Moses

As a passageway into this next text, allow your mind to travel back to the life of Moses. He was born during a time of adversity for God's people. After centuries of peace in Egypt, the Hebrew people lost favor with the powers of their day and soon found themselves toiling in the bitterest slavery. But as the pressures increased, so did their numbers, so the Egyptian royals legislated the death of all male Hebrew newborns.

This put fetal Moses in danger, but after his birth, his parents behaved nobly by hiding and protecting their baby boy. As Moses aged, his parents, knowing he'd be discovered by the authorities, made a bold (and I think Spirit-led) decision. They strategically placed their beloved child in a floatable basket in the Nile River, upstream from Pharaoh's daughter. When she heard the cries of this adorable baby, her heart melted, and soon Moses was adopted into the most powerful family on earth.

Raised in the palaces of Egypt, Moses avoided the pain and suffering of his fellow Hebrews. But, in young adulthood, Moses became conscious of his Hebrew parentage and the suffering of his people. He began to assume he would be an instrument of God to deliver God's people. He was correct, of course -- God would use him as his instrument -- but he was incorrect about why God would use him. He was sure God would use him in his position of power and influence -- from inside the palace, Moses thought God would use him to deliver his people!

But this was not God's plan. Instead, God wanted to empty Moses of self-trust. He allowed his man to be driven to the wilderness for forty years of anonymity and, of all things, shepherding. There, outcast and exiled, God trained Moses for the future he had for him. Stripped of all other privileges, Moses had to learn the joy of his salvation. He had to know God was his greatest treasure.

And, one day, God appeared to him in a bush that burned but was not consumed. From that day forward, God's man rejoiced that he had God. He rejoiced in knowing the Lord. And from that position, he brought salvation to God's people, becoming the instrument God could use.

When Moses returned to Pharaoh's great land and wealth and palaces and temples, he returned as a man of higher status than Pharaoh. Pharaoh was treated as a god, but Moses actually knew God. Though he'd lived an advantaged life in his earlier years, now he had the highest position a human can attain. He was God's friend.

Our Readers

I share the story of Moses because it is like the story of Peter's original audience -- and because it is like ours today. They were losing their position in society. And when believers feel their standing in society slipping, it can lead to depression and anger. But these early believers needed to celebrate that even though they didn't have the privileges of the palace, they had the blessing of the burning bush. And even though modern believers might feel their influence on society slipping (or already lost), we must rejoice in what we have in God. We must rejoice in our salvation.

This is why Peter wrote our next paragraph. When you are feeling exiled, outcast, or marginalized, it can be difficult. It can make you angry. It can make you retreat. It can make you afraid. The temptation, as we've mentioned, is to angrily fight back against society, retreat and isolate from society, or conform to society's viewpoints.

So far, Peter has tried to help chose instead to stand firm by drawing our attention to our living hope -- we will enjoy an eternal inheritance with our God (1:3-5). He has also bolstered us for the reality that Christians will face trials for their faith (1:6-9). But here, in this next paragraph, Peter wants us to know that we are the target of God's affections, which makes us the most privileged people on earth. And this love and status demand a response.

Let's read.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 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. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Meaning

The meaning of this brief paragraph is straightforward. In our last study, we learned that we must cling to Jesus during Exile Trials. As we do, Peter said, we

"obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls" (1 Peter 1:9).

This means our daily love for and trust in Jesus leads to an experience of our salvation right now. Today, we can enjoy and partake of our salvation.

So Peter said, in our paragraph today, "Concerning this salvation..." (10). He wanted to focus us on the subject of salvation -- and what he says about it is astounding.

First, he tells us the Old Testament prophets tried to figure out their own prophecies and came to a radical conclusion. He said the prophets inquired carefully of their own prophecies (10). They saw how they prophesied of Jesus' future glory, but also his suffering. They wanted to know (1) how this would work out, (2) who would do the suffering and saving and reigning in glory, (3) and when it would all play out (11). They were trying to figure out our salvation, which Peter calls the grace that was to be ours (10). So Peter taught that the Old Testament prophets studied their utterances in an attempt to understand the salvation Jesus would bring.

