the angels, remember the awesome Holy Spirit.

Remember they are all for your sake – to remind you of your great and wonderful salvation!

When you have that kind of high regard for the salvation God has designed, executed, and will complete, for you, it honours him and glorifies him. As it should!

And our joy is made complete in him!

So, this is no small thing. It’s massive. And Peter is labouring for our benefit here this morning.

Thanks be to God for that.