Second, Peter tells us those prophets came to a realization. Peter says it was revealed to them that they weren't serving themselves with their prophecies, but us (12). Their prophetic ministry delighted and encouraged and ministered to their own generation in many ways, but the hope and promise and fulfillment of their words are known by our church age. And when the apostles and other messengers preached the good news of the gospel to us, we heard the message those prophets of old had predicted. So Peter taught that the salvation Jesus would bring was reserved, in a special sense, for people living on this side of Jesus' cross.

Third, Peter said even the angels long to look into this message (12). The angelic realm peers into the gospel message, our story of redemption, with a longing to look into it. Just as the cherubim engraved on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant looked down into that ark, so the angels today lean over and peer into God's mysterious work of salvation. God's angels are sinless beings but also intelligent beings, so they want to learn about the gospel and are mesmerized by what it says about God and us. It says God is holy, just, and righteous, but also gracious, merciful, and loving. And it says that humanity is the target of his affections.

But why is Peter raising this incredible truth at this point of his letter? Because he wants to lift the spirits of a marginalized people. They felt like they were on the outside of everything in society at that point, but Peter wanted them to know they were inside God's kingdom. They had the best position. They had something better than Pharaoh's palaces. They had the living God. They were God's friends. They had Exile Salvation.

And, if we are in Christ, so do we, so how do we apply this passage?

1 Exile Salvation Means You Are The Target Of God's Affections

The first reality I want you to see is that Exile Salvation means you are the target of God's affections. It's not that God didn't care or wasn't working in all the generations before the cross. Their salvation was contingent upon the future finished work of Christ. God most certainly worked in their midst. But we are the ones who get to know about and apply that salvation directly to our lives today. It is a special moment in God's redemptive (and progressive) program.

God's Messengers

Think about all the messengers Peter says were involved in communicating and delivering salvation to us. It all started, he said, with the Spirit of Christ many thousands of years ago (11). Some think this is the Holy Spirit. Others think it is the preincarnate influence of Jesus upon the prophets. Either way, the Spirit birthed this message.

Then the prophets took the hope and promises given to them and spoke them to their generation but recorded them for future generations (10).

Then some of their prophecies came to pass -- Peter calls them the sufferings of Christ (11). The predictions of the prophets did carry many specific details of how Jesus would suffer -- and many have been bolstered in their faith by the minute accuracy of those prophecies.

But after Jesus suffered, he rose, which is the beginning of what Peter calls subsequent glories (11).

And after his resurrection, people began to, according to Peter, preach the good news (12). This started with the apostles but extended to many others in the early church. And some of these early evangelists had gone to the region of Peter's readers to preach the gospel.

Peter said they did the by the power of the Holy Spirit (12). They had gifts and abilities and effectiveness only the Spirit could produce. They were able to break through the hard-heartedness of man with their preaching because of his help.

But Peter said the Spirit was sent from heaven, which of course, leads us back to God as the originator of this great message.

And, finally, Peter said the angels wanted to study the masterpiece of the gospel and how it worked out in the church (12).

Let's recap everyone involved in getting the church the message of salvation. The Spirit of Christ. The prophets. The suffering and risen Jesus. The apostles and other evangelists. The Holy Spirit. The Father in heaven. Even angels. Peter said it this way: "It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you" (12).

Peter wants us to know we are the target of God's affections. He has engineered seemingly everything to generate the delivery system of his love -- to us. This is an incredible truth, one that should humble us greatly.

Imagine being at a sporting event where the star athlete breaks a long-held record in their sport. The team management, knowing the record would be broken at some point that year, readied themselves for the moment they could honor and celebrate the athlete's achievement. The game is paused. The announcer announces the record. The scoreboard displays a tribute. The crowd goes wild. The athlete stops, cries, raises his hands in triumph, and waves to the fans. Years of hard work have paid off. Now it's time to celebrate. All eyes are on him. This is his moment. He earned it.

But this is nothing like what God has done for us. We achieved nothing. We have no accolades, nothing to offer him. We were dead in sin. Our righteousness was as filthy rags to him. We could not climb the mountain to God. Yet God orchestrated everything for us, to rejoice over us, to bring us into his family. He came down the mountain (and up to Mount Calvary) to make the way of salvation for us. We are like a random dude in the upper deck enjoying hot dogs, watching the game, when suddenly everyone turns their attention on our undeserving self. Surprisingly, we are the guest of honor, the one for whom all this was staged. It makes little sense.

But that is the way of God. He organized prophets and priests and Israel and his only begotten Son and apostles and evangelists and his word and successive generations of his church to reach you. So when you feel like an outsider, perhaps you must remember that, if you have Jesus, you are an insider. You are loved by God. You are the target of his affections. You are his friend.

2 Exile Salvation Redefines Privilege

The Subject Of Privilege

But this leads us to another truth. If Exile Salvation shows us we are the target of God's affections, it also redefines privilege.

I am being intentionally provocative with the word. There is much talk of "privilege" in our modern world. I do think it is good for people to count their blessings. One looks at the headlines coming out of India today. They, and many other developing nations, have been hit much harder by Covid than we have. We read and hear all this and, hopefully, recognize the great privilege of living in the United States. Our prosperity, the advancements of our society, our democracy -- all of it might be labeled as "privilege."

Unfortunately, however, this term is often used to categorize, classify, and divide people. Our modern world loves division, and this is one more way to divide. But what Peter is showing us is that the greatest privilege of all is to possess the salvation God supplies through Jesus. His words, in effect, are a redefinition of the very term. To be saved is the truest privilege.

Historically

Peter shows this in many ways, the first being the historical angle. As I said, God was working in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was working in King David's time. He was working during the era of the prophets and priests of the Old Testament. And his presence was with them in a special way. I have even felt the special nature of their relationship with God in recent weeks as I've taught Exodus for our Tuesday Night study. Though I know the tabernacle and sacrifices and priesthood all pointed forward to the better thing we have in Christ, I still admire what they had.

But, again, Peter said those prophets discovered they were not serving themselves but us (the church). On the timeline of human history, we are a most privileged group. We are alive after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We are living after the completion of the Bible. We are around to enjoy the full benefits of the salvation God had promised.

Apostolically

Peter also wants us to see our privilege from the apostolic angle. He spoke of those who announced the good news to us by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven (12). The earliest generations of God's people had Moses. Later generations got David and the Psalms. And later generations got the prophets. But we get all of them -- and the apostles. We get the full blast of God's revelation.

When I was a youngster, I lived in a golden age of video games. I started with "joysticks" and made it one or two iterations into "controllers" before I had to retire. I can't even try nowadays -- too many buttons. My old man brain can't keep up. But I do remember cheat codes. Sometimes, when a game was too difficult, we would subscribe to a magazine (because what was "Google"?) to get a cheat code. And once the game was unlocked, we could figure out how to beat it.

The apostles and their teaching, in the form of the New Testament, is the ultimate cheat code on the whole of God's revelation. Genesis through Malachi meant many true things to the original recipients, but they carry greater power and clarity and truth for us today because we live on this side of the apostles. Their work gave us a foundation upon which Jesus wants us to stand.

Cosmically

But Peter also wants us to see our privilege from the cosmic angle. Angels wish they could comprehend the gospel. Peter said they want to look into this glorious good news. Back in the day, the prophets inquired into their own words. But right now, the angels are peering into God's redemptive plan.

Jesus said the angels in heaven party hard when one sinner repents (Luke 15:10). They just love this whole thing -- fallen and broken people restored by the death and resurrection of the God they have known since their inception. He first became a man. They saw it occur. And then he was killed by the people he went to save. But he rose, and that was the means by which he would save them! Amazing.

Having never been defiled by anything, the angels don't need to be cleansed, so it amazes them that God made a way for us to be made clean. Paul said it like this:

1 Corinthians 2:9–10 (ESV) — 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

Even though these angels know God well and are perpetually mesmerized by his holiness, they still wish they could comprehend the gospel. But it's a message for us. And the Spirit, Paul just showed us, has revealed even these depths of God to his church.

Eschatologically

Finally, Peter wants us to see our privilege from the eschatological angle. He said the prophets foretold Jesus' suffering, but also his subsequent glories (11). Glories that come after. Subsequent.

This is the way of God for his church. He is taking us from glory to glory. Israel's prophets dried up. Their best kings had fatal flaws -- their dynasties crumbled. Even the tabernacle and temple and priesthood were fulfilled and faded away.

But we have glory coming. What an encouraging word to a suffering church. Peter tells us that Jesus came to suffer. Then, subsequent glories. Glories that come after the suffering.

Brothers and sisters, we are in those "subsequent glories" today. We are in the age where the blessings of the kingdom are ours. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).

Exile Does Not Negate This Privilege

Peter seems to be telling us that exile cannot cancel out our privileged position. The prophets suffered, but they were on God's team. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all sojourners and pilgrims, men without a home but still chosen and loved by God. And so we also are loved by God. Their exile, Israel's time in Egypt or Babylon, Moses' time in the wilderness, David's time running from Saul -- nothing could separate them from the privilege of being God's children.

And this is true for us in an even stronger sense today.

Romans 8:38–39 (ESV) — 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 Exile Salvation Demands A Response

1. Rejoice

We should consider one last thing -- that Exile Salvation demands a response. If Peter were here today, talking to this congregation, how do you think he might encourage us to apply the glorious truth we've studied today. How should we respond to Exile Salvation?

First, we should rejoice. I mean, angels are amazed by what we possess. The prophets wanted to know who would possess it. And we are the possessors. So we must celebrate and never allow the joy of our salvation to dissipate. No matter how rejected we become by society, we are chosen by God!

2. Unity

Second, we should embrace our unity with others who are also recipients of this salvation. I have been thinking a lot about Romans 14 lately. Paul wrote it to a very diverse church in Rome. Many backgrounds and perspectives about secondary issues abounded among them. Paul wanted them to be unified around the gospel, even if they were diverse in things Scripture was silent about.

So he told them that if someone is convinced they should or shouldn't eat meat, should or shouldn't drink wine, or should or shouldn't worship on a specific day of the week, each one should be convinced in their own minds. Some of those views were weak in the faith, but Paul didn't care. Instead, he wanted them to tolerate a wide variety of perspectives in areas of personal conviction. He said:

Romans 14:13 (ESV) — 13 Let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

This is my hope for our fellowship as we enter the summer. I think we have done well as a church, navigating this past year. I've hoped we could have a church that is unified over the essentials, even if our strong, personal convictions vary wildly. I think that's the case.

So, as we head into a summer of loosened restrictions, increased vaccinations, and endless mask debates, let's have unity around the gospel. Carry a tone about things that are secondary as if they are secondary -- at all times. It will help you fellowship well with someone whose convictions are opposite yours.

Remember: the church is a special people with a great salvation!

3. Learn

Third, we should set our minds and hearts upon learning more about this great salvation. The text nudges us in this direction. The prophets studied their prophecies. The angels desire to look into the gospel. But we are the recipients. We have the cheat code.

In a world of bad news, it is the good news for which our souls long. I have been studying the ramifications and implications and background promises and truth of the gospel for twenty-five years now. I feel I barely know anything. It is like a vein of gold in a mineshaft that never runs out. It splays and runs deep, and I have been chasing out various currents of its glory. And I hope for as much time as possible to learn of its goodness.

Let's do this together. Let's dig and study and learn more of this great and glorious gift from God.

Conclusion

We have a great salvation. Peter wants us to fixate upon it. No matter how outcast we become, no matter how many trials we must endure for the faith, we are God's chosen people. We are special in his sight.

As someone said:

The petty dreams of earth’s little tyrants shrivel before the majesty of the kingdom of God, ministered by prophets and apostles, but now realized for those who know Jesus Christ. - Edmund Clowney, The Message of 1 Peter

Just as Moses -- banished from Egypt, a humble shepherd for forty years in the backside of the wilderness, with only a staff in his hand -- had more than Pharaoh could ever dream, so we have more than anyone. We have God's salvation